Maye worth pointing out that one of the more successful eastern German teams since reunification, Hertha Berlin, were actually in the Allied part of Berlin and were playing in the West German Bundesliga system

Very well researched as usual Alfie. Just one thing. Hertha Berlin is in the east of germany yes. But it is a west german club because it was part of the western part of berlin before the reunion and didn't have to go through the the struggles the traditional east german clubs had to go through in the transition of the reunion seeing as they were already part of the west german football pyramid. They actually were one of the clubs which profited from the reunion

Great video as so often. JUST WANT TO POINT OUT: Hertha Bsc HAS NOTHIN' TO DO WITH EAST GERMANY. They are located in former westberlin and competed in the Bundesliga

nice video except for these mistakes: 1. While BFC Dynamo was funded by the STASI, Dynamo Dresden was funded by the East German police. All Dynamo Dresden players therefore held ranks within the police system and would even occasionally wear a police uniform (for example during political training classes) 2. Despite its affiliation with the police, Dynamo Dresden was the most popular team in East Germany and averaged more than 20,000 spectators per home game each season with EC games almost always sold out (36,000 or more). 3. While the FC clubs in East German football were state funded, the BSG clubs (like Bischofswerda or Eisenhuettenstadt) were funded by state-owned enterprises. Players at these teams were paid by these companies and would often work regular jobs at these businesses for half the day while being free to train in the afternoon. 4. Hertha is a West-German team as it was based in West Berlin 5. Even though you mentioned the 1:0 win of East Germany over West Germany at the 1974 World Cup, it's a pity that you neither mentioned the 1976 Gold medal win of the East German Olympic football team (that was pretty much identical to the regular national team of East Germany) nor the 1974 win of the EC Cup Winner's Cup by 1. FC Magdeburg. East Germany was also much more successful than West Germany in youth football tournaments and won the 1986 U19 European championships for example.

As a German, this video was wonderfully researched without painting things too black and white. My parents had to flee the DDR / GDR because my father was a pacifist and was threatened with prison time because he didn't want to serve in the East German military (which at this point was pretty much only famous for shooting its own people when they tried to cross the boarder). They arrived in the west mere month before the Berlin Wall fell, and they lost everything in the process of fleeing while giving birth to me days after they arrived in the west. The reunification was a big blessing for Germany, it was a wonderful thing, but it was handled - as most big projects in Germany - badly, but also not catastrophically. In football, economic interests always come first. Football is a business, even though it is the national sport in Germany. The reunification of football was a good example of that: Nobody really tried to keep the East German Football alive, on the contrary: Seeing the western clubs victorious was often seen as one of the final victories the western, capitalistic system had over the now dead socialistic east. If not by design, it was at least a welcomed side effect. And let us not forget that the huge talent pool of East German players was a nice boost for the big western clubs: Cheap, without any entitlement and easy to integrate since they already spoke the same language and were culturally similar. A blessing, of course. All in all, German football profited immensely from the reunification, it still does. But "German Football" in that sense means "West German Football". The reason why so many people welcome Union Berlin's success over Hertha Berlin in the last two-three years is grounded in that, too: Union and Hertha were the biggest clubs of Berlin, one west and one east, but after the reunification, Hertha Berlin was in bloom and Union was facing doom. Now, with the tables turning, especially many older people from the former east grin with glee since it is the first time a eastern counterpart of a west-club seems victorious over it's rival in the end. Thanks for the Video! It was nice seeing this very interesting piece of German history explained to a broader audience in such a well-researched way and with the tone of respect. It was a hard time for many, and football was often the least of worries - but in the end, these happenings make for some of the most interesting stories for future generations. Love your work!

Can you make a video on the 7 nations most likely to become 1st time World Cup winners by the end of the 21st century

Union Berlin is the only GDR Team in the Bundesliga. I think Hertha Berlin is a West-Berlin Team

Today (19th september '22) Union Berlin, the only east-german football club in the Bundesliga is on 1st place and 5 points ahead of Bayern München!

Im from east Germany, leipzig to be precise. Im really amazed at the accuracy of the political comentary and all the nonfootball related things. Thanks!

As an East-German (East-Berlin), thank you for this video. I hope people start understanding how tough of a road East German teams have had since re-unification. What Union Berlin has been doing, has been grass-root efforts that should be celebrated (thanks for your video on them!!!) vs the hope of a financial takeover that feels like a cheat code (thought I completed understand the fan's excitement of the future prospects)

Really well-researched! I'm sure your German viewers (myself included) appreciate it.

