As an Everton fan, this story scares me so much. Many similarities. Traditional team steeped in history, bloated signings and big infrastructure investments.

7 panic buys that were a huge success

Then: Neuer, Raul, Draxler, Rakitic, Huntelaar, Farfan, Höwedes: DFB-Pokal, UCL semis Now: Going to break Tasmania's negative record of most matches without win

As a Schalke fan born and grown up in Gelsenkirchen, I can say that this is an accurate video of the situation. However, you should also know that in the Ruhr area, with one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany, being a football fan is like a religion and many people don't have anything else in their lives. First people lose their jobs in coal mining and if Schalke will go bankrupt, they will also lose their meaning in life. It's a true tragedy.

I have been a Schalke fan since I was a boy. This pain is something indescribable.

I'm Irish, but even so, the ethics and principles espoused by Schalke Football Club makes them an incredibly endearing Club, and the fact they are entirely owned by their fans elevates Schalke FC to legendary status. I love the entire vibe of this club, and i really hope they can escape their woes and bounce back to functioning on a higher level once again. All the best.

Day 51: Final East German First League teams, where are they now?

Today S04 lost even against the second last team in the Bundesliga (S04 was and is on last place), which has its first Bundesliga seasons since a decade or so...

Schalke fan here, let me elaborate: First off Tönnies stepped down primarily because of racist comments he made, the botched handling of covid in one of his slaughterhouses was just the last straw. Tönnies is also the main reason we're where we are right now in general. Schalke is paying notoriously high wages for average player and has done so forever. Paid by playing CL once every 2-3 years and loans by Tönnies (a billionaire), which put the club further and further into debt. Tönnies got rid of a in hindsight great director in Heldt in 2016 for Heidel, who came from Mainz, but had a great reputation for keeping small Mainz in the Bundesliga and continuously finding great talent - players AND coaches. Heidel promoted Klopp & Tuchel to first team coaches in Mainz. Now Schalke doesn't really have a working scouting department, as mentioned we keep buying average players. The Knappenschmiede, our youth team (best in Germany by far) continued to save our asses by producing talent like Draxler, Meyer (he was great before money got to him), Sané, Matip, etc. Now while Heldt brought in players for relatively low transfer fees and was fantastic at selling players for more than their worth, Heidel completely escalated the financial troubles by buying players like Embolo, Bentaleb and Rudy for a combined 61.5 million. As in, he was burning money on shit players while the likes of Meyer, Goretzka, Kolasinac, etc. left us on a free transfer. The scouting system he was supposed to overhaul still was a dude watching youtube hightlights. While Heldt was having an eye on player personality, Heidel just cared about the youtube highlights. All transfers Heidel wanted, he got, because he was brought in by Tönnies and the vast majority of the board / leadership at Schalke consists of Tönnies yes-men. Meanwhile the club facilities were in dire need of overhaul, so they decided to go big. Tönnies would bail them out, in case it turns out too big of an investment, right? Essentially a right decision, but worst possible timing. Put Schalke back another 120mio, likely more, right before the pandemic hit. So all of this happened and Schalke were playing shit football under Tedesco, who - with Heidel - got rid of lots of key culture players like Höwedes, Kolasinac, Huntelaar and Naldo. Now I'll cut it short - Heidel left after just 3 years, Jochen Schneider (who never had full reigns of a club before) took over as director and brought with him Michael Reschke who was supposed to finally install a working scouting department, like he did in Leverkusen and Bayern. First they got rid off Tedesco for Wagner. The team played well under Wagner for ~6 months and then failed to win a single game for 4 months. For some strange reason Schneider thought it's a great idea to keep Wagner and then sacked him after losing 0:8 to Bayern and 1:3 to Werder, 2 matches into the season. Not the only bad decision by Schneider, who failed every transfer period, at both selling and buying players. Only thanks to new coach Manuel Baum we have a single rightback on the team. Kilian Ludewig, who Baum knew from Germany's U20 team and was loaned to fucking Barnsley last season. We're going down. The only question is how deep.

