Two fans had suffered heart failure while attending Borussia Dortmund's 2-0 victory over Mainz.
One of the people in question was rushed to hospital, and is now in a stable condition. Tragically, the other fan didn't make it, and passed away while the game continued. It is thus far unclear as to whether both fans were in attendance together, but at least one was understood to be standing in the Westfalenstadion's iconic Südtribüne - the stadium's 'South Bank' - alongside over 24,000 of their peers.
#YNWA #bvbm05 pic.twitter.com/hWE4pUJ83o
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) March 13, 2016
Dortmund's fans, along with the travelling Mainz supporters, paid their respects by initially calling a halt to all songs in the stands, creating an eerily silent atmosphere at Signal Iduna Park.
A Dortmund fan died after suffering from a heart attack during the match and the Südtribüne is now paying its respect by staying silent.
— Norwegian Musings (@normusings) March 13, 2016
In his post-match interview with German tv, Marco Reus - who scored the first of Dortmund's goals prior to the incident in the stands - explained that the players were entirely unaware as to what was happening, and that he was initially 'irritated' by the lack of noise until he heard the terrible news immediately after the final whistle.
As you'll probably gather from the players shouting in the clip below, the relative silence of 81,000 fans sounded more like a game being played behind closed doors.
Then, with just a couple of minutes remaining, the stadium erupted into a particularly haunting chorus of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', Dortmund's club anthem, in tribute to their fallen friend.
The song was led by the Südtribüne, with the other three stands joining in to produce an almighty rendition of the famous song.
Die #Südtribüne gedenkt dem Verstorbenen. #YNWA #BVBM05 pic.twitter.com/yaKkzB277k
— Ruhr Nachrichten BVB (@RNBVB) March 13, 2016
Fittingly, as Dortmund again attacked the Mainz goal, it seemed that not a single fan cared about anything less. All 81,000 were unwavering in their gesture of respect as the final whistle approached.
The term 'special club' perhaps gets banded about too liberally in modern football, and indeed, on occasion it can border on cliché when it refers to Borussia Dortmund. But some clichés become so for a reason: they consistently ring true.
In what transpired to be a tragic day for German football, Dortmund's fans proved their singularity once more.
