Decode the name of a German football club and you will understand much about that club. Here is a typical example – a club name in full, official glory: BV Borussia Dortmund 09 eV. The abbreviation, “eV” is a mere technicality and means “registered club”. Preceding “eV”, 09 refers to the date of the club’s formation – in 1909. Borussia would refer to neo-Latin for Prussia, a favorite of patriotic and liberal middle-class students, who often founded the clubs.
Instead, for Dortmund, there was little pretence about cultivated motives – the founders picked Borussia because it was an advertisement for a local brewery in the pub where the club was founded. Finally, BV stands for Ballspielverein, a club for ball games.
This, then, is not a pernickety exercise for football geeks. Decipher the club name of RasenBallsport Leipzig eV, the latest club to play in the Bundesliga, and one discovers a contraband name. RasenBallsport translates to “lawn sports”, a fairly innocuous name, but the “R” and “B” reveal that Leipzig is an unequivocal part of a conglomerate of sports franchises that includes their Austrian feeder club FC Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls and Formula One’s Red Bull Racing. German Football Association regulations prohibit a corporate name.
A misfit
RB Leipzig are an artificial construct in the heartland of German club football, the inverse of football tradition, a soulless entity, coated with doltish branding. In 2009, Red Bull and their Austrian owner Dietrich Mateschitz bought a fifth-tier team from the East German region of Saxony called SSV Markranstädt. They immediately rebranded the name, crest and kit of the club as part of their ascension plans.
Last season, RB Leipzig gained promotion to the Bundesliga, the elite tier of German football, a longstanding home for Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 eV, and other clubs of standing. Yet RB Leipzig have not relented: They keep winning, with a breathless, modern play of style – against opponents of a different calibre, and without expensive acquisitions of established star players.
Among the bourgeoning clique of European nouveau riche clubs, often infused with dubious foreign capital and led by autocratic owners, RB Leizpig are a curiosum. They are a misfit next to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. Red Bull has invested about $100 million, but they have not ostentatiously plundered other clubs to get the human resources supposedly required for success at the elite level.
On top of the Bundesliga
RB Leipzig’s biggest signings before their first Bundesliga season were Oliver Burke, a 21-year-old midfielder from Nottingham Forrest, Naby Keita from Red Bull Salzburg and 20-year-old striker Timo Werner from Stuttgart. The average age of the squad tops just 23.
At the heart of RB Leipzig’s success is sporting director Ralf Rangnick. He has designed the club’s style of play, training methods and transfer policy. Rangnick implemented that same vision at Turn-und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim eV. They topped the table with Roberto Firmino scoring the goals before Rangnick left after a break with the owner over sporting matters.
Then, there is the “Apline Klopp”, with the same touchline histrionics and heavy metal demeanour as Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp. Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl rose to prominence at Ingolstadt, the club he guided to the Bundesliga. The Austrian balances fine-tuned tactics with motivational talks for his players.
RB Leipzig, Rangnick and Hasenhüttl have been shrewd, taking advantageous of their cash injection, but all the while applying their own blueprint and vision. In Germany, RB Leizpig are not the first arrivistes to be frowned upon. Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg eV, Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH and Hoffenheim enjoy similar corporate backing. Gradually, notwithstanding their envious and bitter detractors, those clubs were accepted as part of the German football landscape. RB Leizpig have not been accepted yet, but topping the Bundesliga, with a 2-1 win against Schalke 04 at the weekend, is proof that they are a serious club.
