This week’s guest is the first German we have had on the podcast (following on from first Peruvian and Colombian reflecting the global nature of football). Rolf Hessbruegge is a journalist who works for range of titles including Elf Freunde. Rolf is a FC Schalke 04 supporter whose father took him to his first match against bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund with the idea of making him a Dortmund fan, but it didn’t work out that way, with Schalke winning 5-1 and Rolf became a dedicated fan of Die Knappen (Miners).
Rolf lives in Vienna but follows Schalke religiously with the pinnacle of his support being the 1997 UEFA Cup final against the mighty Inter Milan and even now recalling that night in the San Siro stirs the emotions. At th eother end of the scale is the crushing denouement to 2000/01 season when Schalke had the Bundesliga in their grasp, only for events in Hamburg handed the title to Bayern Munich.
Part 1 – https://www.spreaker.com/episode/rolf-hessbruegge-part-1–75864350
Part 2 – https://www.spreaker.com/episode/rolf-hessbruegge-part-2–75917705