A video for Paolo Rossi? He absolutely deserves one; world champion, ballon d‘or and champions league winner, one of the greatest Italian footballers of all time. Simply a legend!

whatever happens to us i will forever support Die Knappen!!!

I’m pretty sure one of the final straws was also their loaning of Weston McKennie as well. He was a midfield force that Schalke are now lacking.

If Schalke gets relegated the Club will die. They are in huge debt and need the TV money from the Bundesliga. The players don't really care about the club. They could actually beat the record with the most Bundesliga games without a win this season in january. That record was made by Tasmania Berlin in 1966 who are currently in the 5th division. This scenario could also happen to Schalke

Man that Schalke team with Jefferson Farfan on the attack was impressive. Damn this team has fallen hard.

Who is here after they were relegated. as a BVB i truly feel sad for Schalke. come back stronger.

I refuse to see Schalke go down like this.

As an Arsenal fan I'd be interested to see one done on Arsenal.

As an Dortmund Fan it is very sad to see that the Rival is going down. I hope that they stay in the Bundesliga so we can watch more Derbys! :D

Great academy, beautiful stadium, loyal fans, sad to see S04 like this.. My favorite club in Bundesliga

Alfie, at the beginning of the video you said "tied with Bayer Leverkusen", but I think you meant Werder Bremen?

This video is very accurate as far as I can tell. Just one thing you left out is that Schalke has a history of being a fighting team whose players were running and fighting for every ball untill the game is over. And that was all the fans were expecting from them - even more than actually winning the match. That mentality got lost when they became more successfull on european level and had to include more technically skilled players rather than those who were mostly using their physical abilities. That worked for a while, but after they lost their best players to transfers and weren't able to replace them adequatly they got more and more into trouble. Now they end up having players with some technical skills, but not enough to be top level, who at the same time aren't able to forfill that expectation of running and fighting all game every game and due to their financial situation they don't have the money to change that fact.

Here after Augsburg equalised in the 93rd min against schalke

David Wagner played the scapegoat, just like in Huddersfield.

Watching these every morning since I’m now in Self isolation

I love schalke and everything the fans stand for. Sacking someone for not giving good enough workers rights during a pandemic is extremely based. Hope they can turn this around and we can see them high flying again in the next few years

So essentially they are the next Portsmouth.

Do a "What on Earth is going on at Botafogo" now, they're like Cruzeiro but WAY WORSE Just to give some context, they're a team on their 4th coach if i recall, one of which got fired without even making to the 1st match, they started the season buying Keisuke Honda and Salomon Kalou, now they were at a state when they don't even get balls to train some time ago, tried to turn the club in a S/A (don't know a right word in english) to escape the debt on the house of billions if i recall and keep the club alive, but it failed since covid-19 put a risk which they couldn't attract investors, and are in a situation which they could be declaring bankrupcty next year and having to start in the last division of the State Championship. Brazil now are on a possibility of 3(including Vasco, but the situation is less concerning than botafogo) of the 12 big teams playing on second division next season

As an Aston Villa fan I can relate to Schalke. Two clubs stooped in history, from economically deprived areas and with great stadiums that fell off out of nowhere.In 2016, we won just 3 league games and were relegated for the first time, and were on the brink of bankruptcy 2 years later after corrupt ownership leading to failure to pay wages and massive debts. We were bought out and got promoted in 2019, and are now rebuilding towards our previous success. Don’t give up hope, I hope Schalke will follow the same route my own team did and that we both get back to the positions towards the top of the league where we belong.

They need Sam Allardyce, his a man who keeps club stable and gets the job done.

the situation of Schalke now reminds me of Leeds during 2004

it's sad how these historic clubs are struggling. I fear for everton.

Manchester United and Arsenal need to learn that in this generation, without proper business set, they can also suffer similar fate

Can you make a video about Gladbach in the Last 10 years? From fighting against relegation to playing in the Champions league

I am from germany and im a schalke fan. Tbh, its just sad to see how the club is going down week to week. lol

Its sad to see. Im a united fan but was always attracted to schalke as a club because of fifa 14 career mode. I have done a schalke manager career mode with every fifa since. If I were to support a german club it would be them by a mile.

