Sleeping Giants - Schalke 04

Football-club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04

Veltins-Arena  , Gelsenkerchen

    I'm not a big Bundesliga follower , but just a simple guy who wants to know more the past . Many believe perfection in passing is birth right to certain Dutch and Spanish players . I decided to take you guys to the past to show how wrong we are about stereotyping a certain style of football only to certain people .

An era before Ajax and Barcelona 

    Between 1933 and 1944 Schalke won 11 west German regional championships , 6 national championship ; first German double winners ; they never lost a home game ; 6 of those seasons they were undefeated . How did they do it ? with a style that later went on to conquer the world - passing and moving the ball ( which was unheard of at those age )

    The most important thing about that side was all those players came from Glensenkerchen  area - again a reminder this is an age much much before Ajax revolution . Those group of players literally lived like a family - most of them were mine workers ( which may also be the reason why they are nicknamed Die Knappen - miners , but i cannot confirm it ) . Just to show you how close the squad were - Fritzs Sepan legendary midfielder of that Schalke side married the sister of  Ernst Kuzzora ( many consider him as the best player ever to represent Schalke ) . Still the connections aren't finished yet

* Frtitz Sepan's sister married Fritz Tehen 

*Ernnst Reckmann and August Sobosttka - married two women , they were cousins .

* Bernhard Klodt and Hans Klodt  were brothers .

    So there ends the connections between the players . Just to show how closely knit they were . 

Ernst Kuzzora  with Schalke 04

    As with many other sides Schalke's playing style of that era is rumored to have come from famous glaswegian side Queens Park . What's more interesting about it was at first the Gelsenkirchen  media and the club's loyal fans were not very much in fond of their team's style of play . Once the local news paper quoted "  Schalke 's love affair with the ball is restricting and unproductive " . As they say people can accept only one change at a time .

Legendary Schalke side 

    This Schalke side was famous for keeping the ball , interchanging positions - all with one-touch passing . Thus resulting in their nickname "  Spinning - top " - they moved the ball side to side and also up and down the pitch .

    Unfortunately they haven't won a single Bundesliga so far , finishing mostly second or third . The gap between the Gelsenkirchen side and the likes of  Bayern Munich  and Borussia Dortmund have increased this season . They are undoubtedly the sleeping Giants of German football . 

-sv