Farewell to Ulli Potofski: He changed the way we watch football forever
Every football fan knows his face, his voice is immortalized in children's bedrooms across the nation, and his impact resonates. He changed sports reporting forever – now Ulli Potofski is dead.
Sometimes people don't like you. Because of your voice. Because of your lack of expertise. Or, as in Ulli Potofski 's case: Because you're a Schalke fan.
Potofski was born in the Royal Blues, in Gelsenkirchen, at Schalke. Life isn't always easy there.
But as a Schalke native, you're socialized with football, especially if you grew up in the Ruhr region in the 1950s. His father was – of course – a miner. There was nothing else on his street but football, he explained in the podcast "1:1" last August: "So we played football and neglected school."
He started out at a small club himself. No, not Schalke 04, but Eintracht Schalke (now Blau-Weiß Gelsenkirchen). A local league team. The Ruhr region. Rough, gray, sometimes brutal, but always honest.
Here he learned to know, love, and respect football. But Potofski always knew not to take it too seriously. There are much more important things in life. But: "When you understand that it can be something beautiful—it doesn't always have to be—and that friendship and togetherness are at the heart of it, then you understand football quite well."
After graduating from school, he trained as a chef. He then worked in radio, and in 1979, he joined WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk). There he was able to help shape the legendary football conference. He recently said that radio was always his favorite thing to do.
“Through many coincidences, I eventually ended up at RTL and private television.” That was in 1984 and the beginning of a new era in German football.
He experienced – and shaped – the “emergence of a new economic sector that was previously unimaginable for many,” as Potofski himself explained in the podcast.
Until then, public broadcasters had a monopoly on football coverage. Then the young, wild ones from private television came along and changed everything. "We made football, how should I put it, more entertaining ." Whether in a positive or negative sense is up to each individual.
With the show "Anpfiff," the focus suddenly shifted not only to the sport itself, but also to everything surrounding it. Over the decades, sport became a "business and show business." "Actually, I'm to blame for everything," he exaggerated, "and indirectly, that's a bit true," he added self-critically.
Who knows today that they sometimes overdid it? Nevertheless, that inexperienced period at RTL from 1984 to 1990 was the best part of his career. They just got started, did things, and tried things out. To this day, the broadcasters and streaming services are guided by the beginnings of "Anpfiff"—and the beginnings of Potofski.
Even after the end of "Anpfiff," he has often accompanied and shaped the development of football and its reporting in a responsible position.
In 2006, he moved from RTL to the pay-TV channel Sky, then known as Premiere. There, he primarily reported on 2. Bundesliga matches. A dire prophecy for his beloved club, Schalke?
As a sports commentator for the radio play series "Teufelskicker," he has immortalized himself in children's bedrooms across the nation in over 100 episodes. His distinctive, deep voice will never fade.
FOCUS
