Eintracht Frankfurt: Time for something new with President Mathias Beck

DDespite the fact that he has only rarely appeared in public, Mathias Beck has earned a considerable amount of trust in such a short space of time. For the 52-year-old entrepreneur, who makes his home in Dreieich, a half-hour speech, peppered with anecdotes, announcements and appeals, was enough to score convincing points at the Frankfurter Eintracht general meeting: the plenum overwhelmingly gave him responsibility in the club, in which the new president feels committed to the achievements of the old one – but nevertheless made it clear that with him in the future many things in the Riederwald that were previously done out of routine will be put to the test.

True to the motto that if you don't want to change anything, you will lose what you actually want to preserve, Beck outlined the first ideas that he wants to implement together with the executive team in order to ensure the future viability of the club, which he calls his “great love “ said: “I carry the eagle in my heart with everything that goes with it.”

“No Peter Fischer 2.0”

The commitment to Eintracht, which until Monday had been led by Peter Fischer for the past 24 years, was both an honor and an incentive for him. “We cannot rest on our laurels on the great development,” he said. His intention is for Eintracht to continue to set the pace for the metropolis of Frankfurt and the region “in ten, twenty and a hundred years.” Beck said he doesn't plan to “turn over every stone” because an “excellent foundation” was laid in his predecessor's era.

But he is definitely “not Peter Fischer 2.0”. And he added: “I am not in favor of continuing like this!” He will ensure that “existing processes and structures are questioned”. A few “screws need to be adjusted”. He will bring his experience as an economically successful businessman who became wealthy in the real estate sector to the process.

He specifically outlined his plan to establish a pool of regional companies that are “interested in supporting our association and its diversity”. Beck declared himself a “multi-sport club” that “is more than football”. The range of options should be expanded. “I’m just as happy about a three-year-old child taking part in children’s gymnastics as I am about an Olympian.”

Additional sponsors should increase the financial flexibility. The sports facilities at Eintracht, which currently offers more than 50 sports, were not sufficient “in the long term”. As examples of where something urgently needs to be done, he cited Eintracht's boxing department, which “needs a hall at Bundesliga level”; At Oeder Weg, the home of the gymnasts, there is a waiting list with 1,600 names who would like to try out the floor, trampoline or balance beam, but cannot because there is not enough capacity. He wants to approach this in the same way as with the problems of triathletes, who don't have enough training time for swimming. The hockey players should receive new artificial turf, said Beck, who announced “investments in halls and pitches”.

He also wants to accelerate growth by ensuring that in the city of Frankfurt, which is bursting at the seams due to the constant influx of people, Eintracht plays a central role as a “sports provider” when designing new districts. We have to think in new dimensions and need more and larger sports facilities.” He wants to leverage previously unused reserves and thus win “many new” colleagues. It sees the potential of 200,000 members at Eintracht.