FC Schalke 04

The Veltins-Arena holds 62,271 people in Gelsenkirchen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, and so did the club that plays there. Schalke were known as Die Knappen — the pitmen — long before the ground was built, and the nickname stuck harder than most.

Before any of that there was a merger, then a divorce. The footballers of Schalke joined the gymnasts of Turnverein Schalke 1877 in 1912, spent a dozen years under that roof, and walked out on 5 January 1924 with a name of their own: FC Schalke 04. The 04 pointed back to 4 May 1904, when the club started as Westfalia Schalke. Four years after the split they added the city to the letterhead — FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, still the official name.

The seven German championships all sit a long way back. Six came between 1934 and 1942, the seventh in 1958, and Schalke have not won the league since. What they did win, in 1997, was the UEFA Cup. The German Cup has come five times, most recently in 2011, with a pair in 2001 and 2002.

Klaus Fischer scored 182 goals in the Bundesliga for Schalke, more than anyone else has managed for the club, and no forward since has come close to that mark. Manuel Neuer came through the youth ranks in Gelsenkirchen before goalkeeping took him elsewhere.

Dortmund lie about 30 kilometres east, and the Revierderby against Borussia is the fixture the calendar is read around — two clubs from the same coalfield, close enough that supporters share workplaces. Blue and white fills the Veltins-Arena for it.