Excellent video as per. However, when mentioning the East German Olympic team and their success I think you should have talked about the state sponsored doping programme that was occurring at the time.

As always another greatly researched video, including problems that are still seen in German society (I'm Lower Saxony, the North Western state). Always refreshing to see that someone that does not live in a country can still be able to accurately portray a complex situation combining football, geopolitics, personal situations and processes. Completely unrelated I of course have to continue my suggestion for another video: Day 9: The biggest wins in every european top flight (Athletic Bilbio 12-1 FC Barcelona; Gladbach 12-0 Dortmund; Ajax 13-0 VVV Venlo).

The same generally applies to Italy in that it's traditionally the northern portion of the country that has the more successful football clubs such as Juventus and the 2 Milan teams while from the South only Napoli have occasional challenged that monopoly.

Day 36: A detailed look at the state of Crotone would be nice, going from Serie A in 20/21 with a 20 goal a season striker (Simy) to Serie C by 22/23. Two relegations in a row, something surely has to be wrong at that club.

Nicely done video Alfie. You were very thorough as always. You covered the story from all angles

Amazing video. Fantastic structure and delivery of the narrative. Kudos!

I‘m from East Germany and I have a few things to mention about some points in the video (which I think is really good). BFC Dynamo was a Stasi club and was disliked (even hated by most) fans of other clubs in the DDR Oberliga. It was the favourite club of the Stasi boss Erich Mielke and got many favorable refereeing decisions which secured them some wins and trophies. There was a cup final against Dynamo Dresden in which the referee continued gave a questionable penalty and kept the game running until BFC scored the winning goal. There aren‘t any official sources for these instances and I only know of it, because my father was there. The MfS (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit/Stasi) used BFC Dynamo as somewhat of a representation club and it was an open secret to everyone. Dynamo Dresden wasn‘t owned by the Stasi, but there were some players that were IM (Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter which means inofficial members of the Stasi). This was the case about many eastern german teams back then. Also Hertha BSC is NOT an eastern german club. It competed in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal and isn‘t affiliated with the GDR. I think the topic of the Stasi affiliation of clubs and players in the GDR might be a good topic for some video in the next time (if you haven‘t covered it yet). Keep up the great content, love from East Germany!❤️

another amazing and informative video. thank you alfie ! these documentary style geopolitical football videos bring me joy

I really appreciate the research you do here, brother. Well done. Great video.

Don’t let a Hertha BSC fan hear that you called them an East German team..🤣

Great video! I’d be interested in looking at the post-Soviet/communist decline of clubs from other countries, like Dinamo Tbilisi and Ararat Yerevan, who went from often attracting crowds of 60,000+, to struggling to attract 4 figure or even 3 figure crowds in their independent domestic leagues. Tbilisi won the Cup Winners Cup in 1981 too. It is also true that these clubs were effectively national teams for countries who didn’t have independence at the time.

One of your best videos. Sadly it might not do so well. But this is amazingly good research

Great video 👍but have you thought about a video about Urs Fischer, the Union Berlin manager. This teams is making miracles in front of our eyes and yet very little gets talk about them & especially Urs Fischer. 5 years of constant progress with one of the lowest budgets in the Bundesliga & selling 1 or 2 of best players every year. Also he is never link with any top job in Germany or elsewhere. He must be the most underrated manager around today

Definitely one of your best videos Alfie 👌

Very Informative Video...

Crazy to see the stadium of my local club in an HITC Sevens Video. Greetings from Potsdam.🔵⚪️

Hansa Rostock fan here. Our founding story is also completely wild and you could look into it. Basically we were founded in a small town in Saxony until the East German government decided that there should be a top flight team in the north and simply relocated the BSG Empor Lauter to Rostock. A couple years later the government restructured many of the clubs and Hansa was born.

I would hazard a guess and say its because that's where most of the largest and most industrialised cities are like Munich for example while the eastern part of Germany is less populated and more rural than the urbanised and heavily populated west so being from large cities they are more successful football clubs.

Nice video. Small mistakes (Hertha is geographically east, but not politically or socioeconomically), but I stil enjoyed this video. You pointed out the succes of Union Berlin, which I especially enjoyed. By far the most succesful club from East Germany right now and I'm super happy for them.

21:14 Dresden is backed by Volkspolizei, while BFC Dynamo was the club that was backed by Stasi

at 20:41 I would like to add that Hertha Berlin is not considered an East German team seeing as they hail from West Berlin and thus West Germany. Great video otherwise!

This is one of the most important video essays you have ever done.

Thank you for this. I've always being enthusiastic about Germany because my late mom lived and amassed her wealth in Germany. I love them

What the heck. Just yesterday I watched some videos about the East German league from you and now you upload this.

