Ex-ultra follows Jansen
New President, new plans: what awaits the HSV now
T-online,, dpa,, Felix Schröder
06/22/2025 – 2:07 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
Free of debt and with a president from the ultra scene: the HSV goes to the Bundesliga with a fresh course. But how does Henrik Köck want to conduct the club?
Henrik Köncke didn’t want to leave anything to chance before the election as President of Hamburger SV. His speech in front of the members of the North German Football Traditional Association had to sit. “My faithful companion The last few days was my mirror at home,” said the 34-year-old about his preparations before the almost nine-hour general meeting.
The former Ultra fan and member of the Supervisory Board won the election despite the rhetorically strong opponents with a clear lead. The man who works for the logistics company Hapag-Lloyd prevailed with 65.71 percent of the votes in front of his competitors. In addition to Köncke, the chairman of Honorary Councilor Kai Esselsgroth (29.06 percent) and the entrepreneur Frank Ockens (5.22 percent) were available for election as the successor to Marcell Jansen.
“I definitely look at the collaboration with confidence and joy and look forward to the next few years,” Köncke told Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). His choice almost one and a half months after the professionals were promoted to the Bundesliga, so to speak, follows a mini trend in some clubs. At Hertha BSC, Kay Bernstein, who had now died, was once an ex-ultra president. In Rostock, a former ultra is at the head of the Supervisory Board in Sebastian Eggert.
The fact that the Ultras at HSV is now taking power. This has been “not the case” even in the past two and a half years when he worked on the Supervisory Board. “It has already come across that I can build bridges. That I can connect people,” said Köncke, who, among other things, wants to make HSV more visible in the city and modernize the club.
In summer temperatures, however, only a few of the 127,000 members of the club were found in the HSV temple. Almost 1,200 voters-about one percent-took part in the election as President a few days before the training session of the Bundesliga promoter on July 2.
The few HSV members, however, heard positive news from AG financial director Eric Huwer from the first source. The 41-year-old announced to the fans: “The net financial liabilities are zero at the end of this financial year. For the first time in the history I know, the HSV is therefore debt-free.”
Despite Corona pandemic, the relegation in 2018 in the 2nd league and personnel reductions in the past seven to eight years, the club has reduced net financial liabilities of 75 million euros. “This is a turning point. But that’s a lot more, that’s a promise. The new HSV belongs again and starts in the Bundesliga with a completely new identity,” said Huwer.
The premature return of the stadium loan two years ago was a large component in debt reduction. “This does not mean that we never want to take a loan again. But we have now torn our butt up for so long to achieve this freedom of debt. Accordingly, we are fighting to get the topics in our own family,” said Huwer.
The club also wave further income. The members cleared the way for the planned cooperative model. The so -called Supporters Trust is to generate up to 100 million euros in three years. The plan is that fans can draw shares in the third, at the latest in the fourth quarter. Compared to the model of the city rival FC St. Pauli, shares in the stadium, but at the club, should not be purchased. In addition, only members should probably be able to participate. President Köncke took part in the previous working group and sees a “very, very good solution” in the model.
Gröcke will closely follow the supporters Trust with his new vice president Laura Ludwig. The beach volleyball Olympic champion was elected as the sole candidate with a little more than 90 percent as Vice President after Anna Stöcken withdrew her candidacy on stage. Supervisory Council leader Michael Papenfuß was confirmed with 68.17 percent ahead of Ralph Hartmann (31.83) in office as Vice President and Treasurer.