Ouch, the 5th division is definitely becoming a problem for Wuppertal, in an unexpected vein. After the opening away match against Rattingen was canceled, the second away match at SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter (that’s a mouthful, makes Mönchengladbach look like an abbreviation) was also canceled, and the rumour is that the next away match at Rhede will suffer the same fate.

The reason is that the small clubs don’t have the facilities to entertain the “expected” crowds of traveling rowdies. According to police documents, there is a hardcore of some 300 Wuppertalers who are “ready for violence”, whatever that means. And some 80-100 are expected to be going on away trips. Virtually none of these smaller clubs have stadiums that allow for separation of fans, nor the necessary insurance. So they’re canceling the matches and leaving it in the federation’s hands to do something.

Of course the numbers given by police (some secretive investigative squad, a cross between the FBI and Stasi) are highly disputed, since there haven’t been 300 rowdies at a WSV match in decades. Everyone recognizes that it’s hardly something like Rostock vs Dresden that we’re talking about, so the same “security” measures shouldn’t apply. However until the federation takes charge, it’s all in limbo. Part of the problem is that the lower divisions are managed by the regional federations, and they won’t make a move until the DFB changes some of the statutes in place in the top flights (1-3 Liga). So in the meantime, it looks like it’s only home games for Wuppertal…