St. Pauli appoint American-born Fabian Huerzeler as new head coach following Timo Schultz exit
- Seb Sternik
- 24 December 2022
St. Pauli have confirmed the appointment of US-born Fabian Hürzeler as the new head coach.
The 29-year-old has been promoted from his position as assistant and is now the youngest current head coach in Germany's top three divisions.
In fact, goalkeeper Sascha Burchert (33) and defender Christopher Avevor (30) are two members of the squad who are older than their new boss.
St Pauli's sporting director Andreas Bornemann said: "In his time as assistant coach and caretaker coach, Fabian has shown he tackles challenges in a very structured way and offers concrete solutions.
"In the current situation, it's important to give the team fresh impetus. We're convinced Fabian is the right man for the job."
Huerzeler takes over from Timo Schultz who departed the club in early December following a poor start to the season.
The team are currently 15th in the standings and sit just one point above bottom-of-the-table SV Sandhausen.
St. Pauli have won just three league games this term, marking a huge shift from the previous campaign which saw them finish fifth.
Huerzeler, who was born in Texas and played youth football for both Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim, said: "It's a privilege to be able to work here. I saw it that way as assistant coach - and the same goes for the squad and all the backroom staff.
"I have a huge appetite for the work and, with the right mix of togetherness and intensity, I'm convinced we'll be successful again."
The former Germany U18s and 20s assistant coach has already taken charge of the team in a friendly clash with Union Berlin last Wednesday.
The outing ended in an encouraging 3-2 defeat as the Bundesliga outfit bagged the winning goal in the final four minutes of the match.
