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It could hardly have been a better start: the OFC Central Texas organised its first official viewing party for the home match against Borussia Dortmund as part of the “Wurstfest” in New Braunfels, in the US state of Texas. OFC co-founder and VfB fan Jens Fritsch had organised the public viewing at the German restaurant Krause’s Café and was delighted to welcome numerous visitors, who had gathered from 7am onwards to watch VfB’s match against Borussia Dortmund live due to the time difference. One of them was Leroy Garcia from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Leroy was stationed in Stuttgart 20 years ago and came to love VfB through his wife. “She’s a big fan and I was immediately hooked too,” he said.
Over the years, it’s been difficult for Garcia, Fritsch and the other VfB fans in the United States to support the club from their home country. During VfB’s visit to Austin, Texas for a friendly last winter, Garcia got in touch with OFC founding member Fritsch. He had previously organised the first viewing parties for VfB matches and World Cups in Texas, but had to end this young tradition for the time being after a fire destroyed the local sports bar. The founding of the fan club, which now has 20 members, also increased Jens’ motivation to organise viewing parties in New Braunfels again. “We started out as a small group but are growing steadily in small steps,” said Fritsch. “Now that we’ve found a new location for our viewing parties, we hope that we’ll continue to grow.”
The 2-1 victory over Dortmund also attracted other guests at Krause’s Café to the television screen during the tense closing stages, allowing them to share in the excitement. In general, VfB are currently enjoying ever-growing popularity in the USA, with various Bundesliga highlight shows and football podcasts increasingly reporting on the Cannstatt boys. The OFC Central Texas hopes that this rising popularity will also boost the fan club’s membership numbers and that they’ll continue to organise well-attended viewing parties in the future.
The annual “Wurstfest” in New Braunfels celebrates the German roots of the city, which was established in the 1840s by German migrants led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. The ten-day festival, which has existed since 1961, is attended by a quarter of a million people every year.
