FC Schalke 04 will once again be accompanied by many supporters at the training camp in Mittersill. The chairwoman of the Schalke Fan Club Association Melanie Illburger draws an interim conclusion from the fans’ point of view.
As in the previous year, Melanie Illburger is spending her holiday in Mittersill. It is no coincidence that the FC Schalke 04 training camp is taking place there at the same time. The 46-year-old is the chairwoman of the Schalke Fan Club Association (SFCV). For Forecasting, she draws an interim conclusion. And a comparison.
Because when asked what the biggest difference is between the 2022 training camps after promotion to the Bundesliga and 2023 after relegation to the 2nd division, she answered in sporting terms: “You can see that training is much more intensive than last year,” says Illburger. “The training under Thomas Reis looks completely different from the training under Frank Kramer.”
Accordingly, she says, it doesn’t really matter to her that the test match against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday was lost 0:2. “Of course you prefer to win, but the most important thing is that we find a team that fits together.”
She has great confidence in the work of the coaching team and the sporting management, she said. But she still has one request: “We absolutely have to do something in defence. We are not yet well enough manned there.” But she is sure that the team around sport director André Hechelmann will do its job. “And if Rodrigo Zalazar is sold, we would also need a replacement,” she thinks.
Illburger has already been to Austria privately with her husband in 2018, but now she is there on business. “We four colleagues from the SFCV board share the training camps. This time I am here with my colleague Ludger Derijck. In addition, our Infomobile is on site with three female staff members.” The SFCV office in Gelsenkirchen will be closed during this time.
And there is always something to do. For example, together with the fan affairs department of the S04, they accompanied two fan buses for the test match against Copenhagen in Kufstein. Illburger: “We were on one bus, and the fan affairs department was on the other. “
The fans who are here are all looking forward to the new season
Melanie Illburger
The mood is as good as last year, she says. There can be no talk of moping around. “The fans who are here are all looking forward to the new season. After all, many of them have known each other for years.” She attributes the fact that this time, with a total of 600 to 1,000 (many supporters do not stay there for the whole week), there are about half as many as a year ago to the short-notice scheduling after relegation. “There was little time to plan. We were all hoping to stay in the Bundesliga,” says Illburger. Moreover, the date is very early.
In other respects, too, the club has offered a great programme so far. The real highlight from the fans’ point of view, however, is still to come on Thursday with the “Blue and White Night”. “Most fans look forward to that,” says Illburger. Although the players are happy to be available for photos and autographs after training, the schedule is naturally tight. That’s why it’s great to have a little more time for that.
The celebration will take place high up on the mountain in the mountain restaurant of the Wildkogelbahn in Neukirchen am Großvenediger. After a colourful social programme, the players will arrive from about 8.30 pm. “And then on Sunday morning, after the previous visit to the test match against Gornik Zabrze on Saturday, it’s back home again,” says Illburger. After all, holidays don’t last forever.
