Reiner Calmund worked at Bayer Leverkusen from 1976 to 2004 and as manager built the football teams that won the UEFA Cup in 1988 and the DFB Cup in 1993. He had a nose for top talent. The club was also runner-up four times and reached the Champions League final in 2002 (1:2 against Real Madrid). He turns 75 on November 23rd. We asked the otherwise rambling narrator 75 questions, which he was allowed to answer in just one sentence.
1. Mr. Calmund: What was your best birthday present?
My first pair of soccer shoes from Adler Palme, which I got for my 6th birthday.
2. How many guests are you celebrating your 75th birthday at the Dorint Hotel in Cologne?
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I invited 150 guests, 90 percent of whom were professional companions, and another 150 who were from the “Mutige Kinder e.V.” association. V.” invited.
3. What do you want?
I don’t want to open a flower shop or carry crates of wine, so I only donate to the “Courageous Children” association.
4. Which player would you spend 100 million euros on today?
Harry Kane because he is the best striker in the world and a great personality.
5. Which players who went on to become world stars did you try but didn’t get?
Kaká and Matthias Sammer.
6. Would Bayer have become champions after reunification if Sammer, who had already signed, had also come?
Yes, I am convinced that with him as a fixed point and leader we would have won the trophy.
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7. Will your former club Leverkusen be champions this season?
I see the chances at 30 to 40 percent.
8. Why not higher?
Because Bayern has had the best squad and the most title experience for years.
9. And what do you do if it does work?
I would like to stroke the bowl and greet it in Leverkusen with the words “It’s nice that you’re here.”
10. Who is currently the best manager in the league?
Simon Rolfes because he – together with coach Xabi Alonso – made optimal use of the financial resources.
11. Is Alonso the best coach in the league?
For sure at the moment, yes.
12. Who was your role model as a manager?
Definitely Uli Hoeneß, and as a young football fan I looked up to Franz Kremer, the then president of 1. FC Köln.
13. What was your original career dream?
Ship cook because it guarantees beautiful travel and delicious food.
14. Is it correct that you wanted to start studying electrical engineering?
Yes, but because of color vision deficiency I couldn’t distinguish between the cables and failed the aptitude test.
15. What was your maximum weight?
185 Kilo.
16. How much do you currently weigh?
105 Kilo.
He once weighed more – photo from 2013
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Oliver Dietze
17. Can you cook?
Yes, but I’m better at food.
18. Are you gaining or losing weight at the moment?
I’ve been keeping the weight off for two years.
19. Is 105 kilos your ideal weight?
Yes, I feel very good.
20. What is the worst word of your life?
Diet.
21. What should never be missing from your fridge?
Fruit and raw milk cheese – I like to eat that without bread.
22. Your favorite dish?
Snowfish or monkfish in Asian style, for dessert mango, grapes, blueberries and white peaches.
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23. What can’t you do?
I’m a sucker for craftsmanship.
24. When do you usually get up?
Between 8 and 9 a.m.
25. What time do you go to bed?
Between 10 p.m. and midnight.
26. What is more beautiful than football?
Time with my family and good friends.
27. Which manager did you have the best time with?
In my almost 30 years as a manager, I have argued with almost every major manager because that is the nature of this competition.
28. Which top club wanted to poach you?
In addition to Bayer 04, I had three favorite clubs: 1. FC Köln, Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC – there were offers from all three.
29. Which was the most lucrative?
Hertha’s top offer was ready to be signed before Bayer AG prevented the move.
30. Which global club would you have liked to manage?
I was never a dreamer.
31. Did you want to throw down at Bayer?
After I canceled 1. FC Köln, I drank a few bottles of wine – the next day it was okay again.
32. Will Cologne stay in the Bundesliga?
I’m not clairvoyant, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
33. Will Steffen Baumgart still be FC coach there at the end of the season?
And!
34. Your best transfer?
I’ve signed a whole busload of top players, so I don’t want to single anyone out.
35. Your worst?
There was, but I won’t brand anyone.
36. Best stadium you’ve ever been to?
The biggest aha moment I had was when the Schalke Arena opened in 2001 – it was a new dimension with the roof and the acoustics.
37. Which stadium has the best sausage?
The award-winning currywurst in Wolfsburg.
38. The best support you received from Rudi Völler?
After our successful relegation in the Bundesliga in 1996 and his start as sports director, he gave me outstanding support in signing Christoph Daum as the new head coach.
