'Arbeit, Fußball, Leidenschaft' (Work, Football, Passion) – The VfL slogan is one which the Wolves intend to fill with life in the coming 2018/2019 Bundesliga season. To ensure those responsible, the team and the fans are all pulling together, on Wednesday evening, VfL extended an invitation to the club’s supporters to meet and have an exchange. 120 attending Green-Whites took the opportunity to pose questions following two very difficult seasons or wish all the best for the future to VfL General manager Jörg Schmadtke, Sporting director Marcel Schäfer and head coach Bruno Labbadia. The VfL trio took 90 minutes in the 'Eventcenter' of the Volkswagen Arena to extensively react to the queries and suggestions from the crowd.
"Important to have exchanges"
Amongst other issues, the fans greatly approved of the decision to hold this season’s pre-season preparations in Wolfsburg. Further topics included the new direction of the club, as well as identification with current and future players. Jörg Schmadtke considered the meeting of both sides, which will be conducted more regularly in the future, as a good start for his first year in Wolfsburg: "The encounters I’ve had with the VfL fans thus far have been absolutely positive. It’s good and important to have such exchanges and get to know one another. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: To enjoy success with VfL Wolfsburg."
The new Wolves troika see particular value in holding sustainable and extensive exchanges with the fans, who invest so much time and emotion in the club. "It’s extremely important to get together with our fans in a relaxed atmosphere at the beginning of a season and to exchange opinions. The fact that they have so copiously and determinedly taken this opportunity, makes us all the happier," commented Bruno Labbadia.
All pulling together
Although the coach, as well as sporting manager Schmadtke, received warm receptions for their honest and comprehensive answers, the biggest applause of the night was reserved for VfL’s all-time record outfield appearance maker Marcel Schäfer, who participated in such a fan-talk round for the very first time in his role as Sporting director. "Over the past two seasons, I was as unnerved as all the rest of the fans – from a distance. That considered, I can absolutely relate to the people here. ‘Arbeit, Fußball, Leidenschaft‘ – the slogan is one we must mutually fill with life. For that reason, it is absolutely essential that we pull together with the fans," commented Schäfer after the event.
