::  flashback

Christoph Metzelder is obviously a very charming character, because shortly after he had started his professional career with Borussia Dortmund in July 2000, his first fan club was founded, which was subtitled "Hooked forever". When we started we were only a few since Christoph was still relatively unknown.

Yet this was to change soon enough when Christoph grabbed the opportunity presenting itself in his very first season with Borussia Dortmund and quickly became a first-team regular. The fan club started to grow and we soon had 30 members with whom Christoph went to play at skittles at the first fan club get-together in March 2001. Our second get-together also took place at the skittle alley, this time with even more members and under the prying eyes of the local press.

After Christoph's outstanding performance at the 2002 World Cup the number of members sky-rocketed. At some point we had approximately 200 members – the Metze fever had even spread to far-away Japan! And thus it was no surprise that 40 members joined us for the third fan club get-together in November 2002, a group too large to create anything remotely resembling a laid-back atmosphere.

Yet as fast as it had increased after the 2002 World Cup, the number of members went down again. By January 2003 we were back to 40 members who were interested in Christoph and the BVB and for whom the fan club was not only a fad. Our fourth fan club get-together took place on a much smaller scale. Eighteen of us met to sit snugly in a garden and talk animatedly with Christoph about all the world, which was fun for all of us.

Our legendary fifth get-together made history as the funniest event within living memory. It was August 2004 and we had managed to find a date that suited both Christoph and Malte. Since many members already knew Christoph from previous get-togethers, the atmosphere quickly became laid-back. The fact that Christoph and Malte were in an excellent mood certainly helped, too. Each of them is quite fun to be with, but the two of them are a knock-out! We laughed a lot and thus we will always look back on this afternoon at the skittle alley with tears of laughter in our eyes.

The venue of our fifth fan club get-together on 29 November 2005 was – you'll never guess – the skittle alley. After Christoph had managed to find the place, to which we had to pilot him as he had given up on his GPS (or was it the other way around?), he could greet the members present as old acquaintances. Unfortunately, Malte could not join us because he had moved to far away Aalen to play for local club VfR Aalen. In Holiday spirits, and right after the BVB's general meeting, we had a lot of fun, even though Christoph had to cede the title of skittles champion.

After the 2006 World Cup the great run to the fan club did not take place, despite the euphoria surrounding the German national team. Yet this does not bother us at all, as quality goes before quantity. Since then, we've had two more get-togethers (by popular request, no more skittling, though!) and the farewell barbecue just before Christoph left Dortmund for Madrid, and we're already working on the next event.

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