#8 — Seb Stafford-Bloor on covering the Florian Wirtz transfer, the openness of German football and the Stadtderby

Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s German football correspondent Seb Stafford-Bloor. Seb took over the German football beat at the outlet about two years ago, after moving to Hamburg, his wife’s hometown. 

He covers the full gamut of German football, writing and speaking on the latest transfer news, the action on the pitch, and stories from the terrace. 

In our conversation, we cover some of his recent work, in particular the in-depth reporting he did in relation to Florian Wirtz’s one hundred and sixteen million euro transfer from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool. Seb has covered every inch of that story, collaborating with colleagues to unearth the detail behind the move, and speaking with Wirtz’s youth coaches. I’ve left some of the links to his work in the description. 

We also talked about football in Hamburg. HSV’s recent promotion, the political identity of St. Pauli, and the prospect of the Stadt derby returning to the top tier for the first time in 14 years. 

Before I met with Seb, many other guests on this podcast and countless others in the German football space told me about how giving he is with his time. He was, as advertised, one of the nicest blokes I’ve come across in the football media. I really enjoyed this one, and I hope you do too. 

Here's what we covered

• Seb's relationship with German football (2:30)
• The 'compromise' of covering Bayern to spread interest in the German game (6:00)
• Covering Florian Writz's transfer to Liverpool (11:00)
• differences between German football and English football at a youth level, and the open culture that creates (16:00)
• His ties to Hamburg (20:00)
• Cultivating relationships within German football, and travelling the country for work (26:00)
• The nature of the St.Pauli/HSV rivalry (28:45)
• Why he avoids defining fan bases by a singular ideology or point of view (34:30)
• Covering HSV's return to the Bundesliga, and why this team was able to win promotion after seven years in the second tier (38:00)

Links to Seb's work

'Hamburg: A Bundesliga giant almost back from the brink' https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6187923/2025/03/10/hamburg-bundesliga-promotion-polzin-selke/ 

'Creating Florian Wirtz' https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6401889/2025/06/16/creating-florian-wirtz/ 

'Inside Wirtz's Liverpool deal' https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6434830/2025/06/20/florian-wirtz-liverpool-transfer-inside-story/

About The Bundesletter Podcast

The Bundesletter Podcast is an interview programme featuring the expert insight of observer of German football and its culture.

We'll hear from journalists, historians, analysts and fans of fußball on their experiences of following and learning the game.

This series is a companion to the Bundesletter, a weekly newsletter written, edited and published by Tom Ritchie, a journalist based in Berlin.

You can subscribe to the newsletter here: bundesletter.substack.com.