„You keep your living room in order.“

Thorsten Lange grins in his own special way: “For us stewards match days are a bit like housework in the outdoors. You have a lot of people coming over and obviously you want to take a look at who is going to be sitting in your living room.”

Thorsten knows many of his “visitors” personally, because like most stewards, he has been part of the team and the BVB family for a long time now. The roughly 900 stewards – 750 of whom are deployed in the stadium on match days – represents a cross-section of society, which is another one of the security team‘s strengths. “Our team members have experienced a lot together, so there’s a sense of solidarity between us. We‘re well-versed in defusing most any situation with a friendly-but-firm attitude before things get out of hand.”

But it’s not just experience that allows the team to spot troublemakers with astounding precision. The stewards regularly undergo training courses conducted by professionals who are experts in screening visitors as they enter the stadium, fire protection, dispute resolution, first aid and much more. Every steward completes a structured training programme before they are given their first assignment.

“We’re not just left to our own devices”, as Thorsten knows. “We are kept up-to-date by professional coaches who are familiar with the latest tricks of the trade, also from other clubs.”