Berlin – At 7:51 p.m., 24 minutes before the start of the play-off second leg of the European Conference League between 1. FC Union Berlin and Kuopion PS, Christian Arbeit stepped into the wide area of the Berlin Olympic Stadium, a microphone in his left hand. It was pouring rain in Berlin that Thursday evening, but it doesn’t matter.
The stadium announcer of the 1. FC Union, who as managing director of communication has a significant influence on the positive image of his club, looked around, shook his head in disbelief, smiled a little, got into position, finally brought the microphone to his mouth, and said: “That I can say that on this square …” The master of ceremonies took a short break, yes, work has a very good feeling for breaks, then he opened the football evening with his legendary speech “Unioner!”. Work, which should be mentioned again at this point, was for the first time in the mid-eighties at a 1. FC Union game, and since 2005 has been the man who shows the team line-up before every home game.