Imagine the following scenario: An investor gives you money. Lot of money. Let’s say: one billion euros. And tells you: “Create a football club.” Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? For Lutz Pfannenstiel (49) this scenario has become reality.
The entrepreneurial family Taylor from St. Louis (Missouri/USA) wanted to re-establish a football team in their hometown. She spent a lot of money for this goal, including a license fee of 300 million euros for the first US league MLS, and there is even talk of a billion in total. And engaged the former goalkeeper, globetrotter and ex-sports director of Fortuna Düsseldorf as sports director in August 2020.
“I came over here and had nothing,” says Pfannenstiel: “No player, no coach, no place, no ball, no net. So really: nothing. Except for a head full of ideas, a laptop and a tablet.”
Less than three years later, St. Louis City SC has the most modern stadium and the best training ground in the USA. The club is now – since January 2023 – not only an MLS club, but is even the leader of the table in the Western Conference after nine matchdays.
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From zero to a hundred. How is that possible?
“Half a year before the start, I signed eight top players from abroad,” says Pfannenstiel. Among them: Ex-BVB keeper Roman Bürki (32), Eduard Löwen (26), who was bought from Hertha BSC, and João Klauss (26), who was previously under contract with TSG Hoffenheim. “It was a luxury for us. We had six months to bring the team together.”
Pfannenstiel also signed his coach early on: Bradley Carnell (46) is also no stranger to Germany: as a midfielder he was under contract with VfB Stuttgart and in Mönchengladbach, among others.
However, the short-term success of the professional team was only a marginal goal for the investors. “For the Taylors, the focus was on social issues. It’s not about championships and expensive transfers. Their idea was to give children from difficult corners of this city – and there are quite a few of them – the opportunity to play football. The professional team is our beacon, of course you need it to get attention. However, the heart of the club is the youth section.”
That’s why he fits in so well with St. Louis City SC, says Pfannenstiel, who has been involved in charitable causes for many years.
2023-04-29 21:10:30
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