On the long away trips, Johannes Golla calculated how much time he had already missed watching his two small children grow up. A few months come together, says the captain of SG Flensburg-Handewitt and thinks of European Cup trips to Serbia or Montenegro, and Bundesliga appearances in Balingen and Erlangen.
But Golla doesn’t complain about the busy schedule, especially in January, when he doesn’t see his family in Flensburg, but is on the road with the national team and particularly feels the hardships of professional life. He just says: “It’s hard to leave your family.”
He is the man who always plays, always has to play, because neither his club coach Nicolej Krickau nor national coach Alfred Gislason can do without him. When the national team qualified for the Olympic Games a week ago, Golla was weakened by an infection, the kind you get when you have children of daycare age at home. My right foot also hurt. Golla bit through. His work ethic doesn’t allow anything else.
Wrestling matches with Patrick Wiencek
Now he has received double the reward for his efforts; Within a good week he managed to qualify for the Olympics and now on Saturday evening he was finally able to call himself the away derby winner for the first time: in the 33:26 defeat of the SG in Kiel, the 26-year-old model professional not only contributed nine goals from ten attempts, he also excelled in defense as a constant duel winner: “That was an almost perfect game in defense and attack.”
His Flensburg team had not won in the Ostseehalle since 2018. Now the biggest Bundesliga win was achieved there. Golla explained: “We didn’t want Kiel to have any fun in attack. We implemented that well from the first minute.” The wrestling matches with Patrick Wiencek – they both value each other – were among the most spectacular of this 110th state derby, which was dominated by defenses and goalkeepers.
Flensburg party atmosphere in Kiel: Johannes Golla (l) cheers with goalkeeper Kevin Möller : Image: dpa
With a gala performance alongside goalkeeper Kevin Möller (13 saves), Golla played the biggest role in the second win against THW this season: Flensburg led 13:8 when THW equalized to 13:13 with more planning and with the support of the hall ( 32nd minute). But the SG remained unimpressed and ran away from Kiel again thanks to Golla’s goals to make it 24:19 and 25:19 (44th). In the end it was an exhibition game against a faulty THW, which invited Flensburg to score goals.
“I won’t leave until the end of my contract”
However, it was more of a victory for morale than one that allowed big leaps – Magdeburg and Berlin lead the table too clearly. An unusual feeling for the top clubs in Schleswig-Holstein: Since the European Handball Association has held the Champions League in the new format with group games and “final four” (2010), either Kiel or Flensburg have been there – usually both. They are now chasing after the income, which amounts to up to one million euros, and have to make do with the European League, which is less attractive in terms of sport and finances.
A terrain that Golla is too good for. Recently there were rumors about his departure despite his contract until June 30, 2026. At the Danish-dominated SG, Golla is a pillar, a guy for the fans, a leader for the team. He brushed off the rumblings: “I won’t leave until the end of the contract.”
But he also said that the proportion of German colleagues was too small for him – with coach Krickau and the difference player Simon Pytlick as well as on the circle and outside, central positions are occupied by Danish people. Managing director Holger Glandorf is now specifically looking for German professionals. The essence of the SG as a German-Danish club should remain untouched.
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Golla scored his 700th Bundesliga goal since his debut in the 2015/16 season in Kiel on Saturday. With his 86 goals this season and a rate of 72 percent, it is certainly not his best round for the SG. However, he also lost his proven defense partner Simon Hald in the summer of 2023 (to Aalborg) and had to get used to the Slovenian Blaz Blagotinsek next to him.
Coach Krickau has given him important breaks a few times because the young Dane Lukas Jörgensen has a third strong pivot in the squad.
But in games like the THW, Golla is of course constantly on the field – as he knows from the national team: “I have no problem with that. I just want us to perform at our best as a team. And if my part in it is to play 50 minutes or more, then I’ll do that.” What coach wouldn’t love an attitude like that?