Home Politics Werder’s sacked stadium announcer – “I was chased from the yard”

Werder’s sacked stadium announcer – “I was chased from the yard”

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It’s the end of an era on the Weser: Werder Bremen has ended its collaboration with stadium announcer Christian Stoll with immediate effect. The decision was made “after several discussions over the past few weeks,” the statement said. The club did not provide any information about the reasons for the separation.

According to a report by “Bild”, Stoll allegedly misspoke to the referee and a person responsible in Augsburg after the 0-1 draw against FC Augsburg on September 9th. Stoll confirmed the incident in a written statement. He has since apologized to the referee and to those responsible in Augsburg.

Stoll can therefore not understand Werder’s decision. “I also apologized to the club officials and sincerely regretted my wrong behavior. I made no excuses and admitted my mistake. I couldn’t do more. Nevertheless, I was chased from the farm from one moment to the next,” wrote Stoll.

Stoll has been stadium announcer since 1996, together with Arnd Zeigler since 2001. For the time being, Zeigler is to appear alone as the stadium announcer at the Bremen home games.

In his statement, Stoll goes into detail about the events surrounding the home game against FC Augsburg (0-1) on September 9th. After the end of the “highly dramatic final phase” he let himself be carried away in a direct speech to the referee Martin Petersen and a responsible person in Augsburg, writes the ousted employee. “I told the referee that he would rather whistle the district league, the member of the management of the Augsburger that he had a group of unsympathetic people at the start,” reports Stoll: “I have of course apologized to both gentlemen in the meantime.”

But that didn’t protect the 62-year-old from being thrown out: Werder’s management, Stoll explains, nevertheless informed him that his behavior did not match the club’s values. According to him, it was also rejected to carry out an amicable separation at the end of the season or at least to accompany the upcoming home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach on the stadium microphone. Stoll’s request to be there again when Werder legend Claudio Pizarro said goodbye was denied, according to his own statement. That offended him “in my pride of being part of the Werder family and hurt my personal honor as a person”.

Stoll continues: “For more than 25 years I had the privilege of being the stadium announcer for one of the really big traditional German clubs. I was able to accompany 500 games in the Weser Stadium with my voice and my kind of emotionality. I was also allowed to represent the green and white colors as spokesman for the World Cup final in Berlin in 2006 and for ten years at the DFB home games.”

In his behavior after the Augsburg game, he also does not see the real reason for the sudden separation. “I don’t believe the management of the SVW that my faux pas against Augsburg is the real reason for this bitter end. Recently there have been disputes on various topics. I also think that my critical columns and comments in the Bremen media about DFB/DFL, for example about the ghost games, the ‘Kölner Keller’ or my view of some clubs in the BL competition were not particularly appreciated.

Editor’s note: Christian Stoll also works as a TV planner for Axel Springer SE.