39. What was the best decision in your life?
To marry my Sylvia.
Calmund and his wife Sylvia
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Roberto Pfeil
40. What does your wife call you?
Darling or Calli.
41. What do you call your wife?
Sweetheart.
42. The Brazilian Tita called you “little, fat bandito”. Was that an honor or an insult?
An honour!
43. Which players would you like to build a new team around today?
Florian Wirtz and Jude Bellingham.
44. Will Wirtz be a bigger player than Havertz?
Both are world class, but Florian is better at the moment.
45. Will Wirtz play at FC Bayern next year?
He is currently in the best of hands in Leverkusen.
46. When was the last time you exercised?
I go to the gym on average three times a week.
47. What was your greatest sporting achievement?
When I completed a half marathon from Gelsenkirchen to Essen with Joey Kelly in 2009.
48. Your favorite moment as a manager?
Staying in the league in 1996 with Leverkusen thanks to Markus Münch’s goal and the brilliant saves from our young goalkeeper Dirk Heinen.
49. And the worst?
The missed championship in Unterhaching.
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50. What scene do you see in your mind when you think of Michael Ballack – the own goal in Unterhaching that cost you the championship in 2000?
Of course that’s firmly anchored in my memory, but I also see the strategist Ballack in front of me, who was world-class both defensively and offensively in midfield – that’s a rarity.
51. Who is your best friend in professional football?
My former sports representative at Bayer AG, Jürgen von Einem, who was a first-class boss, fair partner and fatherly friend.
52. What do you never eat?
Heart, kidneys and lungs – that’s not for the young.
53. What have you missed because of football?
Quiet weekends that I never missed.
54. The best restaurant in Germany?
Do you want to print a special supplement? (laughs)
55. What was your highest restaurant bill?
That was a five-figure sum during the 2002 World Cup in Japan – and I’m still happy to this day that a sponsor paid.
56. Have you ever been really drunk?
I, too, was young once and let loose.
57. Who was your best coach?
Erich Ribbeck and Christoph Daum – to name one wouldn’t be fair.
2006: Calmund and Daum
Source: picture-alliance/dpa/Rolf Vennenbernd
58. Why Ribbeck?
He led us with a cheap team to victory in the UEFA Cup in 1988 – a milestone.
59. Why Daum?
In terms of tactics, game rules, automatisms and the entire training structure, he was years ahead of his time and took Bayer 04 to a new level from 1996 onwards.
60. What would you have liked to have done with him when you were informed about his positive drug test?
I knew straight away that I had to help him out of all the trouble, so I arranged for him to fly straight to the US to lay low for the time being.
61. What are the two most important qualities a manager must have?
Competence and passion.
62. What photo is on your desk?
A picture of my wife and our 13-year-old daughter Nicha.
63. Who do you never want to meet in the sauna?
I don’t go to the sauna anymore.
1993: Calmund and his new coach Dragoslav Stepanovic
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Hartmut Reeh
64. Why not?
It’s too hot for me there.
65. What saying do you regret?
None, because I apologized when I went too far emotionally.
66. What do you annoy your wife with?
She’s my office manager and complains that I want too many things at once, which she sees as creating chaos.
67. What dream do you want to fulfill?
I would like to experience the Indian Summer in the USA with my family.
68. Your favorite car?
The main thing is a lot of safety and a lot of space.
69. Where is your favorite place to vacation?
On a cruise ship, you get to know the country and its people while you’re there.
70. How did you get interested in cruising?
There is a lot of variety, there are great entertainment programs in addition to beautiful cabins, and the food is fantastic.
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71. When was the last time you cried?
When I read our daughter Nicha’s report card, in addition to the good grades, the assessment that her social behavior was first-class.
72. What significance does your daughter have for you?
Quite simply – we love them more than anything!
73. Will Germany become European champions?
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that our team reaches at least the semi-finals.
74. Who had the idea of having championship coins minted before the league final in 2000?
The person hasn’t contacted me to this day because it was clear that I would have criticized him for this arrogance.
75. According to your passport, your first name is Reinhold. How did that become Reiner?
I decided this shortly after I started school because at that time the Loriot cartoon “Reinhold the Rhinoceros” appeared weekly and I no longer wanted to be teased as a pachyderm.
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The article was written for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, SPORT BILD, BILD) and first published in SPORT BILD.
