German football culture has my heart after years of following Dortmund around the country. Supporters act in unison and are treated with respect by politicians who understand the game. Scotland may well benefit from this chance to observe their customs.
The weaving fan seems about to fall. A policeman strides over, steadies him and places him on a bench on a boulevard stretching down to Leipzig Hauptbahnhof. The supporter, drunk and very much incapable, is attended to until his mates arrive on the scene.
Police gather around, unaggressive and mildly solicitous, until it is ascertained that the drunken man can safely be taken home by friends. The scene is witnessed because I have eschewed my free bus back to the station. I want to walk.
The atmosphere is good, the ambience is safe, even though I wear Dortmund colours on a major street in Leipzig on a match night. I have attended yet another match in Germany. Professionally, I have been going there for some time but have been a Dortmund fan for more than a decade.
I have been at all 10 stadiums that will host the Euros. I have come to love the German game, partly because I have been most intrigued by its football culture. Both Scots and Germans, in general, love football.
We share a passion. But it is a love story with a different narrative. So how is it different in Germany? And is it simply better? And, if so, why? READ MORE: How one youth guru brought up two of Scotland's Euro finest These are questions that cover politics ,.