FC Schalke 04: Axel Hefer – “Success is much easier for small clubs”

FC Schalke 04 is teetering on the edge in the Second Bundesliga. Bad decisions and disappointing performances have put the “Royal Blues” in a precarious position. Schalke was eliminated from the DFB Cup this week, losing 3-0 at FC Augsburg. For new coach Kees van Wonderen it was the third defeat in the third competitive game.

But the club doesn’t just try to swim freely in sport. The situation is also financially threatening. Schalke board member Axel Hefer talks in an interview about the burden of a big club, the visions at S04 and why traditional clubs should receive more money from the German Football League (DFL) in the future.

Ask: Mr. Hefer, do you agree with the following statement? For Schalke 04 it’s all about staying in the league this year!

Axel Hefer: We’re stuck in the bottom third of the table after almost a third of the season, that has to be said clearly. Accordingly, our first duty is to collect points in order to increase the gap below and orient ourselves back towards mid-table. So that the team can then continuously develop. This is the only way we can achieve the long-term goals we have set ourselves with a normal second division budget.

Ask: Does Schalke only have a normal second division budget? This should be just under 20 million euros…

Has: I won’t comment on exact numbers. But yes, we no longer have the budget of a Bundesliga relegated team. It’s a good one, but not top budget. And with that, you can’t expect to level up in no time. But that’s no justification for our poor performances recently. Our goal remains that our team gets used to it and that we don’t have any more complete upheavals. We already had this goal last season, it was just communicated a little differently.

Ask: From whom?

Has: Our coach at the time, Thomas Reis, said before the start of the season that direct promotion was the clear goal. That wasn’t agreed upon. The team also had to get used to it, which honestly didn’t work regardless of the proclaimed goal. We now have to form a core team that we can develop over the next few years.

Ask: What happens if the plan to achieve promotion in 2026 fails? Will the lights go out at Schalke?

Has: No! One thing is clear: we don’t want to play in the second division forever. But a lot of things in sport are difficult to plan. What I can say: The board has recently been able to significantly reduce costs, especially when it comes to the club’s personnel expenses. The club has a completely different stability than after the first relegation from the Bundesliga.

Ask: Does this all fit with the ambitions of such a big club?

Has: I understand the question, you always have to keep one thing in mind: We were close to playing in the regional league in early summer 2021. We weren’t far from a catastrophe after our first relegation from the Bundesliga. We were only able to breathe a little in the training camp because everyone pulled together and implemented important decisions such as the sale of e-sports and some player departures. Christina Rühl-Hamers, Peter Knäbel and Rouven Schröder in particular did an outstanding job. That’s why, despite the temporary resurgence, we must not forget: We come from below – not from above!

Ask: How close was bankruptcy?

Has: The situation was existentially threatening. It was vital that we were able to give up a lot of players with big salaries early in the preparation. We are now much more financially stable.

Ask: Nevertheless, Schalke is taking money out of the fans’ pockets by asking them to buy shares in the stadium.

Has: I see it completely differently! Firstly, subscribing to a cooperative share is not a donation, but an investment – you can return the share and get your money back. And secondly, the support cooperative is an offer to shape the future of the association together. We are setting up a support cooperative that stands alongside the association, but in our case with identical members. This allows us to invest in the future. Not just now, but for several decades. An example that many people know from their private lives: Many organizations have a support association, for example schools and kindergartens. The support associations represent ideal values ​​and invest in projects that help the respective organization and its members. It’s the same with us too.

Ask: How would you react if the former chairman of the supervisory board and major sponsor Clemens Tönnies acquired shares? Their relationship is considered to be significantly cold…

Has: I would be happy about that! We are in discussions with many Schalke players, including of course our major sponsors. Matthias Tillmann (Schalke’s CEO; editor) Clemens Tönnies has already visited and presented the project to him personally. Every amount that is raised accelerates the development of the club.

Ask: Do you have to blame yourself for having made more wrong decisions than right decisions in the past three years? You were wrong in choosing CEO Bernd Schröder; most recently, sports director Marc Wilmots was fired after just a few months.

Has: We had to rebuild everything in 2021, so we felt like we were on the verge of complete self-dissolution. The focus was on securing and bringing together the club, which was very torn. And Bernd Schröder did that very well. However, requirements change over time. We needed a person who could create future prospects and make difficult decisions in the face of resistance. And that is Matthias Tillmann.

Ask: And Wilmot’s?

Has: We had to completely restructure our sport within six months, and that says a lot. What we had imagined didn’t happen. It is important to act when you are sure that you are not well positioned for the future.

Ask: Were you mistaken about Wilmots’ abilities?

Has: It didn’t fit the way it was supposed to. This is also due to misjudgments on our part.

Ask: Is squad planner Ben Manga now sole ruler? He brought a number of confidants into S04 as employees, including his entire scouting staff.

Has: I don’t believe in terms like autocrat, and it’s not true. We are very happy that we were able to win him over because he fits our strategy perfectly. We don’t have generous investors who finance ready-made players – we have to make players better. That’s why we no longer want to have a large number of loan players. And that’s Ben’s philosophy. He can find talent, that’s what drives him. That’s why we’ve invested significantly in our scouting network. Sport tends to be short-term, but we don’t have the money for that. It is clear that our squad still needs to develop and is nowhere near where we want it to be.

Ask: What visions do you have for Schalke 04?

Has: We want to stay close to the people, not move away from our fans, and at the same time be successful in sport. We are clearly working against the trend in German football.

Ask: What do you mean?

Has: The Bundesliga product is becoming less and less interesting, both on the national and international markets. You have to ask yourself: Why should a fan in Indonesia watch the Bundesliga instead of the Premier League? The only reason at the moment is because he wants to see worse football. There are points where the Bundesliga is stronger, for example the atmosphere in the Bundesliga stadiums is much better, the emotionality is very high, but that is hardly conveyed.

Ask: What needs to change?

Has: I am of the opinion that the importance of fans is not valued at all by the DFL. Instead, it is trying to chase the Premier League in England. But you can’t overtake someone if you’re panting behind. You have to go other ways. The emotionality of the Bundesliga should be put at the forefront. On the one hand, this involves innovative, technical aspects. Another measure would be to adjust the distribution of money in order to change the composition of the Bundesliga. Currently the structure clearly favors small clubs. It is much easier for them to be successful.

Ask: Why?

Has: It’s easier – not nicer! – if you have 500 members instead of 190,000. When you have one local reporter instead of six reporters covering everything around the clock. The pressure is so much higher, and so is the layoff rate. Another example: We are traveling to Hanover with 20,000 fans, of course we need more employees than a club that travels with 50 fans.

Ask: The DFL is planning for traditional clubs to receive more television money in the future.

Has: The share for the “interest” pillar is currently three percent and should be increased by around two percent. That is far too little. We now have dozens of games in the Bundesliga that no one cares about. How can it be that clubs receive money for an “entertainment product” on television even though it entertains almost no one?

Ask: What are you demanding?

Has: 50 percent of the income should go equally to all clubs, the other 50 percent based on interest. Delete all other factors. Because sporting performance is lucrative through participation in international business and UEFA funds. The problem: The DFL works like the European Union: every state, every club, has a vote, no matter how big or small it is. And of course such changes are difficult to implement. By the way, that’s not just Schalke’s view, but the opinion of many traditional clubs.

Ask: Do you have a solution?

Has: We are hopeful that the DFL will come to its senses. But at some point there will surely come a point where hope fades. Then you have to consider what alternative paths are possible.

The article was written for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, SPORT PICTURE, BILD) written and first published in SPORT BILD.