It's precisely 5.45:302 in the afternoon on the day of the Gelsenkirchen derby, and tram number XNUMX is bouncing.
The twenty-minute, eight-kilometer journey to the Veltins Arena provides only a hint of the riotous noise that awaits us.
There are less than three hours left until the start of the match between Schalke 04 and Nuremberg.
Dedications to Schalke in the form of stickers, graffiti and murals can be found on almost every available surface, surrounded by scenes reminiscent of the industrial heritage of this region.
The stadium is located on a hill on the outskirts of the city, and in front of each entrance there is a large number of eager fans.
The aroma of beer and sausage and cigarette smoke can be felt in the air.
An hour before the start of the match, the northern stand where Schalke's ultras are located is full and noisy.
Before the start of the match, there are 62.000 people in the stands, so it is difficult to hear your own thoughts.
This is a ritual characteristic of Schalke and is performed every time the club plays international matches.
In the last twenty seasons, they have played eight times in the Champions League.
They reached the semi-finals in 2011 when they lost to Manchester United.
In their most recent appearance in the elite competition, they reached the round of 2019 in XNUMX when they were defeated by Manchester City.
But this is a very different stage, and the stakes are different.
This is Bundesliga 2, the second tier of competition in Germany.
Schalke, founded on May 4, 1904, that is, 120 years ago, is a dying giant and is close to its second consecutive relegation from the league and, by all accounts, straight into oblivion.
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Despite recent assurances that the club's finances are stable, the sustainability of this debt-laden club is questionable.
Schalke was the champion of Germany seven times, but only once after the Second World War - in the 1957/58 season.
How did this colossus - the third largest club in Germany by the number of fans and the third most trophies in the history of league football - manage to reach the edge of the precipice?
And is there any way for him to return to the big stage?
"Their fans have apocalyptic visions," says journalist Felix Tamsut, who writes about football philosophy for Spiegel and other media.
"There are other clubs in Germany that are in crisis, clubs that are declaring bankruptcy, but I don't think I've ever seen the fans of a big club like Schalke behave like this.
"From the perspective of German football, things like this are shocking.
"It is a huge club, with around 160.000 members. They have more members than Real Madrid, more than many big European clubs.
"Shalke is the most extreme case of a club trying to spend more money than it has."
"Having a lot of fans doesn't mean you have money, but they still spend like they used to, thinking things will take care of themselves."
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In 2016, Schalke signed a contract with a teenager from Switzerland, Bril Embol, for what was said at the time to be 25 million euros.
This transfer was announced to the fans through a video message in which it was mentioned that the club beat the competition in the form of Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal.
But three years later, after 10 goals in 48 league games, Embolo was sold to Borussia Mönchengladbach for half the amount of money spent to bring him in.
Nabil Bentaleb, who was bought from Tottenham in 2017 for 19 million euros, left without compensation when his contract expired.
Embolo and Bentaleb are just two examples of bad scouting in the last few years.
And not only did Schalke buy them for a lot of money, but he also sold them badly.
Key players such as Leon Gorecka and talents from his own school such as Sead Kolasinac, Max Meyer and Joel Matip, who should have provided a good profit to the club, left without compensation.
The strained final balance was additionally burdened during the covid-19 pandemic, when the flow of money from tickets was stopped and when the profit from Bundesliga TV rights was cut in half.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an abrupt end to relations with Gazprom - the energy giant and main sponsor of the club, which is majority owned by the Russian state.
"There have been some completely wrong decisions in the past that have cost a lot of money," Anja Wortman, board member of the Supporters' Association, told BBC Sport.
"The team they put together didn't fit together and didn't play well. As for coaches, they are hired and fired and that has become the club's practice."
Current coach Karel Gerec was hired in October last year and is the eleventh coach of Schalke in the last 10 years.
A lightning series of big payouts, hefty percentages shared during transfers, painful interest rates received after borrowing money and global events - they finally came to pay.
Schalke's debt has risen to 217 million euros, but despite that debt being reduced, the club is clearly missing the profits that come with competing in the elite competition.
The club was also left without long-time president Clemens Tonis.
The 2020-year-old billionaire who made his fortune from meat processing often filled holes in the club's budget with loans, but he was forced out of the club in 19 after XNUMX years at its helm.
His departure came after an apology for controversial comments about population growth in Africa and the outbreak of a covid epidemic at his factory that spread beyond its walls.
The club is now six points above the relegation zone.
Everyone below that line, from which Schalke is separated by only five positions, automatically drops out of this level of the competition.
Schalke's debts are so great that the German Football Association (DFB) has granted them only a temporary license to participate in the third tier of the competition next year, stressing that liquidity must be in place by the end of June for their finances to be ready for a smaller influx of cash than what is guaranteed in the two strongest leagues in Germany.
If they are relegated from the league and fail to meet the conditions prescribed by the DFB, the penalty will be automatic relegation to the amateur level of the regional competition.
The club has been given an unconditional guarantee that it will be able to continue the competition in Bundesliga 2 in the 2024/25 season, if it wins survival.
The key matches will be those against the two teams from the bottom of the table - Osnabruck and Hansa from Roštok, and then the match with Grojer-Firth, which is in the middle of the table.
These matches will determine the fate of the club.
Despite all the changes and challenges, stress and unfavorable financial moments, the fans are the only constant.
