Why I’m Stepping Back from RBL Talk: When the Football I Love Stops Loving Its Fans

Justin Crozer

— 4 min read

For years, I poured my time, passion, and energy into RBL Talk.
Not because I wanted views or attention, but because I genuinely loved what RB Leipzig brought to football: intelligent tactics, fearless pressing, development of young players, and a fresh identity in a league defined by tradition.

As an international fan watching from Australia, RB Leipzig felt like a modern, exciting club I could invest in — emotionally, financially, and creatively. The football hooked me. The club inspired me. The players gave me stories worth talking about.

But somewhere along the way, the club I loved stopped feeling like a club that loved its fans back.

And that’s why I’m stepping away.

1. The Ban on Pyrotechnics: Erasing a Symbol of Ultra Culture

German football is famous worldwide for its atmosphere.
The noise.
The passion.
The tifos.
And yes — the pyrotechnics.

You don’t have to be an ultra to understand that pyro is more than “flare = danger”.
It’s an expression of identity.
It’s visual passion.
It’s culture.

So when Red Bull and RB Leipzig enforced a strict ban on pyrotechnics, even in controlled environments and despite dialogue with fan groups, it felt like another blow against what makes German football… German.

A club that already sits outside traditional fan culture now wants to sterilise the one thing that gives supporters a voice in the stadium.
It’s not about safety — it’s about control.

And it sends a clear message:

“We don’t trust our own fans.”

2. Ignoring Local Fans: No Real Voice, No Real Influence

One of the reasons ultras and local fans across Germany reject RB Leipzig is because of the club’s structure.
The membership model isn’t designed for fans to have influence — it’s designed to ensure they don’t.

The club has grown massively:

  • modern training facilities
  • Champions League nights
  • international branding
  • global fan outreach

But for the local East German fans?
How much influence have they gained?

Very little.

From the outside, as someone who supported Leipzig from half a world away, the picture looks like this:

The money matters. The fans don’t.

And that’s a tough realization when you’ve invested so much of yourself in the club’s story.

3. Not Doing Enough for East Germany

One of the reasons RB Leipzig was initially sold to the public as a positive influence was the promise of “reviving East German football.”

More investment.
More talent pathways.
More representation for a region long ignored by top-flight football.

And yes — Leipzig have brought success. They’ve brought visibility. They’ve brought pride.

But have they truly supported the broader football landscape in the East?

They built a club
—not a community.
—not a movement.
—not a football culture that lifts other local teams.

East Germany deserves more than a corporate franchise with a single spotlight.
It deserves development, inclusion, identity, and long-term commitment to the region’s football ecosystem.

From my perspective as an international fan, that promise remains barely fulfilled some 15 years later.

4. Surveillance Culture: Facial Recognition & Forced Digital Tickets

This was the breaking point for me.

When RB Leipzig announced plans to introduce facial recognition and move all tickets to a mandatory digital system, even after local and national backlash, it became painfully clear:

The club values data more than supporters.
The club prioritises tracking over trust.
The club is choosing convenience and control over community and culture.

In a league where fans fight tooth and nail to preserve autonomy, this level of surveillance feels dystopian.

It’s stadium security turned into corporate data collection.

And it doesn’t reflect the club I believed in.

5. The Human Reason: Football Is Nothing Without Fans

As someone who fell in love with RB Leipzig for the football, I never imagined the culture of the club would be the reason I stepped back.

But football isn’t just tactics, xG, or verticality.
It’s people.
It’s atmosphere.
It’s belonging.

And when a club undermines that —
when it bans the visual language of ultras,
dismisses fan input,
ignores regional football culture,
and pushes invasive surveillance —
it becomes harder to stand behind them with passion.

So what now? Supporting Local Football — and Holstein Kiel

I’m not abandoning football. I never could.

I’ll still watch Leipzig games. I still appreciate the tactical brilliance. I still admire the players.

But emotionally?
Creatively?
As a fan who wants his club to care about people?

I’m redirecting that energy.

My family (great grandmother) has roots in Holstein Kiel — a small club with heart, history, and soul.
I’ve followed them a little since 2009, even though I could never (still can’t) buy a shirt because they don’t ship to Australia and don’t have a big international presence.

And you know what?

That means something.

It means they’re still a club before they’re a brand.
They’re growing the right way, not the fast way.
They’re 125 years of blood, sweat and tears.

So while I may not be actively producing RBL Talk at the moment, my love for football hasn’t disappeared — it’s simply evolving.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t a cancellation.
It’s not anger.
It’s disappointment, mixed with hope.

Hope that RB Leipzig will reconnect with its people.
Hope someday the club will go 50+1 or at least give back to the fans who have made them what they are today.
Hope that fan culture won’t be sterilised into nothingness.
Hope that clubs remember football was built long before corporations arrived.

And hope that, one day, I’ll feel inspired again to speak passionately into a microphone about RB Leipzig.

For now, though, this is where I stand.

As a fan.
As a supporter.
As someone who still loves football — but refuses to ignore the cost of progress when fans are the ones paying for it.

P.S. If people want to reach out I will still be available for appearances on editorials, podcasts, news sources etc… via email at show@rbltalk.com

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