A coach and sporting director who are not needed at KFC Uerdingen due to a double appointment? It happened in 2024, and now it’s happening again. Only almost no one knows anything about it.

When Forecasting reported in May 2024 that the interim board of KFC Uerdingen, led by Marc Schürmann and Ilja Ludenberg, had filled two new positions effective July 1 with Sunay Acar (coach until 2026) and Osman Sahan (sports director until 2027), there was a lot of buzz.

In the end, neither of them were needed. The board around Schürmann and Ludenberg was history after a short time, and KFC was once again left with horrendous bills to pay with nothing to show for it.

This was because both the position of coach and that of sporting director were double-staffed – with no use for Acar and Sahin.

And anyone who thought that something like this might happen once was mistaken. Because history is apparently repeating itself, and no one knew anything about it. The new squad is currently preparing for the start of the Oberliga Niederrhein. The coach is Julian Stöhr, and the sporting director is Benjamin Skalnik. That should be enough to get by in the fifth division. But now “FuPa” reports that the still-incumbent board around chairman Thomas Platzer had other ideas and apparently implemented them before filing for bankruptcy and handing over to insolvency administrator Thomas Ellrich.

According to these reports, Ronny Kockel (coach) and Michael Dämgen (sports director) were given two-year contracts in the spring, which were never communicated. Kockel, who already played for KFC, emphasized this to “FuPa.” “I didn’t turn down Fischeln in the winter without good reason. Everything was set. We had put together a squad with 90 percent players from the region, with amateur players, with an organization, but everything was a bit smaller. And as far as I know, everything had been discussed with the city.” But things turned out differently. The insolvency administrator opted for the future concept proposed by the Friends and Supporters of KFC (FuF), and the board around Platzer no longer has any authority.Kockel regrets this, saying, “We had a plan and signed a two-year contract. We had an equipment supplier, including for the youth teams. We had a training camp. It’s really bitter how things turned out.”

Above all, it seems to have been kept very secret, because until now no one knew anything about the alleged double double booking. Upon inquiry with the FuF, we were told that no one there knew anything about the contracts either. Even the Uerdingen board of directors is said to have no information about these personnel matters.

Even the insolvency administrator is unaware of these contracts, according to his spokesperson. “The insolvency administrator is not aware of any obligation on the part of the two individuals mentioned. Furthermore, none of the individuals named has contacted him or his office in any way to date.”

Therefore, the situation remains the same: peace will only return to the traditional club once it is clear who is officially in charge, as confirmed by the members. A step forward has been taken here, as an extraordinary general meeting can be convened shortly.