After two years at Rot-Weiss Essen, Björn Rother signed for FC Gütersloh in the Regionalliga. In an interview with RS, he provides remarkable insights into his club search.

On September 25, the regional league team FC Gütersloh signed midfielder Björn Rother. The 28-year-old’s contract with the third division team Rot-Weiss Essen expired this summer after two years, after which Rother spent a long time looking for a new club.

After making his debut for FCG just a few days after signing the contract, playing the full 90 minutes against Fortuna Cologne (1:1), the defensive midfielder also played the full 90 minutes in the 3:1 win against SC Wiedenbrück.

“Of course it was fun,” Rother said in an interview with Forecasting after his first home game for Gütersloh. ”I’ve been looking for a new club long enough and I just feel comfortable in Gütersloh. The people are very open-hearted, have welcomed me well and the club management has really taken great care of me. That’s why I’m simply enjoying playing football again.”

That was different in the past few weeks and months, as he described: “I think lately football hasn’t been too good to me, but now it’s going the other way and it’s just fun with the guys. I didn’t play too much last year in Essen, which was of course frustrating in the long run.”

The summer break was very, very bitter. I couldn’t believe that I really hadn’t found a good club in the 3rd division. […] It showed me how quickly you can slip out of the picture.

Björn Rother

In his last season at RWE, the 28-year-old played 18 times in the 3rd division. However, only two of these were starts; otherwise, Rother had to make do with brief appearances and had to watch some games from the bench.

What followed was a long search for a club, during which the Stolberg native got to know the dark side of the football business. He did not receive a suitable offer during the regular transfer phase. A difficult time for the defensive midfielder, who has 176 third division appearances and 40 second division appearances under his belt.

“The summer break was very, very bitter. I couldn’t believe that I really hadn’t found a good club in the 3rd division. I’ve already played a few games, so that was anything but satisfactory. It showed me how quickly you can slip out of the picture. That was really hard on my mind. That’s why I’m all the happier that the people in Gütersloh have accepted me so well,” said Rother, who kept fit with third-division promoted Hannover 96 II before moving to East Westphalia.

He is expected to become an important pillar at his new club. Can he mature into the ‘leader’ that coach Julian Hesse sees in the 28-year-old? “I think so,” said Rother. ‘But of course that’s only possible if the guys accept it. I see that 100 percent. They also ask me a lot of things or take things on. The exchange with Julian (Hesse, editor’s note) is also great, we can learn from each other. That’s why I would say that I can lead the team, especially in the six position.’