Multimillionaire Katharina Liebherr on marriage, football and her father’s death: “It was a shock when my father bought Southampton FC!”

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

View: Katharina Liebherr, we will reach you a few days after your wedding in Dubai. How is the honeymoon?
Katharina Liebherr: We don’t even know if it’s our honeymoon yet. We just added this trip to our wedding. My husband has lived here for a long time, he has a lot of friends here and we have a lot going on professionally. And we are at a wedding again, this time we are invited as guests. We enjoy it, these are beautiful days.

If you can afford everything, what makes a great day?
The most important thing for me is that I have no deadline pressure and can spend the day independently. With a good breakfast, nice weather. And then end the day in the evening with good friends.

Do you remember the day you met your husband?
We met in Dubai through a mutual friend who lives here. Therefore, Dubai will probably remain an important destination throughout our lives. We met later in Zurich. We immediately had a good relationship. We talked a lot and created a foundation for our love.

So you didn’t even meet at the Dior store in Zurich that your husband runs, as rumored?
No, we knew each other before. We deepened our connection in Zurich until we knew where we were going. I visited him in the store in Zurich. And of course he became my fashion advisor.

What did he inspire you with?
We share the same values, even though we come from different cultures. He is very modest, he stays to himself. We are both very social people and always try to help somewhere if we can. My husband is from Syria and that is why we are involved with children in the country, for example.

How was your wedding at the Dolder Grand in Zurich?
We tried to involve both our personalities, and both our cultures. The Syrian, the Swiss. We mixed it up, with the music, with the food. There was Arabic food, a sharing dinner, so everything was shared. It was a bit unconventional, we like that.

And your guests?
We invited all the people who have accompanied us in our lives. Everyone came, we thought that was super important! Nice.

Your personal highlight of this day?
The moment when everyone was on the dance floor dancing to Arabic music. It was amazing.

We heard that Ralph Hasenhüttl, the ex-coach of your Southampton FC, was also there. How did that happen?
When I met him, I knew very quickly: this is our trainer. His fire, his passion, how he sees football and how he wanted to deploy our players and our young talent. And sometimes with coaches it’s a bit… I experienced it differently, let’s put it this way. Everything was fine. And that led to a friendship that went beyond football.

Your club released Hasenhüttl about a year ago. Does it make you proud that he still wants to be friends with you?
Yes, that makes me happy. It shows that we have done something right, we try to use the people in our club according to their strengths and give them freedom and confidence. He didn’t have to come anymore. He wanted.

What was it like when your father bought Southampton FC in 2009?
It was a shock when my father bought Southampton FC! As a family we had no experience in this industry. He bought the club in 2009 and died in 2010. I have never seen him as happy as this year. Even though he didn’t get to experience any of our climbs, he still fulfilled his lifelong dream.

Her father died of a heart attack in 2010 at the age of 62. Suddenly you were a club owner.
Those were dramatic days. When his death was announced, the next day there was a sea of ​​flowers and football shirts with his name in front of the stadium. It was an incredible experience to see how respected he was there. It shows that he did a lot of things right in the year he was there.

For example?
Without him the club would no longer exist. He dared to adventure and took the risk. He acted very quickly. And, crucially for him, he immediately took over all of Southampton’s outstanding invoices to ensure that no SME anywhere could face financial difficulties if the club was threatened with insolvency.

He hasn’t forgotten that.
No. And I’ll never forget people’s reaction. People who didn’t really know him mourned him. The people and staff who hugged me with tears in their eyes are what tied me to Southampton forever.

You inherited the club. You will be met with a lot of skepticism at first. What do you think of this 13 years later?
I’ve got it. The year before I had stayed very much in the background. The fans didn’t know what to expect. I was okay with having to prove myself first.

Have you become a football expert during your time as a club owner?
I think the most important thing is to accept that you don’t know anything about football unless you have been on the field for thirty years. You have to know what you can do and what you cannot do.

You have now spent 13 years in football. What have you learned from football during this period?
Football is emotional, it creates an incredible bond. You work during the week and receive the voucher in the game at the weekend. The whole atmosphere in the club depends on how you played. You cannot separate them. It is a business, but what happens emotionally on the field at the weekend is also reflected during the week.

In 2017 you sold 80 percent of the club to Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng. Why?
You need a lot of capital. Especially in the Eredivisie. The heights are not really a problem. With Ronald Koeman as coach and Ralph Krueger as chairman, we reached 6th place and things went very well during the time I was the sole owner. But it’s important to prepare for worse times. We were looking for partners for this. My concern was always to find someone to whom I could transfer the club into good hands. I have always wanted to stay there, but mainly because I have a strong emotional bond with the employees and can build a bridge to a new owner. Mr. Gao had similar values ​​to my father. His daughter is the same age as me and she was at the wedding too. That would actually have been a good solution.

But?
The Chinese state has made Chinese investments abroad more difficult. This is obviously fatal for a club. And so we had to find a new solution.

In 2021, Gao’s shares were then sold to Sports Republic under Serbian entrepreneur Dragan Solak.
He is also a very impressive personality, I think he can provide the club with a stable future.

A capital increase was carried out in the summer. You will no longer receive new money. How big is your share at the moment?
This is called share dilution. My share has therefore fallen well below 20 percent.

It is said that in 2017 you received approximately £205 million for the 80 percent you sold to Mr Gao. Meanwhile, Sports Republic is said to have paid just over 100 million for the same share four years ago. Why has the club lost so much value?
Of course I cannot confirm the figures myself. In principle the following applies: sporting development has not been very good in recent years, you cannot always influence that. Especially in a competitive league like the Premier League. Unfortunately we were relegated in the summer and that had no positive impact on the value of the club. We want to get promoted again and then I am convinced that the club value will recover.

How do you actually assess the development in world football that the Saudis are no longer just pumping money into European football, but are also bringing in top stars from European competitions for their own clubs?
Of course it is nice to put together such a dream team with a lot of money. But the Saudi league will still never be able to compete with the Premier League. The excitement and enthusiasm that we experience in European competitions, that any team can become champions or be relegated, that is what football is all about. There are no guarantees.

So you haven’t watched the Saudi Pro League yet?
No. The Saudis can buy players, but not the soul of football. A club like Southampton means a lot. It is about youth work, a social environment, identity and perspectives. It’s not just about great goals, but also about a sense of solidarity. Especially in regions that are not so economically strong. There are many people who are not in good health or finances and find support in the club. During Corona, the club supported many people who were home alone. Homework guidance was given to children and drug addicts were resocialized through sports. In England, a football club is not just football itself, there is a lot going on in society. If the Southampton club were no longer there tomorrow, there would be a huge gap.

Have you actually thought about buying a Swiss club? Ralph Krueger could certainly help here too…
My heart is already occupied. My father’s legacy is in Southampton. This is a connection I will always feel. And besides, I think my football knowledge is too low to invest in other football clubs.

You are very reserved in public and never actually give interviews. Why were we allowed to talk to you?
I am very connected to Switzerland; part of my family lives in the canton of Aargau. I love our Southampton story and I would love to tell it in Switzerland. Where else would you do this if it’s not in sight?

Source : Blick