In the midst of the sporting crisis, Schalke’s supervisory board chairman Axel Hefer gave an interview to Sport Bild. The most important points.

Schalke’s supervisory board chairman Axel Hefer does not often speak in public – in the midst of the next sporting crisis and around two and a half weeks before he has to face the Schalke club family at the general meeting (November 16), the 47-year-old gave an interview to the newspaper Sport Bild. He defended the people involved – but also expressed self-criticism.

Since July 2021, Hefer has been leading the club’s most important body, with Schalke having just been relegated to the second division of the Bundesliga and struggling with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. Hefer emphasized that in the early summer of 2021, Schalke was on the verge of playing in the regional league, facing a “catastrophe.” Thanks to the work of Peter Knäbel (then sports director), Rouven Schröder (then sports director) and CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers, this could have been avoided.

In the three years and three months since taking office, things only improved briefly: Schalke returned to the Bundesliga immediately (2022), but were immediately relegated again and have been in a constant relegation battle in the second division ever since. There were a number of bad decisions that the supervisory board approved – it has to approve all business transactions that exceed €500,000.

This concerns almost all player, trainer and sponsoring contracts. Hefer wanted to ensure continuity, but there were five head coaches (Dimitrios Grammozis, Frank Kramer, Thomas Reis, Karel Geraerts, Kees van Wonderen), three interim coaches (Mike Büskens, Matthias Kreutzer, Jakob Fimpel), four sporting directors (Peter Knäbel, Rouven Schröder, André Hechelmann, Ben Manga), two board chairmen (Bernd Schröder, Matthias Tillmann) and a high turnover of staff. The financial situation is improving only slowly.

What we had in mind did not happen. It is then necessary to act when you are sure that you are not well positioned for the future. It didn’t work out as we had planned. This is also due to misjudgements on our part.

Axel Hefer

Hefer sees the current sporting concerns: “Our first duty is to collect points to increase the gap to the bottom and to orientate ourselves back towards the middle of the table. This will enable the team to develop continuously. This is the only way we can achieve the long-term goals we have set ourselves with a normal second division budget.” Long-term goals – first and foremost is a return to the Bundesliga.

Hefer backed the current leaders of the club. ”We need a person who can create future prospects and make difficult decisions against resistance. And that’s Matthias Tillmann,” said Hefer. Both have a long-standing relationship based on trust. At the travel company Trivago, they formed the management duo as boss (Hefer) and CFO (Tillmann) for many years. They are also friends in their private lives.

Head of Sport Manga, who was allowed to bring his entire scouting team with him, is not a dictator. Manga would fit perfectly with Schalke’s strategy. “We don’t have generous investors who finance ready-made players for us – we have to make players better. Ben can find talent, that’s what drives him,” said Hefer. “It’s clear that our squad still needs to develop and is nowhere near where we want it.”

Hefer was particularly critical when asked about the short-term sporting director Wilmots. Wilmots took over the role of sporting director at the beginning of January 2024, but was thrown out just eight months later. “What we had in mind didn’t happen. It is then necessary to act when you are sure that you are not well positioned for the future. It didn’t work out as well as we thought. This is also due to misjudgments on our part.”