In 1997, Lars Ricken shot Borussia Dortmund to Champions League victory. Now the 47-year-old has officially taken over as Sports Director, succeeding Hans-Joachim Watzke.
The new strong man Lars Ricken only wants to appear on the sidelines at Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League final against Real Madrid. “I was very much in the spotlight in 1997, and somewhat involuntarily in 2013 – but in London the space should belong to the people who fought for it for a year. That is very important to me,” said the new sports director at his official presentation on Wednesday.
BVB: Lars Ricken becomes managing director of sports arrow right May 28, 1997 – Borussia Dortmund wins the Champions League arrow right
Ricken sees himself “absolutely ready” 15 days after taking office. After club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke’s request, he “didn’t need a night to sleep on it. As a native of Dortmund, this is a special honor for me. My father played with our club legend Hoppy Kurrat when I was young, and I played with him when I was five Standing in the south stand for the first time in years.”
Ricken wants to “make others strong”
But of course that’s not enough to become sports director, said the 47-year-old, who has been running BVB’s youth performance center with great success for a long time. Communication and trust should be his priority: “I understand modern leadership to make others strong. Then we will have the greatest possible success.”
Final conversation with Ricken only
Predecessors and successors: Hans-Joachim Watzke (l.) and Lars Ricken
Watzke spoke about “requirement profiles and different scenarios – but a final conversation was only held with Lars. We have known each other forever, Lars has achieved extraordinary things for 16 years, in the development of the players, but also with the many titles in the youth sector.”
Ricken has taken over the sports department from the club boss, who will leave in 2025. The fans remember the ex-professional above all for his dream goal in the 1997 Champions League final in Munich against Juventus Turin (3-1). Ricken made the final score with a lob 16 seconds after his substitution with his first touch of the ball. In 2013 he was part of the legendary supporting program at Wembley before the final defeat against Bayern Munich (1:2). BVB returns to London on June 1st.
