A day in the Life of... Union Berlin's Volunteer Builders
April 2, 2009
Third-division Union Berlin are often overshadowed by their more illustrious neighbours in the west of the city, Hertha. The club are about to clinch promotion to the second division, which would require the club to play in a bigger home stadium. With funds limited, Union's fans are themselves transforming the "Alte Försterei" into a modern football stadium - a unique phenomenon. Over 500 supporters are involved, although the project is of course being run by professional building contractors. The conversion is costing a relatively modest 15 million euros thanks to the time and effort (in some cases their vacation) volunteered by the fans. We meet two of them - a father and son team who have been working on the site for over 200 days ago ...