FC Schalke 04 is expanding its commitment to women’s football. This was confirmed by Sports Director Peter Knäbel in an interview with the FUNKE Mediengruppe newspapers.

Until now, women’s football has been a grassroots department, but now Peter Knäbel announced that a “Directorate of Women’s Football” would be set up.

“We think the time has come to set up such a directorate. I share the assessment that the big brands should get involved in women’s football because they can provide the necessary publicity and create the necessary framework conditions. We cannot shirk responsibility, we see the development around us, locally and internationally. The time is ripe,” said Knäbel, sports director of FC Schalke 04.

Currently, Schalke has two women’s teams and three junior teams. The women are currently top of the sixth-class Bezirksliga Westfalen. There are no plans for a big-money sponsored breakthrough. “Our entry into women’s football has been based on the promotion of grassroots football and voluntary work. That’s how it should stay for the time being, because I don’t want us to bring in professionals now and imagine some kind of march through,” said Knäbel.

In NRW, we are the football district with the lowest quota of girls’ and women’s teams. We have to grow, especially in terms of infrastructure, and that takes time.

Peter Knäbel

He is much more concerned with offering the girls and women in the city of Gelsenkirchen and the surrounding area a sporting perspective. “In NRW, we are the football district with the lowest quota of girls’ and women’s teams,” says Knäbel. Schalke finances C-licences for coaches for the clubs in the football district. Knäbel also feels that the infrastructure on the training ground is not yet prepared for a large women’s football department. “We have to grow especially in infrastructure, that takes time,” says Knäbel, who had managed women’s football projects in Switzerland.

This is also why Schalke would have decided against taking over the women’s football department of a higher-class club. “We have looked into it, but we don’t want it. We need some patience. I am for evolution, not revolution,” said Knäbel.