Pep favourite and ‘soul of the team’: HSV’s Kathleen Krüger | OneFootball

The decision has been official since this Tuesday: Kathleen Krüger is taking over as HSV’s new board member for sport!

The 40-year-old is thus succeeding Stefan Kuntz, who left his post at the turn of the year. Afterward, the Rothosen deliberately left the position vacant for the time being and took their time with a careful replacement. Together with the agency Pedersen & Partners – represented by headhunter Henrik Mook – the supervisory board initiated a multi-layered selection process.

Around two weeks ago, the committee voted by majority in favor of Krüger, who prevailed over some quite prominent competition. In recent months, various big Bundesliga names such as Sebastian Kehl and Stefan Reuter had been linked with the role. According to the Hamburger Abendblatt, HSV even made inquiries about Markus Krösche (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Fabian Wohlgemuth (VfB Stuttgart). But the Bayern executive won over the supervisory board members across the board and ultimately got the job.

Kathleen Krüger: A life devoted to FC Bayern

But who is the woman who will soon take the helm at the Volkspark? Krüger, born in the Munich suburb of Eching, was once an active professional footballer. Between 2004 and 2009, she played for FC Bayern. Krüger has had a close connection to the German record champions her whole life. In the early 1990s, she regularly attended home matches together with her brother and father.

At 18, she made the move to FCB herself. She spent a year with the reserve team before being promoted to the first team in 2004, where she made a total of 33 competitive appearances until 2009. The former midfielder ended her playing career at just 24 due to injuries. On top of that, the effort involved and the still very low financial returns in women’s football at the time were out of proportion.

Photo: IMAGO

But Krüger remained loyal to the sport and began studying international management. At the same time, she took on organizational duties around Munich’s women’s team. When she was offered the job of assistant to then sporting director Christian Nerlinger in 2009, she dropped out after just one semester. She continued in the role under Matthias Sammer, who was appointed board member for sport in 2012 – even though they almost parted ways.

According to a report by Sport Bild, Sammer questioned the importance of Krüger’s role when he took office and was even prepared to dismiss her. When coach Jupp Heynckes found out, he immediately went to club president Uli Hoeneß. “If Kathleen has to go, then I’m going too,” he is said to have made clear.

Bayern stars praise Krüger to the skies

So Krüger stayed in Munich and was later appointed team manager. Sammer seemed to have changed his mind by 180 degrees in no time and made sure his employee moved closer to the team. “He pulled me out of the office,” Krüger once explained on FC Bayern’s official club podcast. From then on, she was responsible for all organizational matters surrounding the team.

In this role, the high-flyer quickly built up an excellent standing and was given more and more decision-making freedom over the years. She also never shied away from confrontation: under coach Carlo Ancelotti, the rules at Säbener Straße were less strict. Assistant coach Giovanni Mauri even smoked on the training pitch, prompting Krüger to give him a clear warning.

This balance of necessary strictness on the one hand and kindness and empathy on the other made the executive almost indispensable for the serial champions and earned her great respect within the squad. So much so that she was reportedly the only person outside the squad who was even part of the team’s internal WhatsApp group.

“She’s the one who keeps the team together,” Thomas Müller once said. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer credited the team manager with doing an “outstanding job.” Rafinha went even further and described Krüger as “the soul of the team.” She also built friendships with Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and David Alaba. “There are players who simply come into the office 30 minutes before training, and then you talk about private things too,” Krüger said in that podcast episode. “It feels like you’re on the same wavelength.”

Photo: IMAGO

Krüger was also on the same wavelength as star coach Pep Guardiola. After leaving for Manchester City, the Spaniard even wanted to lure his former companion to northern England. Assistant coach Domenec Torrent also said: “You will always be in my heart.”

But Krüger stayed in Munich, where she has a permanent contract because of her importance. Her influence was particularly great under treble-winning coach Hansi Flick. In 2022, she was even awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit. “Kathleen Krüger impressively shows that women have now become indispensable in supposedly male-dominated areas of society, and is therefore a true role model,” Minister-President Markus Söder said in explaining the decision.

Rumors about a role change: Did Krüger fall out with Sané?

It was only in 2024, after twelve years, that she left her post as team manager. There is no final certainty about the decisive reasons for this change in position. As reported by tz, among others, there was major criticism within the team and staff of Krüger’s leadership style. She was said to sometimes be strict and distant in her dealings, combined with a clear commanding tone.

Accordingly, some players are said to have had a particularly “hard time.” One frequently cited example: after arriving late, Leroy Sané had to make his own way to the airport after Krüger deliberately left him out of the team bus trip – apparently to send a clear message.

Since the 2024/25 season, the former footballer has headed a staff unit in the sporting executive division of FC Bayern München AG as Senior Leading Expert Sport Strategy & Development, responsible for coordinating, evaluating and optimizing all links and synergies in the sporting area. In this role, Krüger was no longer responsible for the team, but for higher-level club matters.

Among other things, she was involved in the new construction of the training center on Säbener Straße. According to Bild, Krüger also arranged school partnerships for the club’s youth players and supported campus director Jochen Sauer. She is also said to have had a good connection with head coach Vincent Kompany and even played a role in transfers.

Nur die Raute – by HSV fans for HSV fans

Krüger is expected to lead HSV into the future

HSV’s supervisory board members were so impressed by this multifaceted résumé that they trust the candidate with a role right at the top. Alongside finance expert Eric Huwer, Krüger will therefore form HSV’s executive board in the future and thus be in the public eye more than ever before. Because: up to now, the Bavarian has been noticeably reserved when it comes to interviews. When Sport Bild wanted to ask Manuel Neuer about Krüger’s role a few years ago, the goalkeeper first sought permission as to whether he was allowed to speak publicly about her.

But it is not only in communication that major tasks await at the Volkspark. In all likelihood, there will be another sporting overhaul in the summer. Six loan players could return to their parent clubs, and the contracts of Ransford Königsdörffer and William Mikelbrencis are also expiring. One thing that should help: Krüger and HSV sporting director Claus Costa, who will remain primarily responsible for shaping the squad, already know each other. The two completed the DFB management course together.

Photo: IMAGO

Incidentally, the southern German is not HSV’s first female board member. As the first woman in the Bundesliga at the time, Katja Kraus served as board member for marketing between 2003 and 2011. After Dietmar Beiersdorfer’s departure, she even took over his role as board member for sport on an interim basis in 2009. That is exactly the role Krüger will now step into.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.