Eintracht fans have always loved travelling, even in the club’s formative years. In 1932, 5,000 Eagles supporters flocked to Nuremberg for the German championship final, the same number that made the long trip to Berlin to celebrate Eintracht’s title win against Kickers Offenbach in 1959. The victory in the capital secured the club’s place in the following season’s European Cup, which brought with it further memorable trips to Vienna, Bern and Glasgow. In Eintracht’s 6-1 semi-final home win over Rangers in 1960, supporters let off so many fireworks that “small forest fires” were spotted nearby, according to the stadium announcer. The morning papers, however, were full of praise for the eye-catching display.
Travelling numbers continue to grow
The number of fans journeying to matches continued to grow after the Bundesliga was founded in 1963. Supporters started travelling by bus, extra trains were laid on and in the 1970s, the first official fan clubs were established. Eintracht already boasted 100 supporter groups by the 1980s, with members congregating for games in Block G of the Waldstadion. The most avid supporters stood out from the crowd in traditional denim jackets.
“United Colors of Bembeltown – Eintracht fans open to all colors”
Two hooligan groups, the “Adlerfront” and “Presswerk Rüsselheim”, were also formed in the 1980s. Fan projects were organised to encourage positive dialogue between the groups and the rest of the fan community, including the “Fan geht vor” (“fans first”) fanzine and Radio FanOmania, the latter established in the 1990s. Following the xenophobic riots in Germany in the early 90s, fans began expressing their political views for the first time. The “United Colors of Bembeltown – Eintracht open to all colors” campaign was launched in 1992 and has been revived on several occasions in recent years.
In 1997, several fan groups merged to form the Eintracht Ultras, who began ramping up the atmosphere at games with spectacular tifos, enormous flags and synchronised chanting. Some fans took it upon themselves to make digital upgrades, creating an Eintracht mailing list to help supporters stay in touch with one another. Others began collecting artefacts in an effort to preserve the history of the club.
Fans helped set up the first Eintracht homepage, while the Eintracht Museum is the labour of love of dedicated Eagles supporters. The fact that the club now boasts over 135,000 members is largely thanks to its fan and support department, which was founded in December 2000. Some of the most committed and vocal supporters have followed the Eagles for several decades. Martin, to name but one, has led the chanting in the north-west stand since the mid 90s.
That desire and disposition to back their team until the bitter end is deep-rooted at the club. One of, if not the best display of that unwavering loyalty was the UEFA Europa League quarter-final against Barcelona in April 2022, when an astonishing 30,000 Eintracht fans travelled to Catalonia with the team, turning the contest into a home game. It was unprecedented in scale, and the noise was overwhelming. That night at Camp Nou was one of countless examples of the unique bond that exists between Eintracht Frankfurt and their fans.
