NNot only the players, but also the board members get long-term employment contracts. This is part of Eintracht’s strategy, and so it is not surprising that Axel Hellmann, together with Chairman of the Supervisory Board Philip Holzer, agreed on an early extension of his contract, which was originally valid up to and including June 30, 2023. The cooperation between the board spokesman and the Frankfurt Bundesliga club is now fixed until mid-2027.
Hellmann is a child of unity. He has been on the board for ten years. Initially responsible for the finance department. But even then it was clear that the management of the money was in the best hands with Oliver Frankenbach, who later became a member of the board.
In the way Frankenbach meticulously takes care of numbers, data and facts and is therefore called “ZDF” within the club, Hellmann is the man for strategic things. Marketing, digitization, internationalization – the busy lawyer born in Würzburg but feels like a Frankfurter is the “jack of all trades”, as Holzer described him on Monday at a press conference in the catacombs of the arena.
“With a high level of dynamism and the optimism that is typical of him”
Holzer named many fields in which Hellmann lets off steam and has raised harmony to new levels. Self-marketing, construction of the professional camp, takeover of stadium operations, NFL game 2023 in the arena, opening of the branch offices in Beijing and New York, integration of 1. FFC Frankfurt: “Axel approached all of this with great dynamism and his typical optimism” , said the former investment banker Holzer, who, as the successor to Wolfgang Steubing, has found his vocation in being the chairman of the supervisory board, largely responsible for and driving the fortunes of Eintracht.
With Hellmann as a kind of locomotive, who seems to be constantly under steam and will not be satisfied with being “just” spokesman for the traditional club Eintracht. The path should probably also lead him to the presidium of the German Football League this late summer. And a commitment in higher spheres is also conceivable. Hellmann has the goal, and he said it exactly on Monday, that Eintracht should become one of the four leading traditional German clubs in sporting, economic and commercial terms – behind FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, which he considers uncatchable.
A Bundesliga with grown clubs like Werder Bremen, Schalke 04, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Köln and VfB Stuttgart – that would please the 50-year-old doer. Right in the middle is Eintracht, for which he sees a “own revenue structure” as a kind of life insurance. “She forms the backbone of Eintracht Frankfurt,” said Hellmann on Monday. “Economic reason must always rule in Eintracht”, knowing full well “that Corona has hurt us extremely”. Hellmann added that “we can generate sales of 200 million euros from our own resources. We are model boys.”
growth and competitiveness
Looking back and looking ahead, Hellmann is full of confidence. “Over the past few years, we have managed together to anchor Eintracht Frankfurt among the top ten clubs in Germany and to make it a flagship in German and European football with sporting success, financial stability and a high level of commercial competence,” said the spokesman for the board.
“Looking ahead to the next five years, we have mutually agreed that we want to continue on this path of growth and competitiveness while maintaining close ties to our fan base and the region.” Consistently in the top ten in the Bundesliga and whenever possible, ourselves to qualify for Europe: Hellmann and Holzer have a 100% consensus on this objective.
At the end of the year, parallel to the World Cup in Qatar, the expansion of the stadium should start. “The city is fully committed to this,” said Hellmann. There should be 8500 additional places; when completed, Eintracht could then offer 60,000 spectators admission to national and planned international games. When FC Barcelona comes to Frankfurt for the “game of the century” in a week and a half, as Holzer enthused, there will be “only” 48,000 visitors as things stand.
“We are hungry,” said the chairman of the Eintracht supervisory board about the club’s fundamental ambitions. “We don’t want to manage anything. “We are part of the Bundesliga and we will not shake the 50+1 rule.” Holzer spoke of the past European Cup trips to Piraeus, Istanbul and Seville, which were not only used for sporting purposes, but also for atmosphere and in personal discussions , to make the unity heard beyond national borders. “Eintracht Frankfurt cuts a very good figure. We can keep up very well.”
In order not to let up, Hellmann wants to actively lead the way. “We want to go into the committees,” he said. “If it is desired, I make myself available.”
