Welcome to the winter of uncertainty. This was a weekend on which Bundesliga fans united to protest against the league’s clubs voting to press ahead and negotiate with private equity firms to sell a portion of international television rights, anathema to supporters who believe fans, rather than big business, should steer the direction of the game in Germany. There were 12 minutes of silence at the stadiums – representing the fans’ role as the 12th man – and the throwing of tennis balls and chocolate coins (Bochum’s Takuma Asano unwrapped and ate one of the coins, presumably giving him the extra energy to rattle in a volley and open the scoring in the 3-0 win over Union Berlin).
In a culture where supporter implication, and atmosphe…