Blood, sweat and cheers: how Union Berlin rose from ruin to Europe’s elite

First Champions League home game is payback for supporters who went to extraordinary lengths to keep German club afloat

Berlin's Olympic Stadium is illuminated with the colours of Union Berlin on the eve of Turesday's Champions League match against Sporting Braga.

“ONE story sums up Union,” says Mark Jameson, an Englishman living in Berlin who has followed Union for more than 20 years. “One of the ultras at our rivals, Hertha, was ill. He had leukemia. There was a campaign at Hertha to find the right blood match for him. But Union also did this, and the club set up a blood station at a home game. More than 500 of our fans queued up that day to donate blood to this guy.” 

It is a little anecdote that illustrates Union’s ethos and the importance of community, even with rivals. Winning is not the most important measure of success in this pocket of east Berlin, although there has been rather a lot of that recently.