Schalke 04 are very popular with football gamblers, at the moment - just bet on their opponents to win. Loving these ‘What on Earth is Going on at...’ videos; Palermo, Marseille and now Schalke. Very well researched, information-packed and articulately delivered with interesting, informative and varied visuals. Top work.

The worst thing is that Schalke's relegation will have an impact on the economy of Gelsenkirchen and the even worse thing is that WE ALREADY ARE THE POOREST CITY IN GERMANY!

Awful to see this happen to such a big and historic German club. Solidarity from Valencia fans all over, we feel your pain.

the fact that Huntelaar went back to try and save Schalke 04 being seen as a massive downgrade from being at Ajax should say enough

Who is here after schalke won 4-0 vs hoffenheim?

Really sad seeing teams like schalke decline so rapidly

Please do a video about the 7 Best Belgian footballers before their golden generation!

Adrian from Rabona TV also did a good job explaining this situation. This video was a great supplement to that video.

As a schalke fan this whole situation is so heartbreaking and bleak it’s unbelievable

I've been a Schalke fan since 2012, when i first started following the bundesliga... and this situation hurts me in ways that cannot be easily discribed... i have actually lost hope in us surviving relegation

“Good fortune at start of season” “Run out of luck between January and June” Reminds me of Hull 🐯

Danke, dass du dieses video über meinen Club gemacht hast 🔵⚒⚪️

You should make a similar video about Deportivo La Coruña, who were LaLiga champions and UCL regulars at the start of the century, but have since fallen all the way to the third tier of Spanish football

Schalke are officially in Liga 2 ~~

i tried to tell my friend who is a Schalke fan that at least their League of Legends team looks good. He almost punched me 😅

Who’s here after the relegation?

Broski is crying in a corner rn

Great video as always Alfie! I was wondering if you'd be able to do one like this for Colo Colo. They are the record winners in Chile (only chilean club to win the Copa Libertadores, back in 91, and have won 31 domestic titles) but have been struggling for a while, with now a serious danger of being relegated for the first time in their history (They are bottom of the table while last season they finished 2nd). I know probably most of your subscribers won't be as interested in watching a South American team video but I think it would be a really nice topic to cover. Cheers!

Tonnies also had to "resign" because of racist comments he made, and the Schalke fans were 100% not on board with those statements.

Pray for Schalke 04 🙏

You should make a video about Türkgücü München the Turkish immigrant club in Munich who were promoted to the 3rd German League and immigrant clubs in general

People always bring up Schalke’s unique structure as a club, but never mention that they only survived & were able to spend money for the last decade thanks to Gazprom’s huge sponsorship & chairman Tönnies money from his meat company. They basically were owned by one man & his connection to a Russian gas monopolist.

Pretty accurate depiction of the whole situation. Good to understand for an outsider aswell as good explained even for people with insights of german football or even Schalke Supporters. Thou I had to turn a blind eye on the pronunciation. Well the video would have been to good if you would have nailed that too. ;)

This club has a special place in my heart, and I'm very sad of what happened to Schalke these days thanks to corona virus.

Although improbable, if Barca is not taken care of, they can have a similar downfall

Day 6 Petition for an HITC Sport x Sevens crossover episode

When I first got sober in 2015 I began to watch soccer and I fell in love. Shalke were in champions league that year if I remember or the year before but since then they have just gotten so bad. I would love to see them be at the top again.

Such a big club ..& 100% fan owned.. respect 👍

I’ve been waiting for this

This is a great career mode idea.

Great video as always! It will forever be a shame to see mismanagement at football clubs. Maybe a good future video Idea with could be the rise of FK Bodø/Glimt in becoming the first northern Norwegian team to win the top flight, particularly after promotion a couple of years ago.

There was no way I’d have sat through an entire video of this guy talking a year ago, he is so much more engaging now, well done!

I was recently sent a message with a picture of a cartoon character in a Schalke shirt. Translated it read - "Only three more defeats and it'll be Christmas."

