Radio Hafenstraße comments on Rot-Weiss Essen’s games and celebrates its 15th birthday. What crazy stories the station has experienced.

Alessandro Draschkowitsch was nervous, no question about it. On 23 November 2013, he had to step in at short notice and commentate on the Lower Rhine Cup match between SV Friedrichsfeld and Rot-Weiss Essen for Radio Hafenstraße – all by himself. It was to be his first assignment for the fan radio.

When he arrived at the district sports ground, he set up everything on a high table and the kick-off was approaching. Draschkowitsch remembers: “I couldn’t recite the team from my head.” But all the tension quickly subsided. The ball was rolling, suddenly he knew all the players of the Red and Whites, who were trailing 0:2 in the district league and only turned the game around in extra time. Draschkowitsch had passed his baptism of fire – and stuck with the fan station.

Rot-Weiss Essen: Fan station Radio Hafenstraße has become professional

Today, the 35-year-old is the head of Radio Hafenstraße, which celebrates its 15th birthday this year and provides live commentary on every match. Together with Dirk Hense, he takes care of accreditations for the games, the organisation of the radio team, and communication with the club. Draschkowitsch regularly comments on RWE’s matches and also works as a reporter for the blind. “A lot of time goes into that,” he says and laughs.

Draschkowitsch was even part of the portal back in 2007 when it was founded, and it has a history full of ups and downs. In high times, the editorial team comprised 30 people, in bad times they were three. Nevertheless, the fan station was there for almost every game – no matter how crazy the circumstances.

During the first broadcasts, a dedicated mobile phone line was placed in the fan block, and the commentator had a spectator relay what was happening on the pitch. “He then spun a story out of that. But it didn’t matter, the fans could listen and cheer along,” says Draschkowitsch, who returned to fan radio in 2012 after a sabbatical to produce music programmes.

Radio Hafenstraße broadcasts RWE games and music shows

In addition to the RWE games, the station also offers a music programme. There are now six presenters who regularly broadcast shows, including the well-known fan bard Thomas “Sandy” Sandgathe. He is also part of the eight-man team that commentates on the games.

Times have long since changed. Today, it can be said that Radio Hafenstraße is by all means a professional station. Draschkowitsch and Co. have acquired the technical equipment over the years. Of course, the comparison with well-known radio stations is still misleading. Those who tune in to the RWE fans get an emotional live commentary that proudly wears the red and white club glasses.

While there are a few sponsors, the station is largely self-financed. “We are all employed and do it on a voluntary basis,” says Draschkowitsch. But there is also support from the fan scene. The radio is free to receive and many supporters wanted to donate money.

So Radio Hafenstraße set up a corresponding account. “We bought a laptop from the money, for example,” says Draschkowitsch. This is not the only proof that the station has long since found its place in the Hafenstraße biotope.

Rot-Weiss Essen’s fan scene supports Radio Hafenstraße

It was just a few weeks ago that RWE played in Osnabrück. Even some VfL fans recognised Draschkowitsch by his voice. “That does make you proud. But you also make yourself vulnerable, everyone knows your voice at some point,” says the organiser, who has experienced the unpleasant side of the hobby himself. He has already been threatened with violence.

But of course, the good things outweigh the bad. It is a confirmation when 2,500 to 3,500 listeners tune in every week, which is how many there usually are at league matches. They broke the all-time record on 14 May this year, at the decisive regional league match for promotion against Rot Weiss Ahlen. About 12,000 people listened to the broadcast of Essen’s 2-0 win on Radio Hafenstraße.

But promotion to the third division has made things more difficult for Radio Hafenstraße. “As a broadcaster, you need a radio licence and press passes from here on,” says Draschkowitsch. Licences cost several thousand euros a year. Then there are the fees for the music shows that the portal has to pay to Gema and GVL. “It all adds up, a radio is not cheap.”

Radio Hafenstrasse has been lucky. In the 15 years they have been at almost every RWE game, they have been able to create free space for themselves and can continue to broadcast blithely even during professional football. And that’s not where it should stop. The team has enough ideas for the future; for example, they are thinking of setting up a podcast.

“But what is very important to us,” adds Draschkowitsch, “is that we don’t want to earn money. If someone were to give us money in exchange for us getting paid for our work, but in return we would have to take fees for radio reception, I would definitely turn down the offer.”

True to the motto of Radio Hafenstraße, it should remain a project by fans for fans.