The situation surrounding Rot-Weiss Essen currently demonstrates just how fast-paced the soccer business is. A week ago, many things were still up in the air, but now there is a sense of euphoria once again.

English weeks are crazy! The Rot-Weiss Essen team has experienced this firsthand in recent days.

After the defeat at Hansa Rostock on February 28, 2026, the Rot-Weiss team became very unsettled. Quite a few people were calling for coach Uwe Koschinat to be fired. If the 54-year-old and his team had also messed up the games in the English week against Waldhof Mannheim and TSG Hoffenheim, Koschinat’s days in Essen would probably have been numbered.

But soccer is fast-paced: a victory in the scandalous game against Mannheim, in which Essen’s goalkeeper Felix Wienand suffered a bang trauma due to a firecracker being thrown, and three points at TSG Hoffenheim II ensured that the RWE fans “fell in love” with their coach and the team again. The team and the approximately 1,000 fans who had traveled with them celebrated the 4-2 victory over Hoffenheim’s U23 team exuberantly. Captain Michael Schultz grabbed the Ultras’ megaphone and appealed to the fan curve: “We’ve talked about it often enough: we can only do it together! We have big goals! This is an awesome club. We have shown in recent years that we will fight for you. And that you will fight for us, guys. From now on, we have home and away games until the last person in the main stand and the opposite stand realizes what’s going on. That we are all fired up together – we for you, you for us. Let’s go, guys!”

We remember the words of the RWE captain after the 0-3 defeat at VfL Osnabrück on February 21, 2026. Schultz made an impassioned speech to the fans after they verbally attacked the team at the Bremer Brücke.

From now on, we have home and away games until the last person in the main stand and the opposite stand realizes what’s going on. That we’re all fired up together – we for you, you for us. Come on, guys – Vamos!

Michael Schultz

Schultz: “No one needs to tell us that we’re not giving it our all or that we’re not a team that represents the colors well. You have to look at where the club came from. For a long time, we were in the regional league, in the 3rd league in a full relegation battle, and sometimes halfway up the table. (…) With the game against Osnabrück, the current situation is shitty and it hurts. But there are still a few games left in which we can give it our all. If we don’t stick together, we might as well give up. If we do, anything is possible.”

Schultz was right. After victories against Mannheim and Hoffenheim, RWE is stronger than ever in the promotion race. With ten match days to go before the end of the season, Essen are just two points behind third-placed MSV Duisburg with 49 points and are four and six points behind second-placed Energie Cottbus and league leaders VfL Osnabrück respectively.

On Saturday, former coach Christoph Dabrowski will visit Essen with FC Erzgebirge Aue. And one thing is already certain: the atmosphere at Hafenstraße will be electric – just as the captain and the team want it to be.