Uwe Stöver

As an uncompromising tackler, Uwe Stöver played his part in winning the DFB Cup with Bayer 04 in 1993 four years after joining Leverkusen from the lower reaches of amateur football. As the CEO at Holstein Kiel, he just missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga.

At the end of a long, arduous rise for his team they ran out of steam at the final hurdle: The dream of the Kiel ‘Storks’ getting into the top-flight disappeared in the play-off against FC Köln. It was also a heavy blow for Uwe Stöver, as sporting managing director the architect of the meteoric rise at the North German club, after a great season with KSV Holstein. “Promotion would have been a fantastic story for the whole region. In the end, we missed out on making the most of the the games against Karlsruhe and Darmstadt in the second division campaign,” said the 54-year-old.

Promotion to the top division would have been his personal masterpiece. In spite of all the disappointment about missing out at the final stage, his dominant feeling is of having helped the club move forward: “Handball and THW used to be number one in Kiel. But football has caught up now and succeeded in getting people interested and exciting them. We have more than trebled our attendances in recent years from an average of 4,000 at home games to around 12,000.” Before the coronavirus pandemic, mind you.

The associated effects of the pandemic have hit Kiel harder than any other professional club. The whole squad had to self-isolate three times, most recently in April after just having come out of one in March. “A complete catastrophe” and not just for Uwe Stöver: Kiel had to play four rearranged games from 20 April. With motivational gifts for the players during self-isolation – the Holstein anthem as a musical greetings card or the USB stick with the video of the glorious win against Bayern in the second round of the DFB Cup – the unity of the team was ensured ahead of the games. “Chest out, heads up, our motto is, whatever happens, we’ll do it,” said Stöver.

That competitive spirit and his enormous determination were also evident during his playing career. In 1989, the Wuppertal-born player moved from SC Cronenberg to the Bayer 04 Reserves. “I came from the lower reaches and was never blessed with talent. It was a great achievement for me to be playing in the Oberliga with such a well-known club as Leverkusen,” said Stöver, who joined the Werkself as a centre-forward. His former Bayer 04 coach Gerd ‘Ömmes’ Kentschke ensured that the young lad with the crew cut played much deeper as a number six or central defender. Exactly the right remit for the fearless fighter, who quickly earned the nickname of ‘Rambo’ with his uncompromising approach.

He moved up to the senior squad in 1992/93 and he made nine Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04 in that season. Even more memorable was his performance in the DFB Cup semi-final when the Werkself took Eintracht Frankfurt apart at the Waldstadion in an impressive 3-0 win en route to the cup final victory against the Hertha Berlin Reserves. Stöver was in the starting line-up for coach Reinhard Saftig, who gave him a special mission: To man mark Eintracht’s outstanding playmaker Uwe Bein. “I think I did it really well as he was very quiet on the day.” ‘Rambo’ continually engaged Frankfurt’s footballing aesthete in challenges and thereby undermined his ability to enjoy his game.

Stöver enjoyed his best time as a player at his next club in Bochum. He was an undisputed first choice on the team sheet for two years and he gained promotion to the Bundesliga with VfL in 1994. He then returned to the second division with Mainz 05 where his career ended after five operations on his right knee. “I only turned professional at the age of 25 and was out again at 30. I’d gladly have had a couple more years,” he said. He still has problems with his knee today: “You’ve got a real problem if you can’t even go for an hour-long walk. At some point, I’ll have to have an artificial joint.”  

profile

Date of birth 08.02.1967
Birthplace Wuppertal
Professional clubs
1995-1999 FSV Mainz 05
1993-1995 VfL Bochum
1992-1993 Bayer 04
Record at Bayer 04
10 games (1 goal)
DFB Cup winner 1993

Coaching roles
2003-2007 FC Kaiserslautern (youth coordinator)
2001-2003 FC Kaiserslautern II
2000-2001 FSV Mainz 05 II
1998-2000 FSV Mainz 05 U19

Clubs as sporting director/sporting managing director
from 2019 Holstein Kiel
2017-2019 FC St. Pauli
2016-2017 1. FC Kaiserslautern
01-05/2016 Holstein Kiel
2009-2015 FSV Frankfurt
2007-2009 SV Wehen Wiesbaden