For Alexandra Popp the topic is also a personal one. The most successful German footballer of the past decades was asked what her father would say about the game she had to play on Sunday. “Good question,” Popp answered and thought about it a bit. “He would definitely tease a bit, in his very humorous way.” Because that's what Andreas Popp, who died four years ago, always did when there was a district derby. He was a Schalke fan - while his daughter has been a die-hard BVB supporter since early childhood.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Alex Popp will lead her team as captain into the “Rote Erde” stadium – the venerable Dortmund arena, right next to the gigantic Signal Iduna Park. 17,555 spectators will be there. This is extraordinary for a women's game, especially a third-class one. "We're talking about the regional league here. That's completely crazy. We get over 17,000 people in there," says Popp. In any case, according to the three-time German Footballer of the Year, she is “extremely happy”.
There can hardly be better advertising for women's football: the Revierderby will go down as a record game in German football history. There have never been so many spectators at a third division game. BVB had specifically obtained a special permit in order to be able to increase the capacity. There will be a lot going on in the old stands.
"It will be important to channel the emotions. Not only because of the spectators, but also because of the derby character on the pitch," said Popp, which is a decisive factor for the record. In the summer, the 35-year-old moved from VfL Wolfsburg to BVB after 336 Bundesliga games. On the one hand, because her heart is attached to the club - but also because she knew that something was being created in Dortmund that she could still be involved in even after her career ends in 2029, when her contract expires. BVB wants to reach the top with its women's department, which was only founded in 2021.
BVB has massively upgraded its women's team
Svenja Schlenker, who played a key role in driving this project and is now also part of the BVB management, and Carsten Cramer, the new chairman of the management, are serious: the “Dortmund girls”, which the team is promoted as, should become an international brand. That's why millions are being invested in infrastructure. Construction work on a modern training center is already underway.
Above all, the team, which narrowly missed out on promotion to the second division last season, has been massively upgraded. The Austrian national goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger came from Arsenal FC. With Ricarda Walking and Lara Schmidt (Werder Bremen), Ramona Meier, Jacqueline Meißner, Lena Ostermeier, Lany Bäcker (SGS Essen) and Popp, seven Bundesliga players were brought in. Sports director Ralf Kellermann was poached by Champions League club VfL Wolfsburg.
This has led to BVB being pretty lonely in the Regionalliga West. All twelve games were won. The goal difference seems almost surreal: 59:1. Only in the 6-1 win against Fortuna Cologne last Sunday was there a goal conceded.
The BVB women have long been more than a regional phenomenon: the demand for jerseys - especially Popp's - is constantly increasing. BVB uses all resources - the well-equipped media department, the wide-reaching social media channels - to advertise. With success: an average of 3,527 spectators have come so far. The slogan was developed for the derby: "One district. One derby. One record."
They are a long way from this hype at Schalke, eleven points behind in second place. "Hats off to what BVB has done. But we simply don't have these opportunities. And I don't know how many clubs in Germany even have such opportunities," says Boris Liebing, the regional rival's women's football boss. The strategies of the two clubs cannot be compared - despite parallels in history. Schalke also discovered their heart for women's football late. The department was re-established in 2020, a year before Dortmund. Both started at the bottom: in the district league B.
But there is not much of an event character in Gelsenkirchen. The first team mostly plays and trains on the artificial turf pitch 6 on the Berger Feld, Schalke's club grounds. Viewer numbers are generally in the low to mid three-digit range. Admission only has to be paid if the game is played in the old Parkstadion, which has been converted into a venue with a one-sided, uncovered stand. There are compromises to be made when it comes to comfort – especially in bad weather.
"We're taking a completely different approach. We're putting a lot of emphasis on young people here," explains Liebing. The Schalke concept is based on that of the “Knappenschmiede”, the youth department for men. There are teams here from U11 onwards - i.e. for girls aged nine and ten. “We want to develop young players,” said Liebing. “Open girls’ projects” are organized regularly.
The different approaches have to do with budgets. The Schalke players are amateurs - they all get the same manageable money, even if they played higher before. Many of them are studying or working - midfielder Maike Berentzen, who also came from Essen in the summer, for example as a teacher. Youth work is also seen as an offer to the region. Girls from Gelsenkirchen should no longer have to travel far if they want to play football. But of course there are also ambitions: in the long term, Schalke's path should also lead to the Bundesliga.
The Revierderby with the record crowd is therefore symbolic. It reinforces how women's football is changing and revolutionizing. Starting next year, the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga will be organized and marketed independently of the German Football Association by a newly founded league association. The elite class, which was increased to 14 clubs in 2025, now only consists of clubs that are also represented in the men's Bundesliga - as well as 1. FC Nürnberg, whose men play in the 2nd league. SGS Essen, the last all-women's club, was relegated in the summer - like Turbine Potsdam, the two-time European Cup winner, a year earlier. 1. FFC Frankfurt, another former champion, had already been absorbed into Eintracht Frankfurt in 2020.
"I'm a football traditionalist. But it's just something completely different when Bayern Munich plays against Eintracht Frankfurt, when Turbine Potsdam meets 1. FFC Frankfurt," says Liebing. The appeal of the brands promotes development. That also applies to the derby. "It generates attention and provides a stage for women's football. Because of course women often get neglected in the shadow of men." This is a statement that also contains a contradiction: on Sunday women benefit from a predominantly male-dominated tradition.
Nevertheless, the Revierderby will hardly be comparable to the one that will be played in the men's Bundesliga on December 6th. In the past few days, over 100,000 people have tried to get tickets online via FC Schalke channels alone. Many in vain. That seems utopian for a women's football game - even if Svenja Schlenker dreams of being able to welcome "over 80,000 BVB fans at some point".
There is another difference. On Sunday, everyone agrees, there is no danger that anything will get out of hand: it is not a high-risk game. “Of course the Dortmund fans won’t welcome us with open arms,” says Liebing and smiles. The sayings could also be “a little rougher”. But no one has to worry about their safety.
