Wolves as on-board personnel

Wolves as on-board personnel

Anyone travelling by ICE from Wolfsburg to Berlin, Hamm or Fulda on Wednesday morning had a good chance of unusual encounters. On all three routes, VfL Wolfsburg professionals were also on board the long-distance trains of Deutsche Bahn to relieve the on-board staff on duty. In several groups, the Green-Whites assisted the train attendants during the journey, for example, assisting with the distribution of drinks and food or with the boarding and disembarking of passengers, as well as with other routines of daily work. The players were responding to their misconduct on 21 October, when parts of the team had disregarded the obligation to wear masks on the journey to the away match in Leverkusen and had attracted attention by behaving inappropriately towards railway staff.

Thanks to Deutsche Bahn

“The behaviour back then was unacceptable. Afterwards, we made it clear internally that we must never act like that again as VfL Wolfsburg. There was an immediate consensus,” said VfL managing director Jörg Schmadtke. “I think it’s good that the desire to send a public signal with this action has now come from the team itself. I would like to thank Deutsche Bahn for giving our players the opportunity to set the record straight.”

“Insightful insights”

Maximilian Arnold, who was travelling on ICE trains 279 and 372 between Wolfsburg and Fulda together with some fellow players, chalked up the role reversal as an uncomfortable but profitable experience. “Many passengers knew the background of the action, of course, so I didn’t find it easy at all. But it was deliberately not meant to be. It was important for us to apologise and express our respect for the work of the railway staff,” the VfL captain emphasised. “I’m sure that by today at the latest, even the last of us has learned his lesson through these revealing insights.”