The spectacular and criticised choreography of the S04 fans against Freiburg had consequences for Schalke. Nevertheless, it was popular with the fans.

It had caused a sensation nationwide and was highly controversial at the same time: When the fans of FC Schalke 04 presented a special choreography at the Bundesliga match against SC Freiburg at the end of October 2022, it also caused a lot of criticism on and off the pitch because of the use of smoke pots.

The users of the internet portal diefalsche9.de, however, now voted exactly this performance as the choreography of the year. The Knappen had won the October vote with 43 per cent of the 16,144 voting users, but now they also won the year with 31.19 per cent of the votes.

Second place went to Hertha BSC, third to 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Before the kick-off of the Bundesliga match Schalke 04 against SC Freiburg at the end of October, the following happened: During the teams’ run-in, a huge Schalke jersey made of plastic foil was presented in front of the Nordkurve. By igniting pyrotechnics, the shirt then changed colour – white became blue. It looked spectacular, but the whole action also backfired: the blue smoke escaped very slowly from the jersey, which is why large sections of the fans in the standing-room area were unable to see the pitch for the first few minutes.

Schalke: Police angry and fined

As the smoke continued to escape, it flowed towards S04 goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow’s goal. Referee Christian Dingert stopped the game for several minutes. The Gelsenkirchen police even saw this action as a “breach of trust”, as they announced in a press release at the time. “Contrary to what had been agreed, the fans burned numerous smoke pots, among other things. This affected both spectators and the teams of both clubs. The police point out that the burning of pyrotechnics of any kind is prohibited in football stadiums because it is hazardous to health.”

The DFB sports court recently fined Schalke 16,000 euros for this very choreography.