In the last few weeks, FC Carl Zeiss Jena has made a comeback in the fight for promotion to the 3rd division. From 2023, the traditional club will enter the race with a new coach.

When the FC Carl Zeiss Jena team meets at its home Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld on 2 January 2023 for the start of training, it will be led by René Klingbeil (41).

The former co-coach of Jena’s regional league team will become the FCC’s new head coach, taking over the reins from Henning Bürger, who was given responsibility as interim coach at the beginning of November until the end of the year. Jena had previously parted company with Andreas Patz as head coach.

After an interim spurt, Jena has returned to the promotion race in the Regionalliga Nordost and is only six points behind league leader Berliner AK.

The 41-year-old Klingbeil, who can look back on 51 Bundesliga matches, 149 Second Division matches and 71 Third Division matches as an active player, is full of beans.

Klingbeil: “I am very happy about the trust placed in me and the responsibility I have been given. Working with the team fulfils me, gives me a lot of pleasure and is also exciting and particularly challenging in this balanced regional league. The next few days are now focused on the start of preparation. Of course, this also includes thinking together about the distribution of tasks within the coaching and support team in order to approach the second half of the season in the best possible position.”

FCC Managing Director Chris Förster added: “It was important that we initially opted for an interim solution with Henning. There was an urgent need for a new, external impetus after a long phase without a sense of achievement and a downward spiral in terms of performance. Henning had this top view and was able to pick up the team in a difficult phase. We are very grateful to him for that. Now we want to continue on the same path with René Klingbeil, who is now taking the next step after an already interim coaching stint in the 3rd division and as co-coach. “