Rot-Weiss Essen are back in Ulm for the first time since 1988. What not everyone might know: Fans of SSV 1846 are friends with an RWE rival.

When Rot-Weiss Essen plays host to SSV Ulm 1846 in the Third Division this Sunday (1.30 p.m., Donaustadion), a neighbour from the Ruhr region will also be pricking up its ears: The fan scenes of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and SSV 1846 have maintained a fan friendship for many years.

Since the end of the 1990s, supporters of both clubs have been friends with each other, the alliance: a very active one. Most recently, RWO fans visited their Swabian faithful at the away game in Duisburg on 25 August this year. Two Oberhausen banners hung in the Ulm visitors’ block. A day later, an SSV 1846 flag was emblazoned on the fence of the Revierkraft grandstand when Rot-Weiß played FC Gütersloh in the Regionalliga West.

A few years ago, a test match between Ulm and RWO already took place in Oberhausen – with a fan party afterwards. SSV 1846 had a training camp in the Lower Rhine region at the time. And when Ulm knocked Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt out of the first round of the DFB Cup in the summer of 2018, the Oberhausen fans celebrated the coup at home with loud “SSV Ulm” chants.

However, the friendship has already made unpleasant headlines. At Oberhausen’s regional league match in Lippstadt in February 2014, there were riots that lasted for hours. Those involved were: Supporters from the Ulm scene who had travelled to the match in two minibuses. This editorial team reported.

And this is where it gets explosive: For many years there has been a rivalry between Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Rot-Weiss Essen – every football fan in the Ruhr area should know that. In the years they played together in the Regionalliga, there were several heated derbies between the two clubs, whose stadiums are only 8.5 kilometres apart as the crow flies.

The last time Rot-Weiss Essen met its namesake from the neighbouring city was in June. The third-division club defeated the visitors 2:0 (0:0) in the final of the Niederrheinpokal. Simon Engelmann and Oguzhan Kefkir scored. One played for Oberhausen, the other is currently under contract with RWO.