Ryan Williams made the decision as he became so “fed up” of Manchester United, who have struggled so far this Premier League season and lost in the Manchester Derby yesterday
A British football fan ditched Manchester United after becoming “fed up” – and forked out £500 for a season ticket for a club in Germany instead.
Ryan Williams travels 500 miles every fortnight to watch VfL Bochum, in Germany’s west, after decising to cut allegiances with his lifelong team Man United. The 36-year-old man said he felt The Red Devils no longer “appreciates the fans” and watched them labour to a 15th-place finish in the Premier League last term.
He said he became “disconnected” with the Premier League’s spending and realised his support of Manchester United was a “superficial fandom”. Ryan, a driving instructor who used to travel from his home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to Manchester every other week, said: “Naturally, as a United fan that grew up in the ’90s my fandom was built on glory.
“I would have previously agreed that you can’t switch clubs. On paper it doesn’t look great, but I see it as I made a decision as a five-year-old to support fandom and glory.
“As you grow up you realise you live three hours from Old Trafford and once the big players go, it’s a superficial fandom. It never affected my day if United lost. The suffering doesn’t come from the form of the team over the past 10 years though… I know that’ll be the narrative for some. It would be no different if we were still winning the Premier League.”
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Unlike the UK, German clubs have to abide by the 50+1 ownership rule – which ensures that 51% of the club remains under the overall control of club members and protects the club from unwanted external influence.
After travelling the country for the Euros last summer, Ryan quickly fell in love with German football and now travels every other week to western Germany to watch VfL Bochum play. He has an “away season ticket” which set him back £500, but a home season ticket for the stand behind the goal costs half of that.
He now spends £130 for a return flight making the 480 mile journey every other week to watch his new club. However, Ryan, also a content creator, doesn’t have to pay for hotels or food when there – instead he’s welcomed into people’s homes to stay for free after sharing his story on social media – and he’s even got a tattoo of Bochum’s stadium, The Ruhrstadion, tattooed on his arm.
“This little love story has blossomed, and I fully support this club. They were relegated from the Bundesliga to the Bundesliga 2 last season,” Ryan continued.
“I can’t justify putting my money into a club who doesn’t appreciate the fans. In a similar way people watch FC United of Manchester or their local non-league side – I found my calling in Bochum.
“I know Man United have been awful and it had nothing to do with the way they played but the feeling I got from the community isn’t what it once was. I’ve found that the Germans love the fact that their league can be appreciated. A lot of what Germany is the fan culture.
“They have the fan owned club model with the 50+1 rule, and although they’ve lost a lot of players to the Prem, a lot of Bundesliga fans feel sorry for us that we’ve lost our clubs to billionaires.”
Ryan has documented some of his trips to Germany on social media, meaning he rarely has to fork out for anything when he’s there. He said: “Tourists or foreign fans have a negative stigma at football in the UK and they are often blamed for the downfall of the Premier League whereas in Germany that’s not the case.
“Little things like the price of beer is so much cheaper and there’s just a whole nice feeling. You can drink on the streets in Germany unlike in England, so many fans will grab bottles and cans for less than Euro 2 each and drink them outside the stadium.
“Inside the ground it’s more like £4 a pint, but the beer is brewed differently and tastes so much better. They also support their local breweries for example in Bochum they drink ‘Fiege’.
“I never have to buy a beer as they always buy for me – I come out of games wrecked as it’s too hard to say no. When I get there, I don’t pay for hotels or anything. I stay with fans, and they refuse to take any money off me. The passion from the people for the club is infectious.”