A new research project is now looking to understand what values characterise the club? What makes the FCM so special? And how can the club sharpen its identity for the future? To get to the bottom of these questions, FCM 1 has initiated the development of a club mission statement.

The aim is to work out the club’s cultural and emotional DNA and create a common set of values for fans, members and partners. The club is using scientific expertise for this: as part of a teaching research project at the University of Magdeburg, students from the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in Social Sciences and the continuing education programme in Project Management are supporting the process with a scientific analysis.

With the aim of gaining well-founded insights into the special club culture, students conducted interviews with club members, fans and officials and analysed both historical and current documents. The football stadium  as a social space is at the centre of the research. This is where people from a wide range of backgrounds, opinions, lifestyles and perspectives come together to actively support their club. For the students, this meant attending home matches in the stadium, interviewing fans and finding out what real and concrete significance and value this place in the east of the state capital has for people.

In the coming weeks, 1. FC Magdeburg will analyse the scientific findings and integrate them into the development process of the mission statement. The aim is to actively integrate the research findings into the club’s work and to develop the mission statement on this basis.

Photo: For the project, the students went to FCM matches with Prof Heike Ohlbrecht (left) and research assistant Josephine Jellen (right). (Photo: private)