Newsblog for 1. FC Cologne
FC clarifies Keller’s succession shortly after the climb
Updated on May 22, 2025 – 4:05 p.m.Reading time: 73 min.
The 1. FC Köln is the football club from the cathedral city. In the New sticker on T-Online you will find all the important messages about the “billy goats”.
Thomas Kessler officially becomes the new sports director at 1. FC Köln. The club announced on Thursday. However, Kessler will not become part of the management, but will bear the title of the sports director in the future. Christian Keller, who had to leave the club after the 32nd matchday, had previously officially worked as managing director of sports.
Similar to Friedhelm Funkel, Kessler was initially installed as an interim solution. In contrast to the 71-year-old, Kessler should now permanently remain part of the sporting top of the club. Kessler’s contract initially runs until 2027, the association continued to say on Thursday.
As the first personnel after the ascent, the 1st FC Köln presented a new managing director on Wednesday: Philipp Liesenfeld will in future be responsible for marketing and sales at the goats. The 37-year-old has been working for the club since 2012 and has recently held the management of the company development and internationalization. Now Liesenfeld follows the Markus Rejek, which was eliminated in February.
“We are very happy to have won a leader with Philipp Liesenfeld from their own ranks for this key position,” said FC President Werner Wolf after a selection process several months. With the planned self -marketing from 2026, the new managing director is waiting for a big task in the coming months. This is “an important step in the strategic orientation of the FC, which we will tackle courage and creativity in order to continue to strengthen the economic basis of the FC,” says Liesenfeld himself to the challenge.
In addition to finance manager Philipp Türoff, Liesenfeld is currently the second strong man at the Geißbockheim. It should also be decided that Thomas Kessler will continue to answer the sporting area. However, it is still unclear whether the former goalkeeper will continue to do so as a sports director or will also move to the management.
The 1. FC Köln is looking for a new presidium. Sven-Georg Adenauer announced his candidacy as FC President on Tuesday. The CDU politician and grandson of Konrad Adenauer wants to be voted Werner Wolf’s successor at the general meeting in autumn.
For this, the 65-year-old has joined a team with the management consultant Thorsten Kiesewetter and the butcher Martin Hollweck. However, since this trio around Adenauer is not proposed by the member council, it must first collect around 4,500 signatures from FC members before it can be elected in September.
The 1. FC Köln may not only look forward to the ascent, but also to the whereabouts of a top performer. Linton Maina has extended his expiring contract and goes back to the Bundesliga together with the “billy goats”. On the way to the ascent, the outdoor car player had prepared eleven goals-most of all FC professionals.
After the successful season finale against Kaiserslautern (4-0), Maina announced in the stadium: “I signed with a Bundesliga club five or six weeks ago. At an association that can now be called Bundesliga club again.” At 1. FC Köln, where he has been playing since 2022 and feels comfortable.