VfB Stuttgart’s away game in Heidenheim might not ultimately have been a success, but the OFC VfB Americana’s watch party in the state of Ohio certainly was. Several VfB fans and other football enthusiasts gathered at a pub called “The Casual Pint” in Youngstown last Sunday to watch the first Württemberg Bundesliga derby together. The event, which was the first of its kind in Youngstown, was organised by OFC member Doug Eisenbraun, who was delighted with the turnout. “Only two of those present are currently members of our OFC. Everyone was welcome, football fans or not,” he explained. “I hope that the exciting team we have this season means that people get hooked on VfB just like I was.”
Ohio native Dale, who actually supports Chelsea, found out about the event on social media. “It's great that things like this are organised here,” he said, “I could imagine supporting VfB more often in the future.”
“I was born in the USA, but my dad is from Stuttgart,” said Andreas, another Ohio resident who also attended the gathering. “For a long time I thought that I was the only VfB fan in Ohio or even the USA. That made it all the nicer to come across a fan club that supports the white and reds.”
Daniel, who was born in Stuttgart but now lives in the US state of Michigan, even made a two-and-a-half-hour car journey to be there. “I didn't want to miss out on this,” he said, “I was at VfB’s friendly against 1. FC Köln in Austin (Texas) last year and I think it’s great to get together with others at VfB matches.”
Despite the result, the fans all had a good time together, according to Eisenbraun, and the event went down well with the owner of the bar. “We’ll be organising the next get-together for the home game against Bremen at the beginning of December, and we hope that we can bring in a few more interested people,” said Eisenbraun. The OFC branch in Youngstown currently has ten members, with a total of 114 VfB fans belonging to OFC VfB Americana.
Eisenbraun’s OFC colleague Travis Haselswerdt has organised two watch parties already in Cleveland, Ohio. “We had 13 people at our last event. We were pleased that we were able to mobilise so many VfB fans and were also supported by German VfB fans and the club itself,” said Haselswerdt. “I was struck by how many people outside the OFC were interested in our invitation, despite the Cleveland Browns’ NFL game being on at the same time. We’re just hoping that we can bring them a bit more luck at the next game.”