Football: Sanwald: “Not everyone in the bakery speaks English”

When Frank Schmidt took office as coach of 1. FC Heidenheim, their football club was still in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga. Can you actually imagine having to play at least six European Cup games in the Conference League?

We were promoted to the Bundesliga with Darmstadt 98 just last year. Many people thought that the same thing would happen to us as it did to the people of Darmstadt. With four match days to go, our relegation was not yet certain. As a reminder: Then shortly before the end we won 1-0 in Darmstadt, played 1-1 against Mainz, got a lucky 1-1 in Christian Streich’s last home game in Freiburg and beat Cologne 4-1 – and were thus only once in Eighth last season, that was after the 34th matchday. I was as happy as a child about our relegation, and suddenly the fans started singing about the European Cup. When I was recently able to attend the draw in Monaco, I thought again: What are you actually doing here? And then the first home game will be Chelsea. I’ve always been a visionary and an optimist, but the European Cup was the last thing on my mind. (laughs)

It doesn’t matter that the premiere opponent, Olimpija Ljubljana, isn’t quite as attractive, does it?

This is all a dream for us, and of course we also realize that we may only experience this once. When we were still playing in the regional league in the 90s, I dreamed of the association league, then the regional league, and later the 2nd Bundesliga. But not from the European Cup.

Was moving ever an option?

I have to pay a huge compliment to my colleague on the board, Petra Saretz, who is responsible for the organization: We definitely wanted to make these games possible in our usual environment, but that wasn’t a given: We are grateful that we at Uefa – just like we were from Uefa DFL – have received an exemption. Luckily, UEFA again has a program that allows standing places in several countries. Being able to play in our arena at home was a huge struggle.

What does the Conference League bring financially?

That brings us around five million euros, which, with a budget of around 75 million euros, means an incredible amount of money for our club. Only for the six games in the league phase. That’s why, after the successful qualification against BK Häcken, we were able to sign Niklas Dorsch on the way to Monaco on deadline day. Without the secure income from the Conference League we would not have made this transfer. We use the money to build substance. This fits perfectly into our policy of small steps in order to be able to establish ourselves sustainably in every league.

Your philosophy also includes relying predominantly on German players. Most recently in the away win at FSV Mainz 05 (2-0), 14 of the 15 players used had a German passport. That’s not a coincidence, is it?

With the newly promoted Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli, we have some of the smallest budgets in the league. So we have to find our own way to assert ourselves in the Bundesliga. We focus a lot on communication and togetherness. If there are language barriers, it will be more difficult – we are convinced of that. If everyone only understood half of it, our demands on the players wouldn’t come across that way. Mastering the German language, not possessing a German passport, is part of our philosophy. If our players speak German, integration and bonding with the club and the surrounding area is easier. One must not forget: Heidenheim is not an international metropolis, but part of a rural region. In our bakery, not everyone speaks English, as is probably the case in a big city like Hamburg, Berlin or Frankfurt.

And Frank Schmidt also has his own dialect…

… compared to many others here, he also speaks standard German (laughs).

His contribution to the success certainly cannot be overestimated. Will he actually wear a suit to celebrate on Thursday?

I don’t even know if he has a suit (laughs again). You have to ask him that. He didn’t wear one in the playoffs. You have to imagine it again: He was born in Heidenheim, grew up here, came back later when we were playing in the association league. With him as a player, we were promoted to the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga, a huge success at the time. He was captain here, co-coach and has been our head coach since 2007. He is our outstanding success factor in making this story come true. There is no superlative for this!

Interview

imago/Sportfoto Rudel

• Holger Sanwald has been working at 1. FC Heidenheim since 1995. At the age of 27, he was elected department head of the football club. As a result, he accompanied the club’s steep rise from the Württemberg regional league to the Bundesliga. The now 57-year-old has been CEO of Heidenheimer since 2017.

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