1. FC Köln

About 1. FC Köln

1. FC Köln is not just any club. It is special. For example, because fans and members do not abandon this club even if it doesn't win titles. Because its stadium is sold out even in the 2nd Bundesliga. Because it has humor and is nevertheless seriously professional. And you can feel that, for instance, when Hennes VIII. runs into the stadium. When the team wears carnival jerseys with a billy goat and city crest, celebrates its goals to the sound of the “Trömmelsche”, and the fans celebrate a player from Nigeria as a “kölsche Jung” (Cologne boy). The FC represents the heart and soul of Cologne, Germany's fourth-largest city. Hardly any city identifies so intensely with its club: 80 percent of Cologne residents feel a connection to the FC and are interested in the club's performance. The identification with people and the city is expressed not least in the club and training center, which is accessible to everyone, right in the middle of the Grüngürtel (green belt). In January 2023, the club has around 124,000 members, almost half of whom come from Cologne and the surrounding area. There are 909 FC fan clubs in Germany, but fans have also joined together in Belgium, England, Spain, and even in Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Nigeria. Economically, the FC is an important factor for the sports city of Cologne; the club's partners and sponsors form the largest business network in the Rhineland. This is 1. FC Köln. This is us. This is: Noticeably different.