In a effort to gain an understanding of events in Salzburg following Red Bull’s takeover of the city’s Bundesliga football club, I contacted the Initiative Violett-Weiss.

The co-operative created by supporters of Austria Salzburg were kind enough to reply, and what they have to say throws light on a situation in which a football club is aggressively exchanging traditional fan culture for something altogether different.

Have attendances at Salzburg matches increased or decreased since Red Bull took over?
Definitely increased. The home ground (holding approx. 18,000) has sold out only on rare occasions over the last few seasons. Now, under Red Bull rule, it is nearly always sold out. Well, ’sold’ is a bit the wrong word here: the company gives away free tickets for people who dress up in red bull costumes and who promise to cheer and shout for Salzburg, trying to motivate other football ‘consumers’ to sing along.

The ‘new’ club are unsympathetic to your aims, but are Salzburg fans generally supportive of your campaign?
This is really hard to tell. There were chants against violet fans in the stadium, but also supportive acclamation for some of our actions, banners, posters, etc. We receive a hell lot of supportive emails and comments, but also a few negative (some insulting) remarks about what we do.

If some fans are not giving their support to your cause, then why not?
As a rule of the thumb I guess one could say that most of the people in the stadium either don’t see the problem (their line of argument follows: “Red Bull has the money, Red Bull is the boss and that’s about it”) or that they simply don’t care (“No matter whether violet/white or white/red or blue/white, it’s still Salzburg”).

Finally, if significant numbers of true fans are pushed out by the club, then who will be left to support the team
Support as you know it (English style) and as our fan clubs know it (Italian or ultra style) is not what the club/company wants. Red Bull wants events, disco lights, ‘trendy’ techno sounds, a comedian as announcer in the stadium, the match ball being flown in by a base jumper, David Coulthard and Christian Klien doing the kick-off, sparkling wine and caviar for the vips. What they don’t want is chants, emotions, choreos, flying flags etc.

There are also a few guys around who seem to scent their opportunity to replace the well-established violet fan clubs, which have been among the top three kops in the county over the last few years and which are widely respected by other groups. They seem to aim at a close cooperation with the club, but to be honest it’s beyond our knowledge what red/blue supporters (if there are some) really plan and intend.

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See also: Austria Salzburg, Red Bull | Comments Off