Hipster Corner - The Yellow Wall
The Yellow Wall, tremendous Tifos, and German fan culture – why Dortmund is the place to be.
There is nothing quite like Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall. 25,000 fans can pack into this part of the club’s Westfalenstadion and create one of the best atmospheres in the game.
The stadium itself is the largest in Germany, the third-largest home to a top-flight European club after Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabeu, and it holds the European record for average fan attendance, set in the 2011–2012 season with almost 1.37 million spectators over 17 games at an average of 80,588 per game. That’ll take some beating.
The stadium is famed for its Yellow Wall: a spellbinding sight in the south stand that may not be quite visible from outer space, but the noise can certainly reach up to the stars.
At 328ft long and 131ft high, the Südtribüne (South Stand) of one of world football's most magnificent venues packs in enough people to make up a town. A raucous, atmospheric, mesmerising view that can cause opposing teams to fall.
Asked before a game against Borussia Dortmund what he was most wary of, former Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger responded: “It’s the Yellow Wall I’m most afraid of.”
A combination of fan power and design make the Yellow Wall – a term that originated in 2005.
Built ahead of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Signal Iduna Park has since undergone a series of expansions that have made it the biggest ground in Germany today, with a capacity of 81,365. The south stand doubled in size not long after Dortmund's 1997 UEFA Champions League triumph.
And the beauty of the stadium, and, the Yellow Wall is the coming together of supporters from all walks of life. As soon as one takes their place on the mouth-watering grandstand, the cultures of the many become the culture of one: a united front armed to repel against Dortmund’s foes.
Prior to kick-off, fans in Black-and-Yellow join to sing out wonderful renditions of that famous footballing anthem, 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. A place where passion meets ecstasy. It is unique and inspiring, bringing pride to the people who stand at the heart of it.
The stadium garners its huge reputation not just through its wondrous structure and vibe.
9 April 2013 will arguably go down as the most dramatic moment in recent memory. Dortmund’s 92nd winner against that season’s fairy-tale story Malaga in the UEFA Champions League second leg had the entire North Rhine-Westphalia region rocking.
Later that campaign, the individual brilliance of Robert Lewandowski as he scored four goals to humble the mighty Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
All of this of course coming under the stewardship of Jurgen Klopp, who probably experienced the best the famous Yellow Wall had to offer.
Supporter choreography in the form of a Tifo, just as superb as the football Klopp’s team played, followed by a 3-2 win over Werder Bremen to secure Europa League qualification. It prompted a tearful goodbye from Klopp to the wall and the wall to Klopp.
That’s the power of Dortmund’s enchanting Westfalenstadion. It merges aesthetic beauty with emotional magnificence.