Return to Liverpool job
Bosse quake at traditional second division club
12/24/2025 – 2:58 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Hannover 96 has found a successor for Marcus Mann. The new guy knows the club very well because he’s been there before.
Jörg Schmadtke returns to German professional football and succeeds Marcus Mann at second division club Hannover 96. The 61-year-old, who shaped the most successful period in the club’s recent history from 2009 to 2013, will take on responsibility for the licensed team and the 96 Academy as sports director. The club announced this on Christmas Eve.
“I’m very happy to be back and to take up my role at Hannover 96. Now it’s about getting to work quickly,” said Schmadtke: “First of all, I would like to quickly get a comprehensive picture and will have a lot of discussions to get to know the internal processes, structures and perspectives.”
After four and a half years in Hanover – as sports director from June 2021 and as managing director since March 2025 – Mann is moving to Austria to Red Bull Salzburg. It was agreed not to disclose the terms of the transfer. As the Lower Saxony company announced, the change in management will take place at the turn of the year. Schmadtke will receive a contract until February 28, 2029, with Henning Bindzus (42) serving as commercial director as before.
“I am very happy that in Jörg Schmadtke we were able to gain a specialist with great experience to shape the sporting future of Hannover 96,” said supervisory board chairman Martin Kind: “He knows the club and the environment and will be able to quickly familiarize himself with all relevant topics.”
In Schmadtke’s first term at 96, the club finished the 2010/11 Bundesliga season in fourth place, and the team also played in the Europa League in the following two years. After his departure, Schmadtke worked at 1. FC Köln and VfL Wolfsburg, and until February 2024 he was most recently the sporting director of Liverpool FC.