Benedict Mason is not your typical Hamburger SV fan. 

Since an eye-opening experience 4-years ago, the Derbyshire, UK native has been indoctrinated into the spirit of the Nordtribüne, and what was supposed to be a one-off experience has now escalated into a full-blown HSV obsession. 

Benedict has now been to over 40 HSV games, traveling from England to Hamburg to take his place with the HSV-Jungz Lübeck ultras in the Volksparkstadion and further afield. 

This is his story told through the German Football Weekly!

For similar fan perspectives, please visit Halb Vier’s online portal; a fanzine focussing on the joys of German football.

Benedict, it’s a pleasure to have you here over Zoom for a chat about your HSV obsession! But if I get this right, HSV is a new love affair for you? The North German outfit isn’t the only football club with a place in your heart?

That’s correct! I actually have been a season ticket holder for my local football team, Mansfield Town, for almost 20 years. We play in the 4th-tier in England, and it’s a real community affair at every home match. There is always a sense that everyone knows everyone else at the games. 

So then how do you go from supporting your local team, Mansfield Town, to being amongst the tens of thousands who regularly sell out the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg?

Becoming a HSV fan was a complete accident. I had no interest in supporting any other team apart from my little club in England. Still, it always felt like there was something missing for me. Was it success? Was it trophies? Was it having 60,000 people in the stadium? I didn't think it was any of them, but I just couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Then, I went to Hamburg with a friend of mine in March of 2019. We weren’t there for football, but our trip coincided with a HSV home match, and we had both always wanted to see German football up close. 

And so you went to the match, fell in love with HSV football, and haven’t looked back since?

Not exactly! 

It actually all started before the game even kicked off. We were walking through a park to the stadium when we heard a booming voice behind us say “Are you guys speaking English!”

Immediately you think “Oh dear,” because you don’t know what is going to happen next. If you are going to get into a fight or whatnot.  

I imagine it went better than expected. Or was it a black eye from a rival St. Pauli fan that ended up cementing your love for HSV?

Luckily it wasn’t a fight, but a fellow Englishman who had overheard us! Alex - now a close friend and member of my HSV supporter’s club - introduced himself and mentioned that he had been living in Hamburg for over 20 years after relocating from South London. 

With some time to spare before kickoff, Alex invited us to a local bar and introduced us to members of his supporter group. At the time I didn’t speak a word of German, and many of the supporters didn’t speak any English, but you could just sense the open and friendly atmosphere from everyone there!

Friends, Beer, & German Football... the perfect combination!

 And the story doesn’t end here…

Not at all. After the group saw that we had poor seats really high up in the stadium, they took it upon themselves to get us into the Nordtribüne. They swapped our tickets with the Daurkarten (season tickets) of two members who weren’t attending the match, and then together, we were on our way to kick-off!

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A brilliant, unforgettable experience, but how does a spectacular weekend of football turn into an obsession?

It was great standing with the Ultras at the game. Afterward, we met up again to have a couple of drinks and exchange contact info. My friend and I right away said, “Oh, that was really cool and we'd love to do that again,” but even with the best intentions you know in the back of your head that you’ll probably never get the opportunity again. 

However, within three weeks I was back in Hamburg, and within six months I was a member of the HSV-Jungz Lübeck Supporters Club

Let’s talk about the Ultra Scene then. In England, the word “Ultra” still seems to have negative connotations, but in your case, it seems to have had a monumental impact in shaping your fandom. Do you think this perception of an “Ultra” is justified?

In England, anyone who is seen to be an “ultra”, or an avid fan, is potentially a hooligan. Even today, anything that is perceived as an extreme or passionate way of supporting your football club still has some negative connotations persisting from the ugly form of terrace culture this country experienced throughout the 70s and 80s. 

But for me, it is all or nothing. Either you are all in as a fan, or not at all. 

What then, made the HSV-Jungz Lübeck, so unique compared to anything you could have found closer to home?

It goes back to the original point of what I was missing at Mansfield. In England, the higher you go in the football pyramid the more you find that the connection between the club and the fans gets lost. 

At HSV, however, I still feel this sense of community on a much larger scale. I’m an outsider - I have only been supporting HSV since 2019, and barely even speak the language - but the entire ultra scene has been so welcoming and accommodating to me. I'm a fan first and a customer second. 

The more I speak to you Benedict, the less insane your journey seems to get all the way from England for a match in the second Bundesliga. Talk to me then about your matchday routine. What does it all entail?

It always depends on which day we are playing, but let's take a typical Saturday afternoon kickoff. 

I wake up at 2:00 AM, drive down to London, Stansted, and hopefully get through security by around 5:00. My flight out to Hamburg is usually around half past seven, which will see me land in Hamburg at 10:00 AM local time. Then it’s either an S-Bahn or Taxi into the Hauptbahnhof, where I will meet a few guys and let the matchday officially begin!