Shit man where do you find the time for such in depth research!!! Awesome stuff again dude!

Great video yet again. Only point I think you missed, is forgetting about FC Magdeburg, the only former East German club to have won a European title, as they won the Cup Winners Cup in 1974 - and while not as succesful as their STASI counterparts, they did win 3 championsships and 7 german cups, so somewhat succesful despite their obvious lack of government funding, compared to the "big 2".

Hey, Alfie you got anything special planned for when this channel hits the 500k mark? Like another Q and A video maybe?

Awesome video, please can you do a Thonon Evian documentary 🙏

One of the best KZfaq Videos I've ever watched

These are your best kind of videos 👋

I think that, how sport and especially football can be seen as a reflection of culture, history and socioeconomic circumstances, is a profoundly interesting and fascinating topic. That's why sport is important. It reflects identity.

Alfie as a German it was amazing to hear you pronounce german words! It has shown that you put emphasis on how to pronounce them and not just plain read them and dont care about how butchered they would be then, Thank you for that!

Great video as always btw alfie! German football is my favorite foreign nation to follow

Most Western European countries’ best clubs tend to come from the Industrial “second cities” whereas in Eastern Europe the best clubs are based in the capital city as they used to be the teams of their militaries.

Great video

“It wasn’t quite as bleak in east Germany as in Russia during the 1990s” maybe the largest understatement ever made. Great vid tho that one line did make me laugh

Really good video

Asking you to do a video on the rise and fall of Bursaspor, attempt 8

Another common W for Sevens

Will you make the video about afc Wimbledon ?

Considering what they are doing, Union Berlin is one of the most aproptiately named club in Germany

A documentary on how Borussia Dortmund almost went bankrupt would be interesting.

Even if the bundesliga was divided 50/50 between east and west, the east would primarily be a source of relegation teams given the structural issues pointed out here: state run, not enough investment, inability to compete, and the bad state of the economy in the region prior to unification resulting in a lack of positive investment environment from their west German countrymen.

Excllent video Alfie. I liked your mention of how the East ( Europe ) went into poverty after the fall of communism. I would recommend that you read 'The Shock Doctrine' by Naomi Klein. This basicall showed how the west ( mostly American ) companies took over the state owned companies of the East.

Very well made, as always. Still waiting on that sub-Saharan Africa-based club Best XI though!

my first dynamo dresden games as a child end of the 90s were wild. a game took 90mins+30min break for holligan fights on the pit

I recently read that Winston Reid was still playing for his international team when he wasn't even part of a club team. Maybe you can do a 7s video on that topic??

You did completely overlook Union Berlin. This former East German team IS competing in Bundesliga and has, so far, been THE surprise of everyone by being at the top of thr table.

Alfie just does videos that the people want 👏

It's somewhat similar in Italy all the good teams are based in the North and Centre only big club in the South is Napoli. Perhaps another video could be done on the North South divide in Italian football.

Make that video about Wimbledon bro, it needs to happen

Could you make a video about the rise and fall of Chievo Verona?

Much of East Germany's Olympics successes were only possible due a sophisticated doping program... you should have mentioned that. Italy has a similar divide on football success and overall prosperity but North/South and without the historical political divide.

Alfie please do a video about Chievo Verona

East German schools, even today, place a greater emphasis on Athletics (Olympic Sports if you will) rather than Football. Pitches are still a rarity at East German Schools - money plays a part of this, as everything is comparatively more expensive in East rather than West .

"...A messy and complicated affair..." Floored by that analysis mate 😬

This man should start a podcast please

respect any one that mentions saarland!!

Hows about a video on the only non English team to win the FA cup?

Fact: Toni Kroos is the last German international to be born in East Germany before re-unification.

I think it is worth noting that Union Berlin wich plays in the Bundesliga is from the Eastern Side of berlin so also from East Germany

Now half of Bundesliga Champions League spots are from East Germany

If union berlin can do something to shake up the tile race this season. Historic!

But 2 out of the 8 spots for international competition this year were occupied by teams from east germany

They now have Leipzig and Union Berlin.

Just add the number of east German players who made it into the national team of unified Germany since unification to this narrative. Also East German coaches who made a career in the unified Bundesliga. East Germany had produced a lot of talent. If, following unification, East German clubs were treated badly (only 2 teams admitted to the Bundesliga), the performance of these teams over the years would have shown. But one team immediately got relegated. The issue was not talent, but management. And your video just proves that point; both RB Leipzig and Union Berlin are not typical for the old GDR, they stand out because their management has overcome GDR tradition or never had it.

