“Shared spirit” between Frankfurt and Lviv | OneFootball

Eintracht and the City of Frankfurt are strengthening their ties with the Ukrainian football club FC Karpaty and the twin city of Lviv on a sporting, social and personal level.

You could say that in the early summer weather in Frankfurt last weekend, Eintracht and the City of Frankfurt welcomed FC Karpaty Lviv on the sunny side of life. A handful of representatives from the Ukrainian first-division club and 20 youth players from their U16 team were not only guests at the spectacle against Leipzig at Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday evening, but also showed off their own footballing skills at the Riederwaldstadion on Sunday morning, when they lost 4-2 to Alex Meier's charges in a thrilling U16 friendly match.

The encounter was also accompanied by an appeal for donations, which the 300 or so spectators generously responded to and raised around €2,000. The direct beneficiary, the Clinical Center of Children's Healthcare, was recommended by Karpaty Lviv.

“It's a great opportunity for both U16 teams to play against each other at the Riederwaldstadion,” said board member Philipp Reschke following a reception at the ProfiCamp. “And, of course, we are also looking to exchange ideas, try to learn from each other, and gain impressions of each other and with each other.”

Russia's attack on Ukraine and the ongoing war have shaped the relationship from day one. The first fundraising campaigns in various sports departments of the club followed just a few days after the start of the war.

At the beginning of September 2023, the Eintracht Frankfurt Museum hosted an event entitled ‘Ukraine - Football and Fans in Times of War’. One of the guests that evening in the City Forest was Oleg Soldatenko, an FC Karpaty Lviv fan who lives in Lviv and has been active in the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) organisation for many years promoting fan culture interests. It was the origin of a close connection that was further strengthened by the twinning of Lviv and Frankfurt in 2024.

“Those were very intense days with impressive presentations, including in the museum, and lively discussions,” reflected Reschke. “At that time, the idea came about to enter into an exchange with FC Karpaty as soon as circumstances allowed and perhaps establish a more extensive partnership. We’re all the more delighted that we’ve now been able to take the first step with the invitation to Frankfurt and the friendly match.”

After their arrival, it emerged that the guests from western Ukraine had to spend the night before their journey in an air raid shelter. This made it all the more important to experience something like normality, at least for a weekend, some 1,000 kilometres away from home.

This was also helped by the illuminating presentation by Nicolai Adam, head of international sports projects, who introduced Eintracht’s youth concept and the club as a whole. To everyone's surprise, falconer Norbert Lawitschka and Attila dropped by at the end. ‘The Lions’ from Lviv loved it. “Ukraine still needs our solidarity right now,” added Reschke. “The connection to the city of Lviv and FC Karpaty is a great way for us in Frankfurt to build bridges.”

Frankfurt city councillor Eileen O'Sullivan agrees. “It’s important that we bring this to life with concrete projects,” she said at the U16 friendly, where both the Ukrainian and German national anthems were played. “We already had a student exchange programme with a school in Frankfurt that brought students from Lviv here. It’s essential that young people engage in dialogue with each other in order to understand the realities of each other’s lives. I’m certain that this is the seed that needs to be sown so that global citizens – people who think beyond borders – can grow from this.”

“We’ve gained so many deep insights, it’s hard to express it in a few words,” said Taras Hordiyenko, technical director of Karpaty Lviv, in summary. “We’re all happy, the boys are happy. The parents have told me that all of the boys were really taken by the stay. We’ve established very good ties and made friendships, which is necessary for the future. We’re glad and grateful that Eintracht Frankfurt used their size and reach for these purposes. We hope we can eventually continue this exchange in peace. That comes before everything for us.” The delegation extended an invitation to Lviv on Saturday and stressed: “Football is our shared spirit.”