News blog about 1. FC Cologne
Former Calmund successor praises FC: “That’s extraordinary!”
Updated 10/13/2025 – 5:18 p.mReading time: 15 minutes
1. FC Köln is playing first class again this season. In the news ticker on t-online you will find all the important reports about the “billy goats”.
Great praise for 1. FC Cologne after the strong start to the Bundesliga: Michael Reschke, once managerial successor to Reiner Calmund at Bayer Leverkusen and current advisor to FC star Eric Martel, spoke positively about the billy goats’ development in the “Dreierkette Köln” podcast. The 68-year-old called sports director Thomas Kessler’s transfers in the summer “extraordinary” and the coaching decision with Lukas Kwasniok “sensational”.
Overall, Kessler has played a decisive role in FC’s success in the league so far. “You can’t actually achieve such a transfer rate,” said Reschke. “Of the twelve transfers, there are eight absolute top transfers: van den Berg, Johannesson, Ache, Sebulonsen, Bülter, Kaminski, Lund and El Mala. That’s an incredible quota! A fantastic job has been done.”
Words that could possibly also be important for Eric Martel. Reschke and the player had emphasized that they wanted to decide about the future in the winter. Martel’s contract expires in 2026. In the summer, the player told the FC that he only wanted to extend his contract if the FC developed strongly in terms of sport. “Eric also realizes what has happened at FC,” said Reschke. “At the moment everything is open as far as the future is concerned.”
Sunday, October 12, 2025
Positive news for Sebastian Sebulonsen: The new signing from 1. FC Köln was called up for the Norwegian senior national team on Sunday. The Billy Goats winger was called up for the first time by the former FC coach and current Norway national coach, Stale Solbakken.
So Sebulonsen could make his international debut on Tuesday. Then Norway meets New Zealand in a friendly. Sebulonsen has played 19 times (1 goal) for Norway’s U21s. However, the Billy Goats’ summer signing will not meet Erling Haaland. The Norwegian superstar left the national team early.
Saturday, October 11, 2025
The women’s Bundesliga derby between 1. FC Köln and Bayer Leverkusen, which was canceled due to a defective floodlight system, will be repeated next Thursday (October 16, 6 p.m.). At the time of the abandonment, after 36 minutes of the game, FC were 1-0 ahead thanks to a goal from Sandra Maria Jessen. The new edition of the game starts at 0-0, although the DFB has cleared Cologne of any blame.
“Since the championship game was canceled prematurely through no fault of either club, it must be replayed at the same location in accordance with Section 18 No. 4 Sentence 1 of the DFB’s legal and procedural regulations,” said a statement from the “Billy Billy Goats”. The DFB’s legal and procedural rules do not provide for a continuation from the interrupted minute of play.