Solidarity in the stadium

Farewell to mining: FC Schalke 04 celebrates its history as a workers' club in December 2018. © picture alliance Farewell to mining: FC Schalke 04 celebrates its history as a workers' club in December 2018. © picture alliance - Football clubs in former coal mining areas play an important role in terms of social cohesion between the now unemployed In large swathes of Germany's industrial Ruhr Valley region, coal mining is a thing of the past as is true in other European coalfields. But people in the affected regions continue to be hard hit by the associated job losses, as jobs not only secured their livelihoods, but also created a sense of community. At the Max Planck Institute for Human Development Julia Wambach is looking into what replaced worker solidarity and has come across two committed football clubs: FC Schalke 04 and the French club RC Lens. Text: Julia Wambach, Max Planck Institute for Human Development In the industrialization era, coal mining and steel production served as an economic engine and a guarantee for secure jobs, but the coal and steel industry began to decline in the second half of the 20^th century. Around two thirds of jobs in the coal mining and steel industries were lost in the Ruhr Valley between 1976 and 1998, a development that was reflected in other coal and steel regions.