Clemens Tönnies said some racist things aswell in past years, leading to his downfall at Schalke. As German and huge Bundesliga fan it's just sad to see Schalke in this situation. I'm a Werder Bremen supporter however I respect this club extremly because of their fan section. It would be so sad if they go down.

10 games 3 points, -25 GD with 6 GF and 31 GA .. thats fkin rough

Hi Alfie. I hope you are doing well. Can you please make a video on AC Milan and what has caused them to again be back on the top of their game?

You havent mentioned Ozan Kabak as a talented player. I feel like he deserves little mentioning. After breakout season with stuttgart, he had several grand offers from big clubs of europe including Bayern Munich but he choose Schalke thinking he have a bond with club and team could improve him to next level. It didnt go well despite his effort trying desperately to do something in defense. He lost his view as one of the most promising defender of top class. And definietly lost his confidence as a 20 years old have gone through so much bad stuff. Still being the most valuable player in schalke seeing him crying after games totally breaks my heart.

Couple of months later and we know, S04 is now only in the second Bundesliga

Such a sad story, terrible club management. That's why it's important to have a good GM, president, and club directors

I wanted this video because I was bored doing the research myself about the current state of Schlake Thanks Alfie

As a Leeds fan this sounds very familiar.

Day 11 of Top 7 Best Managers Outside the "Big Five" European Leagues

I'm a BvB fan I don't want Schalke get relegated. Revier Derby will never be the same

Next would you do a similar video on the situation of wigan athletic.

Seeing these as well as Bremen and Hamburg and Stuggart all struggling Brakes my heart I suppose that’s modern football

We are back

You are one of the most articulate KZfaq sports presenters!

Yay I’ve been hoping this video would be made! Hey I made the video! 😀 Good thing I watched to the end because I was going to suggest you do a rise and fall of Kaiserslautern

Football is imploding will never be same again

Is there any chance at all of Schalke staying up? Really really sad what has happened to a great club

Full BVB fan here, and I do like Schalke being pummeled week to week but sad to see one of the few clubs that at least has fans that respect the clubs working class culture and history. I hope they don't dissolve, for the sake of the Rivierderby. So many other old working class clubs are now far from it, and the fans don't associate their club with it - would be a real shame if we lost another one.

Mesut Ozil is from that schalke youth system too i think, i only remember that because i remember a photo of neuer and ozil next to each other as kids Beside a photo of them with the world cup trophy.... a pretty nice legacy of shalke youth

Just watched the first 10 seconds... Leverkusen never won trophies, just the German and European Cup each once. Wtf are you talking about?

A long way from the Ebbe Sand and Emile Mpenza days

Congrats , been a subscriber since day 1 .

minor mistake at 3:54: (west-)berlin wasn't actually the capital of the FRG (west germany) - it was bonn where the parliament, the seat of the government and almost all ministries were at that time. but you're right with the intention of the DFB, that they wanted to have a team representing (west-)berlin in the bundesliga despite tasmania didn't actually qualify for that.

Day 100: 2012-2013 and 2019-2020 Bayern Munich Combined XI

In German you have to pronounce the KN...(KNappenschmiede)as it is written. It is not a silent K as in English.

I would like to see someone do a spot on football during the war. I find it surprising that they even had football then.

Not even a Schalke fan but this hurt...

one of the greatest player come from Gelsenkirchen, Mesut Ozil

It's simple.... They're the new Sheffield United!

The secret to German pronunciation is we mostly tend to pronounce all the letters in a word. So neither the K nor the final e in "Knappenschmiede" are silent. ("Knappe" is an ancient word for "Bergmann", or (coal) miner. Gelsenkirchen used to be all about coal mining, which explains the stoic, tradition-oriented fan base mentality in much the same way as the former steelworkers of Dortmund explain their fan's tempers, quick to flare up and even burst into violence on occasion, but just as quick to shake and make up after.)

I became a fan of Schalke because of their cool logo and also the workers mentality. This is sad and embarrassing. Hoping not another Hamburg

6:42 he looks 16 and 50 at the same time