Christian Heidel


Christian Heidel is a German football executive who previously worked for FSV Mainz 05 and Schalke 04.

Career

1. FSV Mainz 05 (1992–2016)

Heidel became Mainz 05's manager in 1992 and was a main architect of the club's rise and consolidation in the Bundesliga in the following years. He notably made Jürgen Klopp the club's coach in 2001, who would later go on to manage Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool F.C. Thomas Tuchel, who became head coach in 2009, is another internationally successful manager whose career on the professional level started under Heidel.
Another significant achievement of Heidel's time in Mainz was the construction of the club's new home venue, the Opel Arena. He also oversaw the promotion of the club's reserve team to the 3. Liga in 2014, the highest tier of the German football league system reserve teams are allowed to compete in.
By the end of his time at Mainz, he had become the longest-serving executive manager in the league.

FC Schalke 04 (2016–2019)

Mainz 05 announced that Heidel would leave the club after the end of the 2015–16 season on 21 February 2016. On the same day, Schalke 04 presented him as their new executive manager for the following season. Heidel installed Markus Weinzierl as the club's head coach, but sacked him the year after, as Schalke's tenth-place finish was insufficient to qualify them for any international competition. Weinzierl's successor Domenico Tedesco was initially more successful, with the club finishing runner-up in the 2017–18 season, but when the squad's performance drastically deteriorated in the following year, he was fired in March 2019, with club legend Huub Stevens filling in for the remainder of the season. Heidel himself had already handed in his resignation weeks earlier, assuming full responsibility for the team's decline.

Personal life

Heidel is the father of two daughters and a son.
He worked as a car salesman until 2005, when his car dealership declared bankruptcy. Up to this point, he had managed Mainz 05 on a honorary basis.
In August 2019, Heidel suffered a stroke while vacationing in Turkey.