#3 — Uli Hesse on amateurism, the German National Team and Borussia Dortmund

Uli Hesse is an authority on German football. Writing in both his native tongue and English, he is a prolific author and journalist. Through his long career, he has contributed to titles such as FourFourTwo and When Saturday Comes, and he is now a staff writer at 11Freunde. His book Tor! is widely regarded as the defintive English language history of German football. FourFourTwo listed Tor! as the sixth best football book in history. In this conversation we cover: Uli's career (3:00)Writing in both English and German (4:30)The difference in writing books versus journalism (7:45)The plaudits Tor! has received since its first publication in 2002 (9:30)The influence of American sportswriting on Uli's style (11:45)Common misconceptions of German football from an English audience (16:00)Why Germany held on to amateurism in sport, and the influence anti-commercialisation has on football in the country today (21:45) The benefits and drawbacks to the 50+1 rule (29:00)Whether German fans are more critical of their national team and its stars than other footballing nations (32:00)Which German National Team is the best, or the most significant (39:30)The last ten years of German football (43:15)Writing histories of Germany's two biggest clubs: Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (48:30)The legend of the 'Yellow Wall' and the atmosphere at Westfalenstadion (52:00)About The Bundesletter PodcastThe Bundesletter Podcast is an interview programme featuring the expert insight of observer of German football and its culture. We'll hear from journalists, historians, analysts and fans of fußball on their experiences of following and learning the game. This series is a companion to the Bundesletter, a weekly newsletter written, edited and published by Tom Ritchie, a journalist based in Berlin. You can subscribe to the newsletter here: bundesletter.substack.com.