With Singapore rules only allowing social gatherings of up to five people and much higher interest to participate in this year’s Xmas party, there was only one solution: a Socially Distanced Xmas Party. So, three groups of Fanclub members and friends were spread out over the Singapore island at Brotzeit’s Katong, Raffles City and Vivocity outlets and connected via Microsoft Teams, the state-of-the-art go-between these days. And, being at least five kilometres or twenty minutes by taxi apart, it was ensured there was no mixing with people from other tables, a nightmare still haunting Singapore’s Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers on a daily basis.
Each location settling in with a three litre keg of beer, but one is never enough though, and anticipating Brotzeit’s yummy Winter Platter, the Xmas party got started with a review of the last season 2019/2020. In the end it was a successful one for the Boys from Cannstatt leading to direct promotion back to 1. Bundesliga, although it did not always look like that.
This was followed by Christian Schmidt, “Fanbeauftragter” at VfB Stuttgart, joining from Germany. He gave a review and outlook on the current season, shared some international experiences though none in Asia yet, as well told a few stories “aus dem Nähkästchen” from his time as “Fanbeaufragter”. It was widely agreed that post-Covid Asia should be high on the agenda for future activities of VfB Stuttgart, its fans and its “Fanbeauftragte”.
Due to training for the Werder Bremen match the following day, no player from the current squad could join the event. Neither did Silvio Meissner nor Guido Buchwald make it, both having been in Singapore and meeting our Fanclub before. Hopefully, this can be made up soon. Still, their past links were briefly brought back into memory before everybody indulged in the Winter Platter and possibly ordered a second keg of beer.
Afterwards, the Quiz started and participants having paid attention earlier had a clear advantage when it came to answer sixteen questions from international football over Bundesliga all the way to VfB Stuttgart and our Fanclub. Multiple choice questions ranged from asking which international football star recently had contracted Covid (Christiano Ronaldo) over which German footballer had been in a Singapore jail for 101 days for alleged max fixing (Lutz Pfannenstil) all the way to Heidenheim sinking HSV’s promotion dreams last season with a spectacular 94th minute goal. A question in memory of Diego Maradona could not be missed and of course questions related to VfB Stuttgart, e.g. which Japanese Club did Wataru Endo and Guido Buchwald play for (UrawaReds), and our Fanclub, e.g. which year was it founded (2013), could not be left out. Congratulations to the team in the Vivocity outlet, which shortly before half time / toilet break moved into the lead and managed to defend it until the end.
Altogether it was an enjoyable evening, ending (too) early at 10.30pm sharp in line with alcohol consumption rules in public in Singapore, but surely something to remember by all participants for some times to come as it showed that even with restrictions due to the deadly Corona virus, it is still possible to have fun and to be merry!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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