Going through so much trouble just for a football game can’t always seem worth it, so there must be other aspects of Hamburg that you have also fallen in love with over the past 4 years. Any insider tips for the German Football Weekly audience?

I find that the best places to go are often those which completely fly under the radar. For me, in Hamburg, that is a sports bar called the ‘Unabsteigbar’. From the moment you walk in there, you can just sense that it is a matchday from the atmosphere and energy pulsating through the place. It is a real hub for Hamburg fans and Ultras!

Going back to football briefly, probably the most unique aspect of your fandom is the fact that you never got to experience the glory years as a HSV fan. You have never even been afforded the opportunity to watch this northern giant in the top-flight! How do you think this has changed your experience from that of a typical HSV fan? 

First and foremost, it made the entire experience a lot more accessible. If HSV were still riding high in the Bundesliga, I would have never been able to get that initial ticket, and this entire adventure wouldn’t have happened. 

I think it probably also made the whole fan scene at HSV even more welcoming to me as an outsider. Other fans saw that I wasn’t coming to Hamburg to see us play against Bayern or Dortmund, but happily spending my weekends watching fixtures against Jahn Regensburg and Würzburger Kickers. I’m not here for the glory. I want to enjoy the ride!

At the time of writing, HSV are deep in another promotion race that could swing either way. After 5 failed attempts, sport manager Jonas Boldt has adjusted his focus to building a squad with sustainable, long-term prospects. In fact, Die Rothosen even have the second youngest squad of any of the clubs in the 2023/24 Zweite Bundesliga! What do you make of this new approach?

In the past, we tried to just buy our way out of the second division. It was definitely the wrong approach. Teams who have made it up in previous years were often a lot smaller than HSV, creating success by building from the bottom up and giving a chance to untested managers. 

Now, we have finally addressed this issue. We’ve got a lot of the big money players off the books, and a manager [Tim Walter] with the freedom to create a long-term master plan. Even if we don’t make it up this season, you have the sense that HSV finally have a bit of stability, and are in a better place.

And manager Tim Walter is clearly one of the most interesting figures at the club right now. He’s not universally loved in German football, but his brave, possession-oriented style of play is truly one of a kind.

Definitely. You can see that it is still a work in progress, and that we are not always going to get it right, but there is a clear philosophy in place. We play football the correct way, and when it works, it really works! 

Do you think HSV can retain this same approach when they eventually return to the Bundesliga? Or, do you think they are going to need to temper their expectations a bit with a more reactive, counter-attacking approach?

It’s an interesting conundrum because when you have developed such a unique identity, you don’t want to tinker with it too much. But, I think there is a happy medium in the end that will allow HSV to retain its philosophy at a foundational level while strengthening in certain aspects to compete in the top division. 

End of the day, any way you can stay in the top division will be the right way, so there will need to be a plan B in place for certain occasions.

Given HSV’s long and glorious history, what do you think the pressure will be like from the fanbase when the club returns to the Bundesliga? Do you think the HSV fanbase can adjust to being the underdog fighting for survival, or will they immediately demand to be competing at their historical place towards the top end?

It’s not fair to bunch the entire fanbase together because you have so many young HSV fans who can’t even remember what it was like to support this club as a top Bundesliga side. 

Not only me, but the entire younger generation doesn’t know what it was like seeing HSV in Europe or watching elite talents like Ruud van Nistelrooy don the shirt. So obviously, some people will immediately demand the good times to return, but I believe the overriding feeling in the fanbase will just be an overwhelming sense of relief and a hope for top-flight stability. 

And for you, personally, it will be your very first season as a HSV fan in the Bundesliga? Is there any stadium or fixture you most look forward to?

I’ve always wanted to go to Dortmund. It has almost got its own legend in the U.K. - that Dortmund, and the Yellow Wall, make for the most atmospheric stadium on the continent. 

But I don’t want to see it from the South stand; I want to be in the away block!

Benedict, it was an absolute pleasure to speak to you today about your love for HSV. To wrap things up, where do you see your crazy adventure taking you in the coming decades?

I was very, very lucky to have managed to get a season ticket in the Ultrablock, and I don't plan on giving it up any time soon. This is definitely not a short-craze, but a life-long passion. My supporter group is like an extended part of my family now. It’s not so much about the football, and seeing HSV in the Bundesliga, but about being around people that I really care about every weekend.

Whether in Mansfield or in Hamburg, football is in the Mason's blood!

Even my wife and 18-month-old son have been to HSV twice now, so maybe, one day, I will pass on that season ticket to my little boy. He’s already learning German, and he has no choice - HSV are in our blood!