Schalke's top dog, Axel Hefer, the supervisory board chairman, has declared his openness to potential assistance from ex-boss, Clemens Tönnies. Hefer shared, "If Clemens Tönnies shows interest in aiding our journey, he can reach out anytime. No such offer has been extended to me yet," Hefer told 'Kicker' (Monday). Tönnies, a meat tycoon, led Schalke's supervisory board from 2001 to 2020.
However, Hefer hasn't shied away from voicing his criticisms. He said, "Tönnies was behind some breathtaking successes, yet he also presided over the downfall in 2021. Over time, more funds were spent than generated. The aftermath of that's haunting us for years. We yearn for the good old athletic days, but we can't overlook the times when we overstepped our financial boundaries. Our strategy differs."
Schalke's fall from Bundesliga in 2021 wasn't a one-off incident. Despite being promoted to Bundesliga 2 in 2022, the traditional club had to retreat back to the second tier last year. Lately, there's been an array of voices urging Tönnies to intervene. Tönnies himself recently dismissed the idea of a re-entry, yet he stated that he'd offered help on numerous occasions.
Despite Schalke's struggles in Bundesliga 2, its supervisory board chairman, Hefer, has given the green light for Tönnies to extend any support to FC Schalke 04 – if he so desires. Notably, Tönnies served as Schalke's supervisory board chairman from 2001 to 2020, guiding the club through its peaks and troughs in Bundesliga 2.
Given Tönnies' lengthy association with FC Schalke 04, serving as the chairman of the supervisory board for 19 years, he has played a crucial role in shaping the club's fortunes. The club faced significant financial hurdles during this period, including revenue decreases, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the introduction of a player salary cap and other austerity measures.
Tönnies, a prominent figure in the meat industry through his family-owned company, the Tönnies Group, is still a significant sponsor of FC Schalke 04 through his subsidiary Böklunder, which will remain a premium sponsor until 2024. However, there's no recent information indicating that Tönnies himself has expressed intentions of relying his chairmanship or directly assisting the club in its current predicament.
