Special Moments
"Will you stay for a beer?" — This question caught Rolf Heller, president of FC Sachsen Leipzig, off guard one summer afternoon in 2006 during a match in Leipzig's west end. The man inviting him for a pint was Rolf Gall (65), a retired electrician and 25-year member of BSG Chemie Leipzig, a man with a nose for opportunities.
For money in Leipzig was tight. After German reunification, the "Chemists" — who had twice represented DDR football in European competition — merged with Chemie Böhlen to form "FC Sachsen Leipzig." In 2001, the club went bankrupt and in 2004 moved from the old Chemie stadium Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark into the completely rebuilt Zentralstadion.
In the years after the 2006 World Cup and the preceding 2005 Confederations Cup dress rehearsal, the Zentralstadion was considered a white elephant. "Dance of the dead in the theatre," as DER SPIEGEL put it, whenever Sachsen Leipzig played Regionalliga Nord matches there in front of empty stands. As early as 1999, the club could only survive through a partnership with the stadium operator Michael Kölmel.
That was the situation in which "Sachsen-Galli," as they called Rolf Gall in Leipzig, encountered Heller. Heller lamented the club's woes over a beer. "Something must be done," the electrician replied — inspired, perhaps, by the legendary Peter Alexander lyric: over beer and spirits, many find solutions to all life's problems.
And RB Salzburg was the club that had taken over the licence of SV "Casino" Salzburg in 2005 and turned the cosy but dull Austrian football world upside down. What did Gall do? He copied the company address from a Red Bull energy drink can and wrote a letter to Red Bull founder Dietrich "Didi" Mateschitz. "The worst they can say is no," he figured.
"Sachsen-Galli" even received a reply. "We regret that we must decline your enquiry as a shirt sponsor," it read, "as we are currently not involved in football projects." But the Leipzig man did not give up. He called Salzburg. "I'd like to speak to Herr Mateschitz," he said — but was passed to a lower-ranking official instead.
But Kölmel had smelled a rat. The costs for the Zentralstadion were threatening to spiral out of control. Kölmel was losing 100,000 euros a month on the stadium. Nearly a million euros were pumped by the stadium company into FC Sachsen Leipzig, who were playing in the fourth-tier Oberliga.
Nuclear physicist Dr. Otto Schlörb, acting on Kölmel's behalf, searched for sponsors and approached Red Bull again on behalf of FC Sachsen. And by now, the situation in Austria had changed completely. Red Bull wanted to invest in German football and had already approached several clubs, only to be turned away. The traditional clubs wanted nothing to do with the energy drink company.
The club representatives were put out, pointing to large and powerful fan scenes that had rather shown solidarity with Austria Salzburg's supporters and protested against the takeover. Austria Salzburg was supposed to be the "role model" for Germany. But no chance.
The Austrians had to rethink. Instead of a German big-city club with tradition, they now sought a club "attached" to a major German city — one without tradition and without a rebellious fan scene, but with potential, playing in as high a league as possible. On a hastily compiled shortlist, to which even Franz Beckenbauer contributed, Leipzig emerged as the frontrunner.
And so nuclear physicist Dr. Otto Schlörb — unlike the sweating electrician Gall in 2006 — was invited to Red Bull's representational building in Salzburg, Hangar 7. These meetings quickly produced a breakthrough. On October 2, 2006, Dany T. Bahar, Mateschitz's right-hand man, contacted Schlörb. The Bulls had taken the bait.
A discreet hotel in Berlin was the venue where Kölmel and his associates presented Red Bull with a viable concept. It was October 4, 2006. Kölmel and Schlörb suspected, however, that FC Sachsen would not accept Red Bull's conditions — among them a change of kit colours from green and white to red and white, a name change, and the sale of naming rights. They were right.