So was the first German ghost game: "Terrible and wonderful at the same time"

Munich - Alemannia Aachen - 1. FC Nürnberg in January 2004, the first ghost game in German football. Necessary due to a break on the first attempt two months earlier. Günther Koch, now 78, radio legend, was in the game without a viewer, his 95-minute reportage, which was recorded as a real-time radio play, is still heard today (via Koch's homepage and the radio play pool of the Bavarian Radio). Koch has an opinion on ghost games as a journalist, as a fan and also as a member of the supervisory board of 1. FC Nürnberg.

Mr. Koch, how did this project come about in 2004?

I approached the idea to Herbert Kapfer, head of the radio play and media art department in the BR. The WDR, whose territory it was, provided a line so that we could get the noise. Burkhard Hupe from WDR officially commented. I spoke for the real-time radio play for over 90 minutes, I was the first to do something like that and was worried that the voice would hold. It was January and cold.

What did you tell

I was able to move freely, it was a mixture of reportage and radio play. I focused on the sausage sellers and the empty seats, I wanted to interview the players on the pitch, but that would have been theater. I was behind the goal of Raphael Schäfer in Aachen's 3-2 victory, which must have irritated him. I never missed a goal, even though I told a lot about the history of the clubs. At half-time, the picture reporter asked me: "Haven't you got more from the last century?" They all listened.

Were you quieter in the empty stadium?

No, you have your organ.

How many people were in the stadium at all?

Media professionals at most two dozen. There was an official spectator: Egidius Braun, the former president of the DFB. He lives in Aachen. Officials were otherwise only admitted about 20, the tickets were personalized.

And what was it like to report on this game?

Kindly said: weird. The clearer expression would be perverse. I have listened to the reportage many times. It was terrible and wonderful at the same time, it hurt, but I still believed that it had to be held on. It was also a privilege to be there. The scene and the situation were more important to me than the fact that the club played - which wasn't always the case with me. But it rose at the end of the season, not Alemannia.

Does the situation get used to during the 90 minutes?

Spontaneously said: yes. You're in the stadium, switching off everything around you, going into the game, playing down there. But then you look up again, realize that something is missing and notice the self-deception.

You can hear the players shouting banal things. Does that disenchant football?

No, I'm getting pathetic now. When we used to play as children until it got dark, we only heard those who screamed. You are still caught up in the game because you love football. Every soccer game is important no matter when and where. From the reporter's point of view, you have to accept the unreality and imagine that it would be a normal football game. It was a pleasure to make a report out of it.

Mr. Koch, you are a member of the supervisory board of
1. FC Nürnberg. A role in which you cannot refuse ghost games.

Of course we need these games so that the majority of clubs can survive. I know our numbers and that of some other clubs. You are an evil, but a lesser one. It is acceptable.

No alternative?

Perhaps, and now the cook is spinning around, we could transform ghost games into distance games. That is considered impure, but it should be possible to place two or three spectators in each row at a distance from each other. Marking the seats to be used would not be too much effort. So that there would be at least a few thousand - with passion.

There would be arguments about who can enter the stadium.

The cards would have to be raffled off. But I assume that it will be real ghost games. According to the current plans, only 34 or 46 people are allowed to be there, including the emergency services. I'm not at all sure if I would come in as a board member

Any other ideas to liven up the mood?

I've played stadium noises from CD in celebrity games. But there it is fun. In a real point game, it would be fraud.

Any idea what television could do?

The picture is a desolation, one should try to brighten it up by voices and noises. The ball speaks, the players speak. The ball always sounds different. A full shot sounds different from Oliver Bierhoff's golden goal at the 1996 European Championships when he didn't hit the ball properly. You can hear whether a pass gets too strong, how a ball is fastened, whether an assumption turns out to be butter-soft - all of this could be more appreciated than usual. An Oliver Kahn has already scared his opponents with his voice.

The television would have to work technically different.

Directional microphones would have to be set up - so that the audience can hear what the players are shouting at or how the referee communicates with them. It would be a whole new experience to hear that: “Number 33, turn around. I warn you. ”Television could even increase its ratings.

So ghost games wouldn't be the end?

The atmosphere has to live. There is none in the stands, but in the square. You just have to bring it. Nowadays ingenuity is required.

Interview: Günter Klein