During his speech, Peter Fischer had to frequently pause for a moment. By the end of it, the club’s president was wiping tears from his eye. He wasn’t the only one this afternoon at Deutsche Bank Park. The Eintracht family, acquaintances, friends and fans gathered in the main stand to say goodbye to Eintracht legend Jürgen Grabowski. The honorary captain, UEFA Cup winner, world and European champion died on 10 March at the age of 77 in his home city of Wiesbaden. The memorial service was held at the very place where Grabowski enraptured fans for 15 years and celebrated his departure from professional football in front of 45,000 spectators in 1980.
The memorial service did him credit. The commemoration of perhaps the greatest Eintracht Frankfurt player of all time was more than dignified, the setting appropriate, and the memorial ceremony lasted exactly one hour. Between the speeches, songs were played that Grabowski's widow Helga had chosen – including Elvis Presley’s version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. She will not be alone in the future, Peter Fischer promised. “Helga, the Eintracht family will always stand by you,” emphasised the president, who was the last to address the guests.
