Rot-Weiß Essen: "Our fans love the club beyond measure"

Last spring, Rot-Weiss Essen threatened to end.

The traditional club, which has been trapped in fourth-rate anonymity since 2008, was caught off guard by Corona: The league was shut down, and the audience income fell away.

But with ingenuity, political support and, above all, the loyalty of the fans, RWE got through the crisis much better than expected.

The German champion from 1955 is on a clear path of advancement - a sleeping giant wakes up.

Club boss Marcus Uhlig explains how that happened.

And how it should go with the club.

WORLD:

Mr. Uhlig, in spring Rot-Weiss Essen feared for its existence.

The club is currently the front runner and is doing very well.

Why was it that RWE of all people was able to master the Corona crisis so well?

Marcus Uhlig:

It's not easy to explain.

I'll try it this way: We are all egoists too

.

And when I set up threatening scenes at the beginning of the corona pandemic, there were certainly a number of concrete fears behind it, but it was, admittedly, a bit of a strategy.

We have taken a number of measures that have enabled us to reduce costs.

And we were also able to make use of instruments such as short-time work.

But we were also lucky.

We have a considerable part of the sales that have broken off through many - let's say - creative actions.

WORLD:

You mean you did business even though you had nothing to offer?