"The Schalke fan is above the fate of one game," says Wortmann.
"Supporting Schalke is like going to a game with friends; joint trip to visiting fields".
"Club premises are like a bar - we drink, talk and sing there. There is a special atmosphere. In England there is a saying: 'You only sing when you win'. Many German clubs are like that. Schalke is different".
"Forty thousand Schalke fans wanted to go to those last three away games. Those three stadiums in total do not have that many seats in their stands".
Such dedication of Schalke fans represents a serious cost for many.
The unemployment rate in Gelsenkirchen is 12,6 percent, almost 10 percentage points higher than the German average.
The closing of the coal mine in that area also meant the loss of a large number of jobs.
But the pride remained.
Before every match, the miners' anthem Das Stegerlied, which celebrates the tradition of this region, is played in the Veltins Arena.
Tom Hoagland is a former Schalke midfielder who came through the club's youth academy and is now assistant coach of the junior U-19 team.
"You have to know the history of the club. This is the Ruhr area, the region where the coal mines were located," he says.
"There are many different cultures here. Different people come from Italy, Turkey and former Yugoslavia to work here. This is a hard-working German region. Due to the closure of the mine, the whole area became very poor.
"Some people from Gelsenkirchen and the surrounding area only have this club. For them he is like a religion".
"If Schalke played in the fifth or sixth league, the support of the fans would only become stronger. Everyone is together here and it is something that is passed down from generation to generation.
"Everyone here lives and breathes for Schalke".
Tamsut agrees.
"There is a saying: 'Mugs will never go away.' Even if the whole club had to be formed from scratch, the fans would be there.
"The entity called Schalke transcends each individual; he lives in the hearts of many".
One of them is the captain of the rival team. Timo Becker, who leads Holstein Kiel, a club fighting for promotion.
He is a former Schalke player and is currently a fan of the club.
He is known for playing for Holstein Kiel in the afternoon and then going to the north stand among the Ultras to cheer on Schalke in the evening.
"Mugs are something that all the people here have in common," says Wortman.
"You can be a doctor, or you can be unemployed, but it doesn't matter at all. We have a habit of using the term for that kleinster gemeinsamer nenner - the lowest common denominator.
"People don't know about Gelsenkirchen, but if you say Schalke - they recognize it".
Those famous European nights that created the reputation that Schalke has are now a distant past.
The trip to Old Trafford, home of Manchester United, and the semi-finals of the Champions League took place exactly 13 years ago.
One of Hoagland's favorite memories comes from that period - when he scored a goal against Real Madrid, for which Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and all the other Galacticos played ten years ago.
"As a team we made memories that will last forever," he says with a smile.
"I was injured for many of those Champions League games, but when I was a member of the club's youth academy, I saw the whole thing from a supporter's perspective.
"I watched historically important players like Raul and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Schalke has always been in my heart."
"The atmosphere in the stadium during the Champions League matches was incredible.
"The semi-final against Manchester United and the game in Madrid where I scored were phenomenal."
Hoagland is convinced that the roots of Schalke's recovery lie in their tradition of creating domestic fences.
"Nothing is as important as Schalke's football school, neither in the past nor in the future," he says.
"The sheer number of players who came from our school - Manuel Neuer, Benedikt Hovedes, Mesut Ozil, Julian Drexler - were all members of the German national team who became world champions in 2014, and first played for Schalke.
"There were many other players there. Joel Matip has been playing for Liverpool for ten years, Bayern striker Leroy Sane, former Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac, Thilo Kerer from West Ham... so many great players.
"It is of crucial importance to create new players in our academy".
Off the field itself, the path to success is not so clear.
In Germany, there is a 50+1 rule, which guarantees the members ownership of the majority of the club's shares and is a point of pride for the fans.
Protests held to protect this rule are common and widespread among many clubs.
Some of the Schalke fans, however, feel that the situation in the club is so bad, that it is desirable that the control of the fans over the club be diluted so that new investments can be realized.
One of the conditions that they initiated is the option of the return of the former president Tonis.
"There's been a lot of discussion among fans over the last few years," says Wortman.
"People say they want Tonis because he has money and can help. Ultras think he is responsible for the current situation in the club.
"He was the king. He was pulling all the strings. Everyone did what he asked.
"The fans themselves are not as united as you think when you watch them in the stands cheering. During the match, everyone supports the team.
"Some of the fans do not want the application of the 50+1 rule; they want the club to be sold to investors.
"You can see from that how much the club means to people. They fight, and passionately".
Wortmann believes that a looser interpretation of the rules can ensure an influx of cash into Schalke's short-term plans.
For her, the existing rules enable a more even relationship on the field, and a gradual return to the elite more achievable.
"The best example for that is the example of the Union from Berlin," she says.
"They reached the Champions League this season without spending a lot of money. Bayer Leverkusen won the title.
"And everyone who doesn't support Bayern Munich is happy about that."
"In Germany, it is possible to still be in the competition for a high ranking with a cheap team. We should preserve the 50+1 rule".
A 2-0 win against Nürnberg means that the tram ride back after the Gelsenkirchen match will be just as exciting.
The immediate future is beginning to take shape. At least for now.
Whatever happens, Gelsenkirchen relies on its soul in these darkest days.
Because, just like the famous saying goes: Scarves will never go away.
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