Nicely researched video. But one major flaw: Hertha is NOT an East German team. Geographically yes, but clubs from former West Berlin are not seen as "Ostklubs", not even 30 years after reunificaton. And never will...or as long as people that lived in the East are still alive. Clubs in the East lost their best players for free or very cheap. People lost interest in local football and many lost their jobs when factories closed. Therefore attendance in the East dropped significantly. Less money for the clubs that started with no money in the first place. In a new system, the clubs didn't know anything about the professional football business. They had to learn on the job. Many clubs then were led by shady business people from the West who funneled money into their own pockets. Many factors that made swimming upstream very difficult. There have been some talented players in the past 3 decades, like Ballack and Toni Kroos, but not many yough players make it to the top two leagues. The number of national team players is becoming lower and lower. Not many people could even fill a fantasy East German national team with current players. And it's more difficult to fill a team every year. (f.e in FIFA video games you rely on mediocre players from the 2.Bundesliga to get a full roster) The clubs that are now the best from the East (Union, Magdeburg, Rostock) mostly have players born in former West Germany, not local talents.

The most obvious thing from this video is that the 1980s was the age of the mullet and that West Germany was Mullet Central. As I understand it, when Kevin Keegan got to Hamburger SV he was only presented to the press after the club barber had suitably tonsured him.

I like the fact that Leverkusen is so big on the thumbnail cuz they literally looted east german clubs

Well Alfie you missed the biggest story after the reunification of Germany. The rise of Energie Cottbus in the mid 1990s without any big sponsors. The first Bundesliga club starting a match with 11 foreign players and even letting no German in while the 3 changes.

a documentary on the afc Wimbledon on the nine promotions in eleven years, how they’re a fan own club and how they have a stadium in plough lane now. The story of they lost the club, how the F A allowed that and won’t allow that anymore. How they were very close to moving to ireland How they went up the English football leagues. It would be a good documentary video if you can do this. #thepeopleschannel

your best video by far 😢

Union Berlin is a brilliant club by far my favourite German club

what music do you use in your videos

Hi just saw a video about and abandon stadium of a dead team in Glasgow can u do a video about third lanark and cathkin park

20:53 Hertha Berlin is from west germany too??

Small but relevant note at 20:40 Hertha Berlin is a West German team

Day 28-Zico and his truly bizarre transfer from Flamengo to Italian Udinese

I thought you already made this video

The problem with Racism and hooliganism in East German clubs is much more pronounced than you mentioned here and has to be adressed. From Magdeburg, Chemnitz, Cottbus, Jena, DRESDEN , ROSTOCK..the list just goes on. A visit to these stadiums, even as a journalist, is chilling. The only exceptions are maybe Union and Leipzig, and I do not begrudge them their success - long may these two propser

Long live Magdeburg, have the shirt and was my first KZfaq football manager save back in 2018 🖤❤️💛

I mean apart from Hertha Berlin (who only did well because they were in western Berlin), Frankfurt (Last years Europa league winners), Union Berlin (Who sit at the top of the league for now) and RBL (who always manage to do well thanks to some backing) not many other eastern teams have done well in the top flight at least.

Make a video about the best backup strickers in the world

hertha berlin isnt really considered to be an east german team. sure they are located in the east of the country but in the west side of berlin. therefore in west germany. while there are currently 3 teams from the east side of germany in the bundesliga there is only one East German team in the league.

I was always confused by that too considering how dominant East Germany was at the Olympics.

That quote… FIFA gotta make it their slogan. 😂

That's my fm save for next year sorted

Germany may have the best teams in former West Germany but teams from former East Germany does have good team as well. The teams there have not many money and have not the famous players but the teams have many fans that stand for its team no matters how strong they are. This year, 1. FC Union Berlin (which was a team from East Berlin) is doing a very good job and is now top 3 of the best German teams (Bundesliga) and have chance to win the German cup. Also teams from 2nd league like 1. FC Magdeburg and Hansa Rostock (which the whole state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is crazy about it) are also doing very well even they lose few times. Even Dynamo Dresden, which is sadly now in 3rd league is also doing very well even Dynamo is now not good as it was. The team of Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden have crazy and radical ultra scene where they destroy things and beat other fans or ultras in which both teams are not beloved by many teams including some teams from East Germany. The new RB Leipzig, which exists since 2009 is not beloved by former East German teams due to its brand and the team has no tradition where the old teams of Leipzig like Lokomotive Leipzig were forgotten.

It looks like Union Berlin is doing pretty well at the moment.