Even before kick-off, there was the first upset in the final of the Lower Rhine Cup. RWE bid farewell to their departing players as if it were a home game. The RWO fans didn’t like that at all.

A stink even before kick-off! Before the final of the Lower Rhine Cup, Rot-Weiss Essen bid farewell to their departing players.

Felix Götze, Cedric Harenbrock, Sascha Voelke, Sandro Plechaty, Marvin Obuz, Isaiah Young, Björn Rother, Ron Berlinski and Fabian Rüth were given farewell words by sporting director Christian Flüthmann and CEO Marcus Uhlig and presented with a collage of pictures from their time at Rot-Weiss Essen. The whole thing was moderated by the RWE stadium announcer.

The supporters of Rot-Weiss Oberhausen protested against this with posters. “Final or home game? Neutral stage instead of home advantage and farewell show!” was written on three banners in the RWO block on the east stand.

The reason for the anger: For the second time in a row, the Lower Rhine Football Association awarded the final to Hafenstraße in Essen. As in the previous year, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen had applied in vain for the right to play at home.

For the record Lower Rhine Cup winners RWE, this will be the ninth final at their own stadium on Hafenstrasse since 2009. The stadium on Hafenstrasse simply has an advantage over the Niederrhein stadium in Oberhausen due to the better marketing opportunities offered by the boxes. The financial proceeds for all three parties – RWE, RWO and the Lower Rhine Football Association – from the more than 18,000 fans in attendance are simply greater.

But is it also fair? “We are sportsmen and women and naturally see the greater opportunity to win the game and advance to the DFB Cup in a home match. That’s why it’s clear that we want to play in Oberhausen,” explained RWO managing director Patrick Bauder before the match was awarded.

The fans of the regional league club have now brought a completely different option into play. They could apparently live with a future match at a neutral venue