group: Ultras Wuppertal , text: “Dringend muss mehr Forschung her, denn in der Kurve fehlt heut wer #CURE ME/CFS” (“Urgently, more research is needed, because someone is missing in the stands today #CURE ME/CFS”)
Category: Allgemein
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Succesful Start to the New Year: Awareness Matchday in Wuppertal
On January 24, 2026, our first awareness matchday of this year took place at Wuppertaler SV during the game against SSVg Velbert. At our information stand, WSV fans could learn about ME/CFS and get our solidarity T-shirt in exchange for a donation. Behind our information stand, we also prepared a small exhibition about our illnesses and Empty Stands. In addition to donations by fans on matchday, we also received the cup donations, which will benefit the ME/CFS Research Foundation.
Furthermore, during halftime we had the opportunity to conduct an interview in which we talked about the realities of people who are mildly and severely ill and communicated the need for research, care, and recognition.
We would like to extend our thanks to WSV, the fan council, and the fan project Wuppertal, as well as to all the volunteers on site, for the successful awareness matchday. We are already looking forward to the next ones. We have a lot planned for this year!
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1. FC Union Berlin: Eiserne Kirsch Kolonne
group: Eiserne Kirsch Kolonne, text: “Rote Karte für Psychosomatik! #CURE MECFS“ (“Red Card for psychosomatics! #CURE MECFS“)
We also made a sticker out of this banner.
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Friends of an affected person
texts: „ME/CFS-Forschung unterstützen“ (“Support ME/CFS research”), „Support #emptystands“, „ME/CFS anerkennen!“ (“Recognize ME/CFS!”), „CURE ME/CFS: Betroffenen glauben!“ (“CURE ME/CFS: Believe patients!”)
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Awareness Matchday in Hamburg
On November 30th, our next Awareness Matchday took place during the match between Hamburger SV and VFB Stuttgart. As part of this, we informed visitors about ME/CFS at an information booth. We were also able to conduct a stadium interview before the game. In collaboration with the ME/CFS Research Foundation, we also launched a fundraising campaign for this match day. At a designated spot (“Ankerplatz”), we and the fans had the opportunity to leave wishes about what should change in the way our diseases are handled in the society.
We are particularly thankful that we were able to carry out the first-ever team walk-out action as a sign for ME/CFS patients. The HSV captain for this game, Nicolas Capaldo, walked onto the field with a pair of shoes instead of a walk-out child to symbolize the absence of children affected by ME/CFS. This was explained by DAZN and thus also drew the attention of television viewers to the campaign.
We would like to thank all the helpers on site, the ME/CFS Research Foundation for co-planning the action, Nordtribüne e. V. and the Fan Project for the support on site, the Hamburger SV for making this action matchday possible and all the media outlets which made our awareness matchday visible.
© Matthias Scharf 
© Matthias Scharf 
© Matthias Scharf 
© Matthias Scharf 
© Matthias Scharf 
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Dresdner SC: Fanszene Friedrichstadt
group: Fanszene Friedrichstadt, text: “Wir fordern: Mehr Forschung zu ME/CFS!” (“We demand: More research on ME/CFS!”)
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Awareness Matchday in Hannover
Friday evening – floodlights – 49,000 stadium visitors – SOLD OUT. Never before has one of our campaigns taken place in front of so many spectators. Perfect conditions for a top-class match between Hannover 96 and Schalke 04, as well as for our next matchday campaign, which was carried out as part of the nationwide “Day of Invisible Disabilities.”
In the run-up to the match, 96-fan Sina, daughter of someone affected by ME/CFS, and Anna from our organizing team visited the podcast “Vorwärts nach weit”. Additionally, 96-fan Meike, a long-time visitor of the North Stand and ME/CFS sufferer, was interviewed on the club’s homepage. On matchday itself, the organizing team was supported by five volunteers from Hannover and Essen, from the Lost Voices Foundation, and by Thomas Wheeler from “Deutschlandfunk Kultur”.
