He shaped Germany’s most important football magazine “Kicker” for decades: Rainer Holzschuh died at the age of 77.
Rainer Holzschuh is dead. The long-time editor-in-chief and later publisher of the football magazine “Kicker” died on Thursday night at the age of 77. The magazine announced this on its homepage. With a short break as press spokesman for the German Football Association (DFB), Holzschuh worked for the “kicker” for more than half a century. He had given up his position as editor at the end of 2020. He was a regular guest on panel discussions and news formats and generally a welcome TV expert on football matters.
“Rainer Holzschuh has shaped the sports media landscape for decades as the face of the” kicker “. His work will remain visible for a long time to come,” said Bärbel Schnell, the managing director of Olympia-Verlag, quoted in the message. The “Kicker” is published by this publisher.
Rainer Holzschuh: “Kicker” editor-in-chief and DFB press officer
In the 1970s and 1980s, Holzschuh initially headed the West and then North editorial departments and only did not work for “Kicker” from 1983 to 1988 because he was in charge of the DFB’s press office during that time. He then returned to the trade magazine as editor-in-chief and held this position until 2010. He spent his last ten years at the newspaper as editor.
In addition, Holzschuh was the initiator, co-founder and, until recently, President of European Sports Media (ESM). This is an amalgamation of Europe’s leading sports magazines, which includes not only “Kicker”, titles such as “La Gazzetta dello Sport” from Italy and the Spanish “Marca”. The ESM awards, among other things, the “Golden Shoe” for the best goalscorer in Europe. At the end of September, Bayern Munich’s star striker Robert Lewandowski received this award. As the “kicker” writes, Holzschuh actually wanted to hand over this trophy to him personally. However, his illness prevented participation in the event.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
