A few Bayer Leverkusen supporters were so grateful to champion coach Xabi Alonso that they changed the street signs of Bismarckstraße, where the new title holder’s stadium is located, to Xabi-Alonso-Allee. That joke won’t become reality for a while.
The local newspaper Rhenish Postt looked into the options for changing street names, and discovered that the city of Leverkusen has introduced a ban on naming streets after people. This is to prevent political parties from honoring too many deserving members from their own circles in this way. The city council would have to make a new decision to make an exception for Alonso.
Stefan Hebbel is grateful to Alonso, but does not seem to be planning to name the two-kilometre-long street after him. ‘It’s worth discussing because it affects people emotionally. There is hardly anything in this city that unites more than the national title, but we should discuss this in peace. The championship was a joint achievement, although the coach is the tactical leader,” said the leader of the local Christian Democratic party.
His colleague from the Social Democrats, Milanie Kreutz, sees other options to honor Alonso. ‘He belongs to this city, and we belong to him. I can well imagine that he will become an honorary citizen of Leverkusen. Name the street after him? We should first ask him if he wants that himself, he always looks so modest,” said Kreutz, who saw an option to also honor the Basque coach on the street. “The square in front of the BayArena does not have a name yet,” said Kreutz.
Watch all our videos here
