Test match between SG Dynamo Dresden and FC Slovan Liberec at the Friendship Stadium in Görlitz on March 24, 2022
If you see photos of the condition of the sanitary rooms in the “Junge Welt” stadium in Görlitz, you immediately want to go to the almost elegant-looking toilets in the editorial offices of the daily newspaper young world hurry and show your gratitude in all modesty. After that, the obligation remains to report on how sport is being promoted in this country. This is similar to failure to provide assistance on a large scale.
The stadium in the city on the border with Poland, which opened in 1951, is proof of this. You feel “absolutely left alone,” says Carsten Liebig, president of the Lower Silesian football club Gelb-Weiß Görlitz, in an interview with regard to the dilapidated condition of the venue jW. “No one cares about the terrible sanitary facilities,” he says, and then refers to those who are concerned because they have to use them. Liebig reports on parents who canceled their children’s training because of this.
The unreasonable circumstances are by no means self-inflicted: Yellow-White has leased the venue from the city, which in turn maintains the lawn. But the municipality is short of money and will soon become even poorer: like them Saxon newspaper reported on November 6th, a special district meeting is scheduled for November 15th to vote on new “savings” for the Görlitz district budget through reduced funds from the Free State. Tax-financed renovations to public facilities such as the stadium on Girbigsdorfer Strasse are turning into fever dreams.
For sports clubs like the former company sports group of the Waggonbau Görlitz operating company, the situation is messy: the leased facilities do not belong to them and their own coffers are tight. Every investment carries a corresponding risk of being ruined or – if the lease is expiring – being built for the cat. In addition, according to Liebig, there are bureaucratic hurdles when applying for funding, which is always in short supply: “The pots are quickly empty.”
Meanwhile, Gelb-Weiß is fighting the decline of the “Junge Welt” stadium with subbotniks from club members and parents and has started a fundraising campaign to finance the most urgent renovations. “Save our world” (www.gofundme.com/f/rettet-unsere-welt-die-5-euro-challenge) is the title of the crowdfunding, organized by, among others, Yvonne UnFertig, one of the club’s trainers. The fundraising goal is 20,000 euros, and a good three quarters are still missing. However, according to Liebig, the “great social commitment” in the club’s environment, fueled by the ongoing campaign, can already be felt, and in addition to collecting mostly small amounts from private individuals, discussions are also being held with new sponsors. Nevertheless, every euro and every helping hand is desperately needed.
There was already an example of the success of fundraising on a much larger scale in Saxony this year: the “Football belongs to the fans” campaign organized by FSV Zwickau brought in over 543,000 euros after the first men’s team was relegated from professional football in the summer. This prevented an investor takeover as well as the club’s insolvency. Sachsenring received countless expressions of solidarity, including from Austria and England. Friendly fans of SG Dynamo Dresden supported the campaign, as did rivals from the Regionalliga Nordost, BSG Chemie Leipzig.
Meanwhile, the von der Görlitz association with its 250 members bakes smaller bread rolls. Attention is paid to sustainability: the renovation and modernization of the stadium should benefit club sports in the long term; In view of discussions with the city, Liebig indicates a longer lease of 15 years than desired. The decision on this is still pending. An important factor for those involved will also be building authority reports on the “Junge Welt”.
Shifting the responsibility of saving socio-cultural and club sports infrastructure onto volunteers and forcing them to keep their hands open for private donations is an expression of the state’s step-fatherly attitude toward municipalities. They are feeling the effects of privatization, which comes with underfinancing, also in view of migration. The club, in whose youth departments the national players Hans-Jürgen “Dixie” Dörner and Jens Jeremies once learned to play, is, according to Liebig, facing a “major integration task”. Children and young people from seven nations are currently campaigning against the pill at the NFV. Some people don’t know German, “but you don’t need that to play football,” says Liebig. However, the Dixie Dörner of this century needs a reasonable venue in which the toilets are usable and the roofs over the changing rooms are rainproof.
