Rot-Weiss Essen are on the verge of a really nice Christmas and New Year. After an outstanding season, boss Marcus Uhlig also gives us “permission” to dream.

Relegation, victory in the Lower Rhine Cup and now 33 points after 19 games, making fourth place in the league. RWE is also in the quarter-finals of the Lower Rhine Cup: Rot-Weiss Essen can look back on a really good 2023 and, above all, an outstanding last half of the year.

CEO Marcus Uhlig agrees. Forecasting spoke to the RWE boss again shortly before Christmas. In the interview, he also emphasizes why he has never been a fan of the Bengal Fire, even when he was an RWE fan in the curve.

Marcus Uhlig, RWE go into the winter break with 33 points – two questions: How many points were the target before the winter – and: What would you have said to people who would have predicted these 33 points before the season?

Before the season, we had set ourselves the internal goal of playing a better round than in 2022/2023, i.e. a mid-table finish, ideally in single figures. We had set ourselves the “target of 50 points” for the entire season. However, we did not formulate this target because it sounds good, but because we were convinced that we would be able to achieve it in the overall constellation. Irrespective of this, we would have felt that this forecast – i.e. to finish the winter in fourth place, level on points with third place with 33 points and one catch-up game remaining – was of course very ambitious, you have to be honest.

What was actually your best moment in 2023 and in the last half of the season?

There wasn’t just one moment. The moment when relegation was confirmed, winning the Lower Rhine Cup, the emotional victories against Münster, Bielefeld and Halle as well as in Dortmund and Duisburg certainly count among them. But also the successful extraordinary annual general meeting in November.

And the worst, the most bitter moment?

Certainly the annual general meeting in June, which went badly in every respect.

Before the Lübeck game, a former Essen youth player, Danny Cornelius, said that the RWE fans played a big part in the team’s success. Do you agree and how do you rate the support of the supporters compared to last season?

I agree with that. But I would like to include the entire stadium, all the stands: The atmosphere, the support is outstanding this season. That applies to Hafenstrasse as well as all away games. A lot has grown together here again since summer 2023, the crowd and the team have become a real unit again

The soccer fan in me doesn’t really like pyro either. I accept other opinions, but for me personally, everything that burns, flashes, smokes and bangs has always been more threatening than fascinating.

Marcus Uhlig

There was a “pyro show” against Lübeck in the West. What is your position on pyrotechnics as a board member of Rot-Weiss Essen?
As CEO of RWE, I was not pleased about this massive pyrotechnic display. The financial consequences are well known, especially as the number of pyrotechnic elements is a decisive factor in the assessment of penalties. And that was exorbitantly high against Lübeck.

And: What does soccer fan Marcus Uhlig have to say about Bengal fire in stadiums?

The soccer fan in me doesn’t really like pyro either. I accept other opinions, but for me personally, everything that burns, flashes, smokes and bangs has always been more threatening than fascinating. What do you think about the promotion battle in the Regionalliga West? Who would you like to see make the leap into the 3rd division?

We are of course keeping a very close eye on developments in the Regionalliga West. The promotion race is exciting, there are more teams involved than in the last two years. Bocholt and Aachen are of course currently favored, but I wouldn’t write off RWO just yet either

What do you think about the sensational DFB Cup run of 1. FC Saarbrücken? Are you a little envious or just full of respect?

I didn’t look at Saarbrücken with envy, more with respect. They beat a second division team and two first division teams, which of course reminds me of our cup run in 2020/2021, when we beat Bielefeld, Düsseldorf and Leverkusen to reach the quarter-finals. It shows once again that a lot of things are possible in soccer that actually seem impossible. And that’s precisely the appeal of this competition in particular…

You’re allowed to dream a little at Christmas time: Why will RWE fans have plenty of reason to cheer at the end of May 2024…?

Every fan can dream. We’re in the quarter-finals of the Lower Rhine Cup and are tied on points with the third-placed team in the league for the winter. I’m certainly not going to make any flippant remarks here, but I can assure you that we’ll do everything we can in both competitions to finish the season as successfully as possible. We’ll see what comes out in the end in May 2024…