During the 2003/04 winter break, coach Peter Neururer made a deal with the VfL Bochum players and was asked to pay up. Remember?

The 2003/04 Bundesliga season was a very successful one for VfL Bochum. Under head coach Peter Neururer, the club made the leap into European competition. Throughout the season, there was a lot going on at Bochum, and during the winter break, something happened that probably not every VfL fan remembers. It involved an agreement between the coach and the players regarding their weight. Do you remember?

Specifically, Neururer allowed the players in the team, including Dariusz Wosz, Paul Freier, and Frank Fahrenhorst, to gain up to 500 grams over the holidays. For every gram above that, they would have had to pay one euro into the team fund.

The plan worked, because the VfL pros behaved in an exemplary manner, so that in the end the coach was the only one who had to pay into the team kitty.

Accordingly, I was the only one who had to pay 500 euros because everyone else stayed clean.

Peter Neururer

“It worked wonderfully. All the players came to the first training session after the winter break perfectly trained and well rested,” Neururer revealed. “Accordingly, I was the only one who had to pay €500 because everyone else stayed clean.”

Looking at the final table, Neururer could certainly cope with the money he paid, because VfL finished the season in fifth place and sensationally qualified for the UEFA Cup.

“It was an incredible time at VfL Bochum. For me, it was the most emotionally intense phase I have ever experienced in my career. Deep friendships were formed that still exist today. It was absolutely amazing, something that is very rare in modern soccer,” Neururer said, looking back on his successful time as coach in Bochum.