Newsblog for 1. FC Cologne
Thousands of FC fans at Demo: “It’s 0.6 percent”
Updated on August 31, 2025 – 7:08 p.m.Reading time: 50 min.
The 1. FC Köln is the football club from the cathedral city. In the New sticker on T-Online you will find all the important messages about the “billy goats”.
Around 4,000 fans of the 1st FC Köln demonstrated on Sunday afternoon for the expansion of the Geißbockheim. Two weeks before the local elections in Cologne, those responsible for the billy goats addressed politics at the rally on Heumarkt. Most recently, the Greens, CDU and volt council alliance had blocked the expansion actually decided by moratorium for five years.
“There is 0.6 percent of the area of the outer green belt. This is a moderate and sensible solution that will also help popular sports,” said FC Managing Director Philipp Türoff. “We do not build a concrete desert or a nuclear power plant, but modern football fields. The time of the excuses is over.”
Even before the demonstration, parts of the CDU had indicated a steering. Mayor Markus Greitemann said in an Instagram video: “There is a reality that a majority must be found that will bring the interests of FC and the city society under one roof.” However, he did not give a clear promise to the soccer fields on the Gleueler meadows. His party colleague Oliver Kehrl became clearer: “FC must continue to develop at the Geißbockheim. This has been clearly agreed since 2020 and we have to comply with and implement that in politics.”
Lukas Kwasniok had already been optimistic on Friday, at the press conference before the home game against SC Freiburg. “All the boys who were slightly striked have trained,” said the coach of the 1. FC Köln, who meant Ragnar Ache (meat wound), Florian Kainz (ankle injury) and Linton Maina (knee pain). The trio is “basically an option if nothing comes between”.
Kwasniok’s hope seems to be confirmed. Because even during the final training on Saturday morning, Ache, Kainz and Maina were able to fully go along – they should receive the green light for Sunday evening. Since all other players are fit for Luca Kilian, Kwasniok against Freiburg has to cut some of his professionals out of the squad again. The most likely candidates are Dominique Heintz and Denis Huseinbasic.
Julian Pauli extended his contract at the 1st FC Köln by 2028 and then temporarily left the club. The young central defender follows for the current second division season 2025/26 promoted Dynamo Dresden. There, the Cologne -based own plant is to collect important game practice, which would probably be denied to FC in view of the great competition at FC.