do with politics. The club was the most important thing and the identification with Union Berlin had primarily to do with Köpenick. The rivalry was fueled by local pride from the supporters of the two teams. However, the political dimension was there nontheless. BFC Dynamo was supported by the Stasi, who was disliked by many. But above all, it was the political instrumentalization of football that irritated supporters of Union Berlin. The political favoritism of BFC Dynamo greatly contributed to the enthusiasm of the supporters of Union Berlin. Supporters of Union Berlin embraced the image of the underdog fighting the odds. An expression of the supporters of Union Berlin was: "Better to be a loser than a stupid Stasi pig". The derby between BFC Dynamo and Union Berlin was first and foremost a local football derby. Both clubs had supporters who were not loyal to the line. Also supporters of BFC Dynamo were observed by the Stasi during the 1980s. East Berlin was divided into two: BFC Dynamo was more strongly represented in some parts, and Union Berlin was more strongly represented in other parts. Which team you supported was very much a question of where you lived. BFC Dynamo was the local team if you grew up in Prenzlauer Berg. And you lived in Mitte, you were also more likely to be a supporter BFC Dynamo, as the home stadium was only a stone's throw away along Schönhauser Allee. But Mitte was also a contested area. The border allegedly ran at Alexanderplatz, where many fights between the supporters of the two teams were fought. The home districts of the two clubs, Hohenschönhausen and Köpenick respectively, were always dangerous territory for supporters of the other team. BFC Dynamo and Union Berlin met a total of 35 times in the DDR-Oberliga and the FDGB-Pokal. BFC Dynamo won 22 meetings and Union Berlin won 6 meetings. Matches against Union Berlin was often won with big numbers in the late 1970s and 1980s. BFC Dynamo defeated Union Berlin with 1–8 and then 7–1 in the round of 16 of the 1978-79 FDGB-Pokal. Hans-Jürgen Riediger scored a hat-trick in both legs. BFC Dynamo also defeated Union Berlin 8–1 in the Oberliga on 13 September 1986. Thom, Frank Pastor and Christian Backs scored two goals each. The 1980s was a crushing win for BFC Dynamo. Former BFC Dynamo midfielder Falko Götz concluded that: "Union was