1. FC Köln are continuing the structural change within the sporting leadership. After Thomas Kessler’s promotion to Sporting Director, the position of Technical Director has also been created. This role will be taken on by Lukas Berg, who had led the FC Academy. The 31-year-old has been with FC since 2016 and has signed a contract in his new function until 2028.
As Technical Director, Lukas Berg will form the leadership duo in Sport, together with Sporting Director, Thomas Kessler. The latter will also represent Sport within the Managing Directors. In his new role within the sporting leadership, Lukas Berg will lay his focus on the structural and strategic areas, as well as heading up the link to the FC Academy. A successor for Berg in his current role as Head of the FC Academy will be sought in due course.
FC Managing Director, Philipp Türoff said: “With the newly-created position of Technical Director, we are strengthening the sporting leadership in a targeted manner. In this important role, Lukas Berg will actively support Thomas Kessler and, in particular, ensure the consistent strategic development and optimisation of structures and processes within our sporting departments. Lukas combines a high level of expertise with a deep understanding of our club and a very structured way of working. He already has excellent knowledge of many processes, especially in the transition from academy to first-team football. We are convinced that Thomas Kessler and Lukas Berg, as a strong team, will successfully shape the sporting future of FC.”
FC Sporting Director, Thomas Kessler said: “I emphasised from the outset that we can only successfully master the upcoming tasks as a team. Therefore, I am all the more pleased that Lukas will be at my side in future as Technical Director and will support me in this role with important strategic issues. As Head of the Academy, he has provided valuable impetus in recent years with his structured and target-orientated work. With his eye for processes and his analytical approach, he will be an important pillar in the further development of our club.”
Lukas Berg said: “The creation of the role of Technical Director emphasises our ambition to be sustainably successful. I am delighted to have been entrusted with this role. I take on the task with great passion, humility and the full conviction that we will fulfil our ambition in the future. I am highly motivated to drive forward the sporting development of 1. FC Köln together with Thomas and the entire team. The past few years as Head of the FC Academy have been a very formative and intensive time, for which I would like to thank my team there from the bottom of my heart - without their great quality in training and their daily commitment, many of the developments and successes achieved would not have been possible.”
Lukas Berg has been with 1. FC Köln since August 2016. After various administrative roles at FC, he became the Administrative Head of the First-Team in January 2021. In November 2022, he became Head of the FC Academy and Managing Director of the Boarding School. Under his leadership, numerous talented players from the club's youth academy made the leap into professional football. By winning the DFB-Pokal in 2023 and the German Championship this year, the FC Academy's U19s also celebrated success throughout Germany during this time. In May of last year, Lukas Berg successfully completed the ‘Management in Professional Football’ certificate from the DFB and the DFL.