Bundesliga club SV Darmstadt 98 will continue to offer free season tickets for those on low incomes despite selling out their 17,000-capacity stadium on 13 of 17 occasions last season.
Darmstadt are set to enter their second consecutive Bundesliga season after finishing 14th in their first year in the German top flight since the 1981-82 season.
Even with their promotion to the top flight, Darmstadt continued a policy of free season tickets to fans on low income, just as they have done ever since playing in the regional fourth division five years ago.
Instead of cashing in on the now-higher demand for tickets, Darmstadt -- nicknamed Die Lilien or The Lilies -- have decided to keep offering those tickets, the club's vice president Markus Pfitzner confirmed.
"It's an important matter for us to offer those inhabitants of Darmstadt on low incomes the chance to see our Lilies live in the stadium," Pfitzner told kicker.
The season tickets are allocated to applicants with the Teilhabecard, a local participation card offering discounts and free entrance to several cultural events as well as free entrance to all city-owned public swimming pools in Darmstadt.
The card itself is available to those on social welfare, children and youth from child-rich families, senior citizens and asylum seekers.
Barbara Akdeniz, the head of the city's social department, called Die Lilien's offer "a sign against exclusion" and added: "It's important to have such a strong and renowned partner like SV Darmstadt on our side."