We set up am information booth in front of the stadium with our posters. There, we engaged in conversations with many fans and some international guests about ME/CFS in the hours before the kickoff. We were also able to collect donations for the ME/CFS Research Foundation and for our further campaigns. During the pre-match program, our awareness video and parts from the interview with Meike were shown on the video screens. Furthermore, a member of the organizing team was interviewed on the coaching bench about our engagement and ways to support us – absolutely goosebump-inducing moments.
We were particularly impressed by the awareness team “Das Ufer”. They were very friendly, interested, and appreciative toward us. We were provided with water, tea, and coffee. Beyond that, we would like to thank the Fan Project Hannover, Juri Geddert (CSR Manager for Corporate Responsibility and Project Work), “Rote Kurve” for the donations from sales of the “Sticker Mix” bags, our volunteers, the podcast “Vorwärts nach weit”, Thomas Wheeler from “Deutschlandfunk Kultur” for the media coverage of the Awareness Matchday, as well as all fans who encouraged us in various ways, donated, and contributed to making the campaign day a success. A very special thank you goes to Sina and Maike, who shared their personal experiences in advance during media appearances. Because of that, many fans were well informed about our Awareness Matchday and have shown much interest for our topic.
We’re already looking forward to our next campaigns. If you’d like to organize similar campaigns at your club and have contacts, please feel free to get in touch with us.
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Recognition at the German Football Culture Awards
On October 24, 2025, the German Football Culture Awards were presented, and we were right in the thick of it. We, as EmptyStands, were nominated for the easyCredit Fan Prize “Barrier-Free to Football.” Unfortunately, we did not win the prize; it was apparently a very close call. The jury praised us several times (also in the conversation afterwards) and expressed their appreciation. Bittersweet, but the winners from the Inclusive Fan Clubs of TSG Wilhemsdorf also very much deserved it, and in the end, the evening was well spent networking and exchanging experiences, as there were many well-known faces there, and not just from the world of football. For instance, we sat in the immediate vicinity of Claudia Roth, Jürgen Klopp and Alexandra Popp. For the greats in football, Empty Stands is something quite new, but after yesterday, at least some have heard of us and know the basics of who we are and what our mission is.
At the award ceremony, alongside the Fan Prize, the Football Book and the Football Quote of the Year were also chosen. The jury’s decision for the football book went to Barbi Markovics “Piksi Book.” Juror and podcaster Danny Neidl described the novel in his laudatory speech as a “literary solo run – fast-paced, poignant, and deeply moving […].” For the Football Quote of the Year, everyone present was allowed to get involved and vote. The choices were “Then the dice will be rolled again” by Lothar Matthäus about the national team’s goalkeeper situation, as well as “I used to watch for 80 minutes, today it’s 90,” by Nils Petersen looking back on his role as a top joker. In the end, Nils Petersen won, and even if we won’t reveal here what we voted for, let it be said: we naturally voted for the only right quote. At the end of the evening, Jürgen Klopp received the Walther Bensemann Prize, an award for his cultural bridge-building, just as Walther Bensemann did in 1898 by organizing the first international match.
After the official part, a gala was held to celebrate the day. With appetizers, sparkling wine, and the occasional (unfortunately not stadium-) beer, the evening came to a nice conclusion. For my partner and me as Hertha fans, a small unofficial highlight consisted of meeting Hans Meyer, who led Hertha BSC to league safety in the 03/04 season. He took our enthusiasm with humor and asked if we knew that he wasn’t Jürgen Klopp. Yes, we knew, and that was exactly the reason for our excitement. After further intense conversations, a long, exciting day slowly drew to a close, and we left the stage of the after-show party to Thiemo Müller (Kicker), Jonas Karpka (journalist and activist), as well as Nikfried from “behindert nicht den Fußball” and all the others. Even without winning the prize, we were able to show everyone that Empty Stands does not belong on the substitution bench, but is an established force in the lineup of the barrier-free football world.
