This article by Kit Holden appeared originally in the Tagesspiegel

Joshua Field, originally from Birmingham, has been travelling regularly to Berlin for years to watch Union. "Seeing so many people from so many countries here makes you feel like you're not alone in this madness," he says. What once seemed impossible is now commonplace: Union are no longer just a neighbourhood club, but a global phenomenon.

"Union now have more than 70,000 members, and every year more international fans join," explained Alberto Doblaré, the club's Spanish communications manager. Together with his British colleague Jacob Sweetman, they decided to bring this scattered community together in one place.

The club organised a meeting that saw around 50 fans from at least eight countries, from Norway to Mexico, come together on a spring evening in Köpenick. One of them, Eric Grasser, a sommelier in Washington D.C., often travels to Germany to watch Union matches and belongs to the ‘Welsh Union Kings’ group, although he has German and Danish roots.

Others don't come from so far away. Araceli works at the Spanish embassy in Berlin and came to Union because of an ex-boyfriend. "He's gone now. But I'm still here," she says. Next to her, Paco, also Spanish, recalls that after twenty years in Berlin, he went to the stadium for the first time this season. "I'm from Atlético Madrid, and Union reminded me of my childhood, standing terraces, that energy... I fell in love again."

Alejandro Castro, from Quilmes in Argentina, has been following Union for a decade. He finds similarities between German and Argentine fan culture. "People used to ask me what an Argentine was doing here. Now it's more usual," he says. He is grateful that the club promotes events like this. "It's important to get out of our international bubble and connect with local Union fans too," he says.

For Castro, it's not sporting success that matters, but the human connection. "You go to the stadium, you get to know your neighbours in the stands, you're happy to see them again after the summer. That's the most important thing."

Union's international popularity has grown with their sporting achievements, including the first appearances in the Champions League. There are already books about the club in several languages, an official fan club in Vietnam and even a giant graffiti mural in Nuquí, a town in Colombia.

"The club is growing at all levels, and we feel that the international community is too," says Doblaré. "This is just the first step. We want there to be many more meetings like this."