It probably comes as no surprise that Michael Trippel’s favourite place in Cologne is also the place where he works – the “RheinEnergieSTADION” is the 1. FC Köln stadium announcer’s second home and always will be. After all, his fondness for the club developed early on and exactly at the place where the most exciting matches in the city take place.
Love at first kick
28 November 1964 was a Saturday. In the US, it was the launch date for Mariner 4 – a piece of highly complicated technology designed to take and transmit the first photos of the surface of Mars. Back down on Earth, at Cologne’s Müngersdorfer Stadium to be precise, fans of 1. FC Köln witnessed something very special too. On the thirteenth match day of the 1964/65 Bundesliga season, the club dominate the game against Hamburger SV. 47,000 spectators watched on in the stadium as the Cologne side won 3:0. One of those spectators was 10-year-old Michael Trippel. A friend had taken him along to the match. “My first time in a stadium and I was hooked!” he says, remembering the day. From then on, he was a devoted 1. FC Köln fan and he returned as often as he could to the place where his love for the club began. It’s a love that’s still strong – despite the club’s dramatic rises and falls in the league table over the decades. “This is my 60th season and I think I’ve probably experienced everything you can with a club,” he says.
He’s never been put off being a fan though. On the contrary, such was his dedication that he became the club’s fan liaison officer in 1984. “I was actually the first person ever in the Bundesliga to have that role,” Michael tells us.
Being the direct point of contact between supporters and the club, liaison officers get about quite a bit. And if you’re travelling to away games with a bus full of 1. FC worshippers, you obviously need the right musical accompaniment. Apart from the usual chants, Michael discovered something that seemed to have been neglected up until then – the direct way to the heart of any true Cologne native is through the local love of the city’s special brand of music. These “Cologne classics” proved so popular that he made sure he took them with him when he started in his post as assistant to the stadium announcer after ten years as the liaison officer.
“Welcome to the most beautiful city in the world”
In 1999, Michael took over as the voice of the RheinEnergieSTADION for his favourite club’s home games. Apart from the local hits so popular with the fans – and everyone else from Cologne – there’s another thing that’s become his trademark. For quarter of a century now, he’s been welcoming visitors to the home matches to “the most beautiful city in the world.” He knows not everyone shares that opinion but “it goes straight to the heart. And anyway, Cologne is a feeling!” A local himself, Michael knows how locals tick, what they need and what what they’re like.
“If you’re on holiday and you bump into two people from Cologne, there really is an immediate connection – no matter where you are. It’s not just something people say. It’s true,” he tells us. In Cologne, he says, you can always make new friends quickly with people of a similar ilk: “people of a jovial nature”.
Fan photos, away games and match updates
1. FC Köln fans with a fondness for the club and its stadium announcer (almost a cult figure in his own right) are a jovial bunch too, according to Michael. “As long as they ask nicely” he considers it a matter of honour to fulfil fans’ selfie requests when he’s not pursuing his vocation and he’s out jogging in one of the city’s parks. But you won’t find the stadium announcer watching away games at one of the numerous Cologne pubs that show the Bundesliga matches. “There are lots of great places to follow the action live. But I can’t watch outside the stadium. The excitement is too much for me,” he says. So how does he watch when he’s not in the stadium then? “I don’t. I go for a walk, take my mobile and have a look when I get a match update message.”
By the end of a match day, I’ve done nearly eight hours. You go home feeling pretty exhausted.
Michael Trippel
But when 1. FC Köln are playing at home, it’s hard work for Michael too. Being a stadium announcer isn’t all fun. Nothing’s left to chance, he explains. “If the match is scheduled to start at 3.30 in the afternoon, say, I start at 12.30.” That’s when they have the production meeting, going through the plans in detail. “We have a technical run-through at 1.15 and then proceedings get underway at 2.30. I’m in my booth a good ten minutes before the whistle blows,” he adds. After, between 5.20 and 6, he goes off to the VIP area for a debriefing and a chance to process the game. “By the end of a match day, I’ve done nearly eight hours. You go home feeling pretty exhausted.”
No sign of stopping
But Cologne’s stadium announcer is far from having had enough. He’s nowhere near ready to give up the job he’s been doing for 25 years. “How long do I want to carry on? As long as I’m in good health. I still enjoy it immensely.” Michael’s job keeps him busy away from the stadium too. When Cologne’s carnival season comes around, the voice that regularly welcomes 50,000 visitors to matches can be heard keeping the crowd entertained from the club’s float.
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