Even a BVB boss was there
Ulli Potofski buried in Schalke cemetery
Updated on 22.08.2025 – 4:54 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
Around three weeks after his death, Ulli Potofski was buried in Gelsenkirchen. It became a ceremony in the sign of the association, which he was loyal to his life.
In Gelsenkirchen, family, friends and companions said goodbye to Ulli Potofski. The long-term sports presenter was buried on Friday on the Schalke fan field of the Beckhausen-Sutum cemetery, not far from the club’s arena, with which he was closely connected throughout his life.
His last wish was fulfilled: the urn in the form of a football was buried on the community grave field. Schalke’s club legend Reinhard “Stan” Libuda is also located there.
The funeral service started at 11:04 a.m. More than 100 guests attended the ceremony, including Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, ex-Schalke supervisory board head Clemens Tönnies and the former sports moderator Werner Hansch.
The climb was sung at the grave, which is deeply rooted in the region as a miner song. Many fans had brought scarves and flags to pay the last honor to the native of Gelsenkirchen.
Ulli Potofski died of leukemia on August 2 at the age of 73. In the 1970s he started his career at the WDR. At the end of the 1980s, he was one of the creators of the Bundesliga program “kick-off” at RTL. From 2006 he was in action for Sky, at that time, as a moderator and commentator. After his death, several Bundesliga clubs had publicly expressed their sympathy. Potofski was considered one of the most famous sports reporters in the country.