“We had to turn a few screws”

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Blick: Hanspeter Kienberger, how did you experience the 2023 championship celebration? Emotionally, 2018 seemed miles away.
Hanspeter Kienberger: We had then waited 32 years. It was the end of a period of suffering. It has now been two years since the last title. So it was different, of course, but also very nice. The people of Bern are very happy that we made it again.

In many clubs, the chairman is often in the spotlight. Especially when you think of Basel, Zurich or Sion. Very different YB. You are hardly known outside of Bern. Is that also a small stone in the mosaic of success?
Each club has its own structure, organization and philosophy. We are a big team and we have found ourselves in such a way that the sporting part – the sports management, trainers, staff and players – is in the foreground. The officials tend to be reticent. That suits us.

And YB’s owners, the Rihs family, are more than reserved. Hans-Ueli Rihs hasn’t given an interview in years. So we ask you: when was the last time the Rihs family had to pump money into the club?
Fortunately, this has not been necessary for about seven years now.

And that’s something a lot of people don’t know – how YB is positioned. That you have been working independently for years. Without patronage. That is actually unbelievable in the football business!
We work according to a business model that works very well. But football is so unpredictable that you have to be alert and anticipate the latest developments.

What makes YB so much better?
We are very well positioned in all areas. And we aim to ensure that sporting success is the driving force for the entire organization. The sporting leadership with Christoph Spycher and Steve von Bergen at the top is emphatic for all the others who are doing an excellent job.

And then you can afford the luxury of the most expensive transfer of all time within Switzerland and Servette transferring a whopping 3.5 million francs for Kastriot Imeri …
I was told that the transfer of the YB player Raul Bobadilla within the league (2013 from YB to FC Basel, ed.) was significantly more profitable. As for the present, after last season’s third place, we came to the conclusion that we had to make some adjustments and invest in the team.

Now it’s time for the next big goal: the cup final. That seems to be the focus now.
Of course winning the cup is another big goal for us, it would be the third double in the club’s 125 year history. But for now it is important to end the championship on a positive note. The cup final will not take place for a month, at the end of the season.

And then comes the next big goal: qualification for the Champions League. How important would this be to YB?
Of course important. But every year it is a very big challenge. The season ends in summer. You only have a short break. Then a little preparation. And then it’s all about the sausage in August in the European qualifier!

And this sausage is very fatty: it is worth twenty to thirty million francs…
Yes. But we have always done well to be realistic. If an opportunity arises, we want to seize it. But we would do well not to make our business model dependent on the Champions League.

Source : Blick