They are the voices of the Werkself Radio and they guide Bayer 04 fans through all matches involving the Black and Reds with emotion and humour but, above all, with a good dose of expertise.
Pick came up with the idea of a club-specific audio medium at the start of 2018. The man from Remscheid has been a Bayer 04 fan since he was a boy and over the years has established a career in the media. The qualified sports journalist took an interest in the fan radio stations of various Bundesliga teams – and discovered a gap at his favourite club. "From that point, I sat down and worked out a plan covering technical and editorial matters," explains Pick who presented the idea to Bayer 04: "I have two formats: Werkself Radio and the Werkself podcast. You haven't got that at the moment, do you want it?" Less than 24 hours later, he received an email with the invitation to an interview. That marked the birth of Werkself Radio.
Two test runs in Wolfsburg and Cologne were followed by a debut in the home game against FC Augsburg in March 2018. From that moment, Pick had an expert at his side for every game; a former Werkself player, an injured player, a member of the club. "For example, Simon Rolfes can judge better than I can of how players deal with certain situations on the pitch," said Pick, who has one advantage over the part-time reporters – experience of radio. The now 33-year-old has commented on the Bundesliga for Radio38 in Braunschweig. Over the course of his professional career, Pick, who also works as a reporter for MagentaSport, got to know his congenial Werkself Radio partner Niko Hartmann.
The duo quickly got to know each other on a personal level. Hartmann, in the radio business since 1998, is at the side of Pick for every Bayer 04 game: "As a trained radio commentator, Niko knows what he needs to give the listener to enable them to picture what is happening in the in game in their heads." Hartmann added: "We don't have the same opinion in every situation and the match but that's good. But we also get on very well on a personal and professional level and that's very important for good reporting."
A lot of preparation is required for the commentators to be able to do their job to their fullest satisfaction. Pick and Hartmann spent two days studying the teams in the previous matches of both clubs, writing up information together and discussing how to proceed. It involves lots of time and work for the duo. Nevertheless, Hartmann says: "It's an absolute dream job, no doubt about it!"
One dream experience in the dream job is still to be achieved. Pick's request for the future is "being able to commentate, for once, a DFB Cup final for Bayer 04 in Berlin on Werkself Radio. If that dream were to come true and the Black and Reds go on to win the title then the trained voices of the duo may well need a couple of days rest after all the shouts of celebration…
Werkself Radio was set up at the beginning of 2018 and, since the start of the second half of the 2019/20 campaign, is on air half an hour before kick-off. Without interruption, the commentating duo of Niko Hartmann (46) and Cedric Pick (30) keep listeners up-to-date with events on the pitch, are always at the stadium and close up to the Werkself. During half-time, they often have a guest with a Bayer 04 connection. Niko and Cedric will be on air from 18.25 CET for the Europa League second leg match in Porto on Thursday, 27 February.
Werkself radio is available at bayer04.de or on the free Bayer 04 app.
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