Schalke asking for fans’ help far from an outrageous request

Schalke, like many clubs in the world, is struggling to deal with the pause in the action and has asked fans for help. What’s the big deal?

Schalke rarely make English-language headlines these days unless you’re into the gaming scene. But today, they hit the headlines across all the big-name English-language outlets. Die Knappen have come clean about the club and leveled with their fans, saying that this crisis is not helping their financial situation.

To some, this was just outrageous. Unfortunately, the first piece I read about this story was a faux outrage slam piece that only knew the name “Schalke” because of Weston McKennie and whatever stats they could glean from the internet.

Schalke players have already waived their salaries in an attempt to keep the club employees who have been furloughed in good financial standing, but face the facts, running a football club is expensive and without a steady income, they start to see red.

All Schalke did here was ask for help. That’s it. They didn’t demand that fans give them anything. They didn’t deny any refunds. They will still provide for the fans that request a refund and make no bones about it.

More from Release The Knappen

• Schalke 04: Arkadiusz Milik would take everything, but he’s worth it
• Schalke 04: Ozan Kabak makes Jean-Claire Todibo pass quietly
• Schalke 04: Omar Mascarell the only boost between now and then
• Schalke 04: David Wagner just has to make it to the end of the season
• Schalke 04: At least we still have Weston McKennie

Asking for help doesn’t make them villains, or greedy, or gross. There are some people out there that aren’t as affected by the current situation. If 1,000 ticket-holding fans aren’t affected by the situation and feel like helping out the club by waiving the right to refund, great. That helps the club and no one gets hurt.

Yes, people need help right now. A lot do, but not all of them. And “specialized club apparel” may sound hokey, but like I said, if even a small fraction of supporters out there don’t need the financial help and love the club enough to want to continue their support, then getting a special shirt is a nice little honorarium for their dedication to the club.

That doesn’t make anyone a villain. These are unprecedented times and we’re all trying to figure out how to make it through the day, the week, the month. As well as what comes next. if that involves asking for a little bit of charity, even from unlikely sources, then there’s nothing wrong with that.

In the meantime, I wish I could get my hands on a special club t-shirt. Sometimes being a fan goes beyond the monetary value of it.