“First round Bucharest, second round Rome. In Copenhagen, someone’s on the phone!” Cologne fans have had 25 years in the wilderness to practice their European songbook. Now they’re back.
“One day! One day it will happen!” the fanatical supporters of 1.FC Köln have been singing all season, “one day we’ll travel to Milan to see FC!”
It’s a dream they have harboured for 25 years, ever since a 0-3 UEFA Cup defeat to Celtic in September 1992. Now, 8,998 days, five relegations, five promotions and a battle against bankruptcy later, Cologne are back in international competition, qualifying directly for the Europa League group stage following a 2-0 victory over Mainz.
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Come the final whistle, in a city famous for its carnival season, it looked as if carnival had been moved to May as thousands of fans streamed onto the pitch, many in tears.
Goalkeeper Timo Horn quickly vanished in the sea of red and white, whilst top-scorer Anthony Modeste was ferried above the heads of the crowd. Austrian manager Peter Stöger had his press conference interrupted as his jubilant players drenched him in Kölsch beer. In the city’s old town, in the shadow of the imposing cathedral, the party continued late into the night.
The nadir
The ecstasy could not have contrasted more with the ugly scenes almost five years ago to the day, when Cologne were literally relegated in a cloud of black smoke.
On the brink of bankruptcy with over €30 million of crippling debts, not helped by the €10 million re-signing of local hero Lukas Podolski from Bayern Munich, Cologne were relegated for the fifth time in 15 years.
The mood was mutinous. Clouds of dense, black smoke billowed from the Südkurve, the home of Cologne’s hardcore, as ultras lit every sort of pyrotechnic device they could lay their hands on. Flags were hung upside down around the stadium while a black banner at the front of the terrace “mourned for 1.FC Köln.” The players fled the pitch as riot police lined up in front of the Südkurve.
As melodic carnival music played over the PA system (“Whatever happens, one thing is clear, the most beautiful thing we have is our city, where we all stick together, whatever happens …”), hooded ultras clambered over the fences onto the pitch, only to be driven back through the smoke by charging lines of police. Cologne was on its knees.
The resurrection
“Jaaa! Europa!” screamed tabloid Express. “We’re back!” cried the local edition of BILD. Five years on from that black day against Bayern, Cologne’s holy trinity have turned the club around. Since 2013, financial director Alexander Wehrle, sporting director Jörg Schmadtke and manager Stöger have overseen a prudent restructuring of the club’s finances and promotion back to the Bundesliga.
🗞 Express: "Up for Europe!🐐"
🗞 BILD Köln: "We're back!"
🗞 Fußballbild: "Happy end!"
🗞 Kicker: "Gladbach the example"
In their first season back in 2015, the Geißböcke (the Billy Goats) survived in 12th. In 2016, they climbed to a respectable 9th. The aim for this season was merely to improve on last year’s points total which, given a modest, mid-table budget and a solid, if unspectacular squad, would have been a laudable achievement. Fifth place has exceeded all expectations in the carnival city.
In recent years, bitter rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach have flown the flag for the Rhineland in Europe – but it’s Cologne who can legitimately claim to be the region’s biggest club, averaging almost 50,000 fans at home and selling out almost every away allocation, despite the turmoil. Now, they have the sporting success to match.
“We never, ever expected this,” said local journalist and lifelong Cologne fan Stefan Nestler. “My children don't remember 1992; they've only ever known FC as a disappointment.”
Identity
“Apart from finances and support, there is one other key to our success,” revealed sporting director Schmadtke: “Relationships. As far as the relationships between the players and the staff are concerned, we’re a top Bundesliga side.”
Identity is important in Cologne, where the football club’s traditions are inextricably linked with the culture of the city. Carnival songs ring out from the terraces, the players wear carnival kits each February – and the mascot, Hennes VIII, is a real, live goat.
So it’s perhaps not surprising that such a positive atmosphere has developed among a squad which features eight born-and-bred “Kölsche Jungs” - Cologne lads. Germany U23 goalkeeper and local boy Timo Horn used to stand with the ultras. Full international Jonas Hector has been at the club since 2010 and pulls the strings from left-back or central midfield.
Up front, foreign imports have bought into the Cologne tradition, none more so than former Blackburn Rovers striker Anthony Modeste. With 27 goals and 3 assists, the Frenchman has been outstanding. But it’s Austrian manager Stöger, already the longest-serving coach in the club’s history, who holds it all together with tactical nous, a relaxed personal manner and a dry wit.
Back in December, the club’s annual Christmas video summed up the attitude in Cologne. “Do you reckon they actually believe all that about Europe?” the coaches ask themselves after delivering a motivational speech to the players. “Europe!?” exclaims Stöger incredulously, “with the carnival club!?“ before falling about laughing.
But the self-deprecating humour and daft carnival outfits are merely a smokescreen for the exemplary work which has transformed the club from a yo-yoing basket case into Europa League participants.
It’s no longer a joke. Cologne are back.
Photographs courtesy of @senfkutte, with permission.
