Borussia Dortmund will host FC Schalke 04 in a third-tier women’s football fixture at the Stadion Rote Erde on Sunday, drawing a verified crowd of 17,555 spectators that sets a new German attendance record for a match in the division.
The fixture surpasses previous benchmarks for the Regionalliga West, aided by special permissions obtained by Borussia Dortmund to expand capacity at the historic venue directly adjacent to the Signal Iduna Park.
“We are talking about the Regionalliga. That is completely crazy. We are getting over 17,000 people in there,” Alexandra Popp said.
Popp will captain Borussia Dortmund into the fixture carrying a lifelong allegiance to the club alongside family loyalties divided by the Revier rivalry. Her late father, Andreas Popp, supported FC Schalke 04 before his death four years ago.
“He would, in his very humorous way, certainly needle a bit,” Popp said of her father’s expected reaction to the fixture.
The 35-year-old forward moved to Borussia Dortmund from VfL Wolfsburg in the summer following 336 Bundesliga appearances.
Borussia Dortmund established its women’s department in 2021, beginning in the Kreisliga B before investing heavily in infrastructure and recruitment under project leaders Svenja Schlenker and Carsten Cramer.
The squad added seven Bundesliga players ahead of the current campaign, including Austrian international goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger from Arsenal, alongside former Werder Bremen and SGS Essen players, while luring sporting director Ralf Kellermann from VfL Wolfsburg.
The team leads the Regionalliga West standings after winning all 12 matches with a 59-1 goal difference, averaging 3,527 spectators prior to the record-breaking fixture.
FC Schalke 04 occupies second place in the division with an 11-point deficit, operating under a contrasting financial model that relies on amateur status and academy integration.
“Hats off to what BVB has done. But we simply do not have those possibilities. And I also do not know how many clubs in Germany have possibilities like that at all,” Boris Liebing, head of women’s football at FC Schalke 04, told WELT.
Schalke founded its women’s department in 2020, basing its structure on the Knappenschmiede youth system by maintaining teams from the U11 level upward while utilizing the Berger Field training ground and the Parkstadion.
The fixture arrives as German women's football moves toward a newly formed league association independent of the German Football Association starting next year, following the expansion of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga to 14 clubs.
“I am a football traditionalist. But it is simply something completely different when Bayern Munich plays against Eintracht Frankfurt than when Turbine Potsdam meets 1. FFC Frankfurt,” Liebing told WELT regarding the growing dominance of men’s club brands in the top flight.
Sunday’s encounter kicks off shortly before 15:00 local time (14:00 UTC) at the Stadion Rote Erde in Dortmund, operating without high-risk security classifications as both clubs prepare for upcoming league fixtures.
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