1. FC Köln’s Board of Directors have been voted in again with a huge majority at the Member Meeting 2022 on Tuesday evening in the LANXESS Arena. President, Dr. Werner Wolf and Vice Presidents, Eckhard Sauren and Dr. Carsten Wettich will now head into their second term for a further three years at the head of the club.

At the annual 1. FC Köln Member Meeting, 91,82% of the 789 members present (662 yes votes, 59 no votes and 68 declined to vote) at the LANXESS arena voted in favour of a second term for the current Board of Directors: President Dr. Werner Wolf, as well as Vice Presidents Eckhard Sauern and Dr. Carsten Wettich. “We don’t want to just remain approachable and authentic as Board of Directors, but to also continue to work hard with and for you, in order to set free the fantastic potential our club has. We need you and your strength in order to reach our goals,” explained Dr. Werner Wolf in his speech. “We only win together. Come on, FC!”

Sauren and Wettich offer an outlook

Vice President Eckhard Sauren offered an outlook for the goals which the Board of Directors hopes to achieve in their next term. “In the next two to three years, it is about stabilising financially. In this time, 1. FC Köln will remain a club where the goal is to reach 40 points and safely remain within the league,” said Sauren. “If we manage to not think too big, instead build a solid base step-by-step, then we can all make something bigger happen and can reach our long-term visions and establish FC under the top 10 teams in Germany – we are convinced of that.”

Vice President Dr. Carsten Wettich took the topic of values under his wing. “At FC, there is more than just the love of football or the experience in the stadium that connects us. As a club with over 120,000 members, we stand for values like togetherness and community, tolerance and diversity, freedom and peace. Therefore, we as the Board of Directors will be sure to say something when we see these values in danger. That is our task and our responsibility,” said Wettich. “We have, together with the Member Council, started up a working group around the topic of FC Values, which started work last week. We will look at things from different perspectives and see which shared values make 1. FC Köln what it is and how we can make these more present than before. They should be our guiding principles, which the Board of Directors, Managing Directors, club councils, members and also you, the members and fans can orient towards.”

Member Council convinced of the path

The Head of the Member Council, Ho-Yeon Kim explained why the Council proposed that the current Board of Directors stand for election once more. “The Board of Directors have stabilised FC in these especially challenging times, which were not just difficult for the club but for everyone, and that without the easy way through selling shares to investors. Together with our new Managing Directors, the Board of Directors are filling the Matchplan with life. They are working away at the debts from the past and are moving FC into a stable and successful future,” said Kim. “We are sure, that the candidates that we have suggested can and will do exactly what is needed to develop 1. FC Köln in the right direction.”