“Think we are crazy but we are going for it!”, wrote fans of FC Carl Zeiss Jena and launched an already successful crowdfunding campaing to change the shape of their future stadium.

Complete reconstruction of the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld should begin in 2018 at the latest. The stadium will lose its running track, but gain a few thousand in capacity. You would think FC Carl Zeiss fans have no reason for displeasure, but that’s not exactly true.

Because along with the reconstruction the most vibrant section of the fans is expected to relocate from current south end to the north one, currently occupied by visiting supporters. The switch of home and away fans is motivated by safety, access routes are easier to organize this way.

While the most vocal supporters of FCC appreciate this reasoning, they launched a counter bid. “Therefore the Jena fans developed a detailed concept and presented it several times to the local decision makers. This concept shows different scenarios to make the home fans happy and at the same time fulfills the security requirements”, their website reads.

Supporters began a crowdfunding campaign, aimed at raising additional funds to pay for the alterations in stadium documentation. The project “crowdFANding - SÜDKURVE BLEIBT” (crowdFANding - South Stand stays) had a minimum goal of €50,000, but just last weekend they went beyond €100,000 and are marching towards the maximum goal of €250,000!

The deadline is on September 15, so there’s still time to gather support. Already now a huge number of 1,300 people from 23 countries contributed, spreading across Europe. The lowest contribution is €1, while the most any individual offered is nearly €2,100!

And it’s hard to be surprised, when the campaign has a description in 20 (!!!) languages including Japanese, Arabic and Filipino! They also asked opinion leaders to speak, including Prof. Gunter A. Pilz, expert in fanculture. So even if they might not convince you to donate, be sure to visit the crowdFANding - SÜDKURVE BLEIBT website!