At the controversial historical general meeting of 1. FC Köln with three competing teams, the candidate trio proposed by the club prevailed.
A little folklore is essential at 1. FC Köln. And so meeting director Michael Vesper asked when the general assembly rehearsals on Saturday morning (27.09.2025), against which opponents the FC members would prefer to win?
The approximately 6,000 people in the Cologne stadium chose Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Borussia Mönchengladbach with a large distance and in a good mood from the team from Lower Rhine Archrival from Mönchengladbach.
There was tension in the air
Many lectures, three introductory rounds and eight hours later were much more serious. It was about the historical election to the new board of the club. The previous body around President Werner Wolf no longer competed after two terms.
There was also tension in the air because the two teams around District Administrator Georg Adenauer and entrepreneur Wilke Stroman had obtained a justification for the election (at least around 5,000 signatures each) through a collection of signatures. The team around real estate expert Jörn Stobbe also started.
Tumulte failed
A novelty in the FC history – for the first time, three teams stood for election. However, the fears that there could be displacements or even tumults during the meeting due to the unusual and controversial election campaign were unfounded – even if many speeches were exhausted, emotionally charged and polarizing.
In the end, the team – a supervisory committee of the club – nominated by the member council – triumphed with Jörn Stobbe, the sports scientist Ulf Sobek and the lawyer Jörg Alvermann. And even in the first ballot with an absolute majority (64.97 percent). A possible runoff election became unnecessary.
“We will now start work immediately and have discussions with the management”said new president Stobbe. And the newly elected Vice President Sobek added: “We won’t do everything new but better.”
Strategic and infrastructure Questions
With the determination of the stadium location in Müngersdorf, a statute structure reform, a changed legal form of the previous football capital society, which may even be returned to a registered association (EV) “Clear no to investors“The Stobbe team was able to prevail. The Ultras also favored him.
NESRIN ELENABOLSY, Sportschau, September 27, 2025 7:22 pm
In the future, the club is primarily concerned with major infrastructural questions. For years, the club has to expand the Geißbockheim, the home of the club in Cologne’s green belt, and have provided with other artificial turf pitches. In addition, 50 million euros are to be invested in a new youth performance center. And also a possible stadium purchase or at least an enlargement of the arena are killed in the club.
After the election, a good mood was announced. “FC Köln is back“, it echoed by the stadium after the XXL general meeting. The message behind it: The expectations of the” Team Stobbe “are extremely large in the three years of legislative period.