EFDN has a new member, FC Schalke 04

EFDN has a new member, FC Schalke 04

The European Football for Development Network is pleased to announce FC Schalke 04 as new member of the network.

Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04, is a professional German association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The “04” in the club’s name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke has long been one of the most popular professional football teams in Germany. Schalke plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, and has won seven German championships, five DFB-Pokale, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup. As of December 2015, the club has 140,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the sixth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Since 2001, Schalke’s stadium is the VELTINS-Arena. Schalke was ranked as the seventh-best football team in Europe by UEFA’s 2015 club rankings.

Schalke 04’s Corporate Social Responsibility

In 2008, the club set up the Foundation “Schalke hilft!” based on the idea to provide quick, unbureaucratic and local help to the people living in Gelsenkirchen, the Ruhr area and the surrounding regions.

This was an important concern of the club since those regions had been facing fundamental structural change in the past 50 years, leading to a wide range of societal issues.

The club aims at addressing problems such as insufficient education and high unemployment rates by providing talent development programmes, which shall improve the occupational prospects of individuals.

With all its initiatives and programmes, FC Schalke 04 wants to give something back to the people, who supported the club in the past 110 years. That is the reason for “Schalke hilft!” to mainly support projects in Gelsenkirchen, the Ruhr area and surrounding regions.

For the club, it is important to also provide underprivileged people with the possibility to be a part of the club. It is another focus of the club’s foundation to support integration and to organise fundraising events. However, these are just one of the few ways, how Schalke 04 contributes to the society. 

EFDN is looking forward to the cooperation with FC Schalke 04.