Can't pay? Have a season ticket anyway, say Bundesliga side Darmstadt

Darmstadt became one of the sensations of German football in 2015 when they won promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in a third of a century.

The club's reasonably comfortable survival in the top flight was, if anything, even more of a surprise: they finished 14th, two points clear of the relegation places, despite having been odds-on with bookies to go straight back down.

As if that story weren't already heartwarming enough, the club now have a new treat for their hard-up fans: they are giving away season tickets to unemployed, aged or young fans who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to pay for their seats.

This is no one-off gimmick to fill an empty stadium, either, but instead a continuation of a long-standing policy. Darmstadt's ageing, character-filled ground was bursting at the seams for every single home match last season, and they could comfortably have found enough people to pay the €288 (£240) that a standard season ticket costs for 2016-17.

Instead, however, they have stuck to their long-established principles of helping long-suffering supporters by offering a limited number of tickets for free – just as they always have.

“It’s important for us to enable people with lower income to visit our games. Therefore we’re happy to offer this opportunity for the upcoming Bundesliga season,” said Markus Pfitzner, vice-president of SV Darmstadt 98.

Quite incredible. Johannes Mittermeier of Eurosport Germany put it in context for us.

"Last year was Darmstadt’s first season in Bundesliga after 33 years. It was already a sensation that they made it into the top flight, and it was an even bigger sensation that they avoided relegation," said Johannes.

"You can imagine what happened in the city because of that: every match was easily sold out. I would be amazed if this won’t be the case again."

While English clubs scrabble for ever-increased profits, hammer out ever-more-lucrative transfers or stadium deals and find ever-more-shameless ways of bringing in revenue, their counterparts in Germany are happy to give away seats – or at least standing room - in the name of unity and charity.

As local councillor Barbara Akdeniz put it, the club is "making a stand against exclusion" - a powerful message in the Brexit era.