Is 1. FC Köln celebrating carnival this year? The carnival is just around the corner, and for Timo Schultz it would be his first appearance on the big Cologne traditional stage.
Timo Schultz hasn’t had any reason to celebrate yet. The new coach of 1. FC Köln is still waiting for his first win with the billy goats. If this happens on Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt, there would basically be no better time. A few days later the highlight of this year’s session will take place in Cologne.
On Tuesday evening the traditional carnival session of the billy goats takes place in the “Maritim Hotel” at Heumarkt. Two days later, the whole city turns into a party zone at Wieverfastelovend. On Rose Monday, the FC will be on the road again with its own car. But can Schultz and the FC actually enjoy this atmosphere in the sporting crisis?
Last year the hangover was big
“Carnival is simply a part of this city,” says Schultz. He also doesn’t want to take away the joy of the celebration from his players. “But everything with a sense of proportion, of course.” The motto should be: “When we win, we celebrate a victory. When we lose, we celebrate for team building.” On Carnival Sunday, FC has to go to TSG Hoffenheim.
A year ago the billy goats had completely overdone it. First an exclusive Laughing Cologne Arena for the FC, then the carnival session, later the Rose Monday procession: the hangover was big. A 0:3 on Carnival Saturday in Stuttgart started with two points from six games and only one goal scored. FC officials later described the scale of the celebrations as a big mistake.
Will Schultz work as a lighthouse?
A year later, from FC’s point of view, there is nothing to celebrate anyway, apart from the carnival itself. So everything should be a little smaller. Again with our own meeting and participation in the Rose Monday procession, but also with much clearer announcements to the team. “I’m really looking forward to my first real carnival,” says Schultz. “But I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I’ve never really dressed up before. Maybe I’ll go as a lighthouse.”
The North German has hardly come into contact with Cologne customs so far. He was asked about the carnival in the first few days in the cathedral city. But his personal experiences are manageable. In 2018, the current FC coach attended a meeting in Cologne at the same time as he was completing his coaching course at the DFB in Hennef. In addition, he is also a Fastelovend novice.
When Schultz celebrated in Cologne 15 years ago
However, he is not a party novice, as Schultz revealed at his inaugural press conference. The 46-year-old has been to the city before, but 15 years ago as a player with FC St. Pauli after a duel at FC. “We went back to the Hotel am Heumarkt after the game. My wife was heavily pregnant at the time, so I asked her on the phone if I could stay another night.”
His wife Mareelke gave Schultz permission and he set off. But then it happened: “As it happens: the call came at half past four. The next day my son was born.” Schultz made it back to Hamburg in time for the birth of their son Paul. Schultz just didn’t want to clarify whether the call had reached him in a bar or a hotel. “I refuse to answer that.”