UNION BERLIN travel to Frankfurt tomorrow knowing that three points against Eintracht will take them to sixth, leapfrogging Bayer Leverkusen and landing in a European qualification place.

Having spent a brief moment in the top four earlier in the season, the club from the German capital have already spent time in loftier positions during this campaign, but for a team who played in the 1. Bundesliga for the first time just last season, it’s still unfamiliar territory.

After promotion to the top flight in 2019 under head coach Urs Fischer, Union were tipped to go straight back down. Instead, they managed an 11th place finish, 10 points clear of the relegation play-off spot, 11 clear of automatic relegation and only behind city rivals Hertha on goal difference.

This must surely have been a one-off, though, and the bookies once again predicted relegation for Union going into 2021, with only newly promoted Arminia Bielefeld tipped for a worse season.

As a football team so intertwined with their fans and the matchday experience they create, it was also predicted that Fischer’s side would be one of those who would struggle more than most during behind-closed-doors football. 

Up to now, this has not been the case and the club based in Kopenick, south-east of Berlin, have also maintained close links with their fans throughout this period — something helped by the fact they are one of the few remaining Bundesliga clubs still 100 per cent member-owned. 

They were one of the first to set up fan initiatives when football came to a halt this time last year, and many of those fans refused the ticket refunds offered at the time. 

The club arranged virtual events such as stadium tours and a virtual friendly match to support lower league side FSV 63 Luckenwalde.

Since last year, Union have been at the forefront of the ideas and planning to allow fans back into stadiums safely.

During last week’s home game against Cologne, they carried out a pilot scheme run by the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sports which saw attendees such as club staff, stewards and media offered free SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid tests on entry to the stadium. 

The idea is that this could soon be piloted with spectators, perhaps as early as next month in the Berlin derby against Hertha after the international break.

These tests are voluntary and the number of fans attending a game will still be subject to national and local guidelines and restrictions, but it’s a step towards the organisation of events involving crowds in the future.

Union fans have still been able to make their voice heard at the stadium in some manner, displaying banners across the stands during games.

They have used this voice to remind German football administrators, such as DFL (German Football League) CEO Christian Seifert and DFB (German FA) president Fritz Keller, of their words last year on the need for altering football’s relationship with money, and especially its reliance on TV money.

At the start of the pandemic, the elite clubs and the rich governing bodies panicked as the over-reliance on these revenue streams hit home (or should have). 

The huge part played by the fans in this “product” they were selling also became clear, but as things slowly return to something approaching normality, there is a danger that these lessons will not be learned and another direction will be taken.

This is the reason behind the ongoing pressure from fan groups, including those at Union Berlin and others across Germany and Europe.

There is a worry that football at the top level, rather than focusing on matchday, supporter and community elements, could take the opposite route, becoming even more detached from these things and merely another digital product.

In this context, things like European qualification and, perhaps even Bundesliga survival, can take a back seat at member-owned clubs where the existence of the club and how it exists comes first. Though if Union remain in the Bundesliga, their voice will naturally be louder. If they qualify for Europe, louder still.

In a sporting sense, Fischer’s side are doing much more than survive in the top-flight this year. Having finished last season with a goal difference of -17, this time around it currently stands at +11 and they’ve only lost five games so far.

The delivery, especially from set-pieces, of captain Christopher Trimmel, has been a key part of their attack, as has new signing Max Kruse who recently returned from injury and has eight goals in 11 starts for the club.

At the beginning of the season, the main aim for Union was to stay in the league, but they have emerged as contenders for the European places. The goal will still be to avoid relegation, and many will predict a fall down the table from here on in, just as they predicted relegation in each of their Bundesliga seasons so far.

Union will be looking to prove them wrong yet again, and by the end of the season they hope to have their voice back in the stands, shouting from the top half of the Bundesliga, louder than ever.