Over 2,000 fans of Rot-Weiss Essen celebrated a huge soccer festival in Scotland. Essen’s mayor Thomas Kufen was also there. An interview. The mayor of Essen joined the numerous fans of third-division soccer club Rot-Weiss Essen in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Over 2,000 supporters had traveled to the city for a friendly match. Kufen witnessed a sea of red as the crowd began to move from Grassmarket toward the stadium at 4:30 p.m. local time.

Kufen did not want to miss out on being in Scotland. On Wednesday, he was on the same plane that brought the Essen team to Edinburgh. Kufen watched the exciting match at Easter Road Stadium, which RWE lost 2-3 (0-2) after a promising performance, together with Christina Hullmann, the German Consul General in Edinburgh.

Before the game, the CDU politician took the time to talk to this editorial team about this atmospheric soccer match, Rot-Weiss Essen’s ambitious goals, and the stadium expansion.

Thomas Kufen, you didn’t want to miss this game in Edinburgh. What impressions did you gain?

It’s very impressive. I heard that many RWE fans have been here since Monday and are celebrating a soccer festival in Edinburgh. This shows how strongly Rot-Weiss Essen is rooted in the city and the region. It also shows how hungry RWE fans are for international games. You can see that here in Scotland.

As mayor of Essen, does it make you proud to see these images in a foreign country?

Above all, I am proud that we can build on our great soccering past here with Rot-Weiss Essen. In 1955, we were German champions, and this was followed by this international game against Hibernian Edinburgh. We were able to commemorate that today. We would love to continue this success story in the future. We are definitely prepared for it. The Essen fans are longing for success and promotion to the second division. You have also often emphasized that this must be the club’s goal. Do you think this is achievable in the near future, perhaps even in the new season? I don’t know. I think the expectations are definitely there, especially in light of the experiences and successes of the second half of the season. That’s the curse of a successful second half of the season. But I’ve said this from the beginning: a big city like Essen, which is one of the top 10 in Germany, also needs a men’s soccer club in at least the second Bundesliga. That has to be the goal. If you don’t have goals, you might as well pack it in. Then you’ll end up in the third division.

Good infrastructure can help. Last week, the decision to expand the stadium was finally made. Was that personally satisfying for you, since you’ve been committed to this project from the beginning?

I have indeed been committed to it from the beginning. Satisfaction is not something I feel. I was delighted that there was a large majority in the city council in favor of the corner extension and thus the completion of this stadium. It’s not a new building, but rather the realization of something that people didn’t dare to do 14 years ago. The city of Essen needs a functioning stadium, not only for Rot-Weiss Essen, but also if we want to bring international and national soccer games to Essen for both men and women. This is because we do not currently meet the requirements for this, which are 20,000 seats, at the stadium on Hafenstraße. I think we belong on the soccer map, so everything has been done right for the expansion.