During the 2003–04 winter break, coach Peter Neururer made a deal with the VfL Bochum players and was asked to foot the bill. Do you 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.

There was a lot going on with the Bochum team throughout the season, and something happened during the winter break that probably not every VfL fan remembers. It involved an agreement between the coach and the players regarding their weight. Remember?

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

The plan worked, because the VfL pros behaved impeccably, so that in the end, the coach was the only one who had to pay into the team fund.
“So I was the only one who had to pay 500 euros because everyone else stayed on track.”

Peter Neururer
“It worked wonderfully. All the players came back from the winter break perfectly fit and well-rested for the first training session,” Neururer revealed. “Consequently, I was the only one who had to pay 500 euros because everyone else stayed clean.”

Looking at the final standings, Neururer could certainly handle the money he paid, as VfL finished the season in fifth place and thus sensationally qualified for the UEFA Cup.

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