BVB mourns the loss of one of its fan pioneers. Rolf-Arnd Marewski worked at the Dortmund fan project for 30 years.
Borussia Dortmund mourns the loss of one of its fan pioneers. Rolf-Arnd Marewski passed away unexpectedly last week at the age of 66.
The social worker had headed the Dortmund fan project until his retirement in 2018. Marewski, who played in goal for BVB himself in his youth, had been a member of the fan project since it was founded in 1988.
The fan project was launched in 1988 as part of a job creation scheme (ABM) run by the Dortmund employment office in conjunction with the Dortmund Municipal Sports Association. The hooligan movement was in its heyday and Dortmund was home to the so-called “Borussen-Front”. The plan was to gain access to the clientele within the framework of social work and thus bring about changes in behavior.
In the commemorative publication for the 25th anniversary, Marewski recalled: “These considerations were certainly due to the appearances of a notorious fan group in Dortmund, a fan club appropriated and instrumentalized by the right-wing extremist FAP, the “Borussen-Front”, which spread fear and terror in many Bundesliga stadiums.”
Fan project quickly found imitators
The ABM lasted two years. After that, the fan project became established thanks to funding from the city of Dortmund and BVB – and Marewski was initially the only permanent employee. Thilo Danielsmeyer joined in 1992 and is still employed at the fan project today. The core project is and remains working with soccer fans.
The Dortmund fan project became a successful model and quickly found imitators in other cities. This was despite the fact that this type of social work was initially viewed critically due to its indispensable proximity to the “problem groups”. “We were a team for almost 30 years,” recalls Thilo Danielsmeyer on Borussia Dortmund’s website about his long-time companion. “Rolf accompanied and supported generations of young BVB fans during the difficult phase of growing up. He was a tireless fighter against right-wing tendencies and all forms of racism and thus an important pioneer of the fantastic, colorful fan scene that we can be so proud of in Dortmund. “