1. FC Köln have arranged the Club’s leadership for the long-term. Current Sporting Director, Thomas Kessler will move up to the position of Sporting Managing Director and immediately part of the trio of Managing Directors. He has signed a contract until 2028. At the same time, the Board of Directors have extended Philipp Türoff’s contract until 2029 and gave him the title of Commercial Managing Director & Spokesperson for the Management Board.
Together with Philipp Liesenfeld, who has been Marketing and Sales Managing Director (contract until 2028), the Managing Directors for 1. FC Köln have now been setup for the long-term. President, Jörn Stobbe and Vice-Presidents, Jörg Alvermann and Ulf Sobek were voted in as Board of Directors at the Annual Member Meeting until 2028. A sign of stability and continuity at the Club.
Thomas Kessler: Heading up the sporting side of affairs
Thomas Kessler, a man with maximum FC DNA, is taking over the position of Sporting Managing Director. Kessler began his FC career in the summer of 2000 at the age of 14 as a goalkeeper in the youth academy, where he went on to play for all the academy sides and was subsequently a long-standing first-team player at the Club. After his active career, he moved into management, was Head of First-Team and has been Sporting Director since May 2025.
In his new role, Kessler is responsible for a broad portfolio: in addition to the men’s team and scouting, he is also responsible for the women's team, the sporting and administrative areas of the FC Academy and the medical department.
Ulf Sobek is responsible for sporting matters within the 1. FC Köln Board of Directors. The Vice-President said of the appointment: “Thomas Kessler lives up to 1. FC Köln's standards every day – with a high level of identification, clear goals and a firm commitment to combining sporting performance and club values. In addition to his great professional competence, his outstanding communication skills make him ideal for the role of Managing Director. I am very much looking forward to continuing our trusting working relationship.”
Thomas Kessler says: “Being able to progress from being an Academy to Sporting Managing Director at this special club is a great privilege for me and, at the same time, an enormous responsibility. Over the past few months, we have worked together to develop a clear sporting direction and structure. Now it's a matter of consistently bringing these ideas to life and developing them further in a sustainable manner.
“I know the power that this club can produce on and off the pitch, and I know what is possible when we work together, courageously and with complete conviction. It is a great honour for me to share this responsibility for the sporting future of 1. FC Köln with my fellow directors, the Board of Directors, our employees, the coaching staff, the players, the committees and, of course, our fans, and to actively and successfully shape this path.”
Philipp Türoff: Continuity and spokesperson role
As a clear sign of stability, the Board of Directors have also extended its long-term collaboration with Philipp Türoff. Türoff has been responsible for finance and administration at Geißbockheim since 1st January 2022 and will now also take on the role of Spokesperson for the Managing Directors as Commercial Managing Directors.
FC President, Jörn Stobbe emphasises: “Philipp Türoff stabilised FC in an extremely challenging economic phase with great prudence and professional competence. His work is the foundation, on which we can develop again in a sporting sense. We are very pleased that he will continue on this path as Commercial Managing Director and Spokesperson for the Managing Directors.”
Philipp Türoff spoke about his extended term of office until 2029: “I really enjoy being at FC and am completely convinced that with bravery, hard work and good ideas, we can achieve much more in the future. With planning security, we will consistently push ahead together with the next steps and, above all, long-term projects. I would like to thank the board and the committees involved for the great trust they have placed in me by giving me further responsibility, and I look forward to continuing to work with this strong team.”
Before joining FC, Türoff gained extensive experience at global companies: from 2004 to 2010 at SAP, then at Red Bull until 2016, and from 2017 to 2021 at Birkenstock.
Management trio responsible for strategic realignment
Philipp Liesenfeld, who has held various positions at FC since 2012, was appointed Managing Director of Marketing & Sales in May 2025. With his expertise in sales, digitalisation and brand development, he is an integral part of the strategic realignment that the management trio will consistently drive forward.
Stability as the basis for success
With these personnel decisions, 1. FC Köln is creating the structural conditions necessary to successfully implement its strategic goals.
“1. FC Köln needs calm, reliability and a clear shared vision in key positions,” explains President, Jörn Stobbe. “We have worked intensively over the past few months to align our ideas with those of the management and are now pulling together on all issues. The fact that the Board of Directors and Managing Directors are working together on the future of FC until at least 2028 is a strong signal of stability, both internally and externally. We are convinced that personnel continuity will be an important key to achieving our ambitious goals in the long term.”