Florian Hinterberger was sports director at TSV 1860 Munich. In the interview he talked about his time with the Münchner Löwen and his newly published book.
Munich - An “autobiographical collection of anecdotes” - this is how Florian Hinterberger describes his recently published book “He just wants to play football”. The 61-year-old, who was born in Upper Palatinate, wrote 70 stories - from childhood as a Regensburger Domspatz to the UEFA Cup triumph with Bayer Leverkusen in 1988 to the position as head of sports at TSV 1860. We met the author for an interview.
Mr. Hinterberger, in your turbulent time as head of sport at TSV 1860, you let loose the sentence several times: "It must be in my book!"
That's how it was regularly (laughs). But the impulses also came from outside. I have been asked again and again by friends and family that I should write down all my anecdotes. A year and a half ago I sat down. It's amazing what you remember when you get involved.
"Georg Ratziner could also be very irascible"
Let's start at the very beginning with the Regensburger Domspatzen. The cathedral bandmaster Georg Ratzinger, who died on July 1st, was a defining figure in your childhood. What is the first image that comes to mind when you think of him?
His amazed look at how he leans under the piano during the choir rehearsal and sees me lying underneath. A classmate had shot a slipper from behind me, right under the wing. I wanted to get it out unnoticed, suddenly the music stopped and this face appeared in front of me as if in slow motion. Then there was another painful ear wash. Ratzinger was a 1000 percent professional when it came to music, his hearing was amazing. But he could also be very irascible. During one of his outbursts, he was so angry that he tore the lid of the piano from its anchorage.
That sounds more fun now than it was. The chapters about boarding school read like a statement in places.
I was spared the sexual assaults that came out later, and I didn't know anything about it then. But as a ten-year-old I already felt that nothing went together. This piety on the one hand, the chastisements and emotional coldness on the other. I was glad that my mother heard me and that I was allowed to get out of this felt prison. Others were not allowed to experience as much understanding as I did.
Offers from FC Bayern and TSV 1860 Munich had failed - detour via Fürth
“He just wants to play football,” was your mother's sentence when she explained to Ratzinger that she was leaving. Was football your salvation?
Yes, that's how it felt when I was allowed to move back to Weiden. I was a free person again in a decent high school. And when I was allowed to put on the SpVgg Weiden jersey for the first time, that was the greatest for me.
Then let's get to football, let's fast forward a few years. In 1978 you made the leap to SpVgg Fürth in the second division via Weiden.
A great school! Even if I was disappointed at first that a move to FC Bayern had failed and then the one to 1860. In retrospect, I have to say that Fürth was exactly the right thing for me to grow into professional business.
You celebrated your greatest successes as a professional in the West - first at Fortuna Cologne, then at Bayer Leverkusen. You seem to be particularly impressed by “de Schäng”, Fortuna Patriarch Jean Löring. You write about a Colt in the glove compartment ...
Schäng often took me in the car after training when he was driving to one of his construction sites or to a business meeting. “Come on, boy, let's go!” One day he was rummaging in the glove compartment while driving and I saw a gun flash. Maybe it was a dummy too, I didn't ask. But his world will not have been that harmless.
"The premium negotiations before the final have really rocked up"
The 0: 1 lost cup final against 1.FC Köln 1983 also had to do with Schäng ...
On the way to the final, we threw out Braunschweig, Gladbach and Dortmund, three top division clubs. For each advancement there was 1000 marks - a joke! The premium negotiations before the finals then really rocked up, we should first "spille" and then keep looking, said Schäng. This whole theater in the days before the final cost us the few percent to win, I am still convinced of that today.
You achieved the big coup in 1988 with Bayer Leverkusen. UEFA Cup winner against Espanyol Barcelona. On penalties - after a 3-0 defeat in the first leg. Nevertheless, the evening had a very bitter aftertaste for you.
Erich Ribbeck, our coach, took me out of the starting XI shortly before the game - for tactical reasons. I wasn't brought on either. That was a personal precipitate that I had to nibble on. Even if the win made a lot of things good.
And did the Brazilian star Tita actually miss the parade the next day?
He couldn't speak German and only a little English. So he drove to the training ground, where of course no one was - and then straight home. He watched Sesame Street with his children on WDR - suddenly the live images came from the car parade and he was hit. I don't know if he still came. He told the story at the 25th anniversary meeting. A roar.
"There was never any professional collaboration with Ismaik"
And a good transition to the lions. As a player, you have experienced heaven and hell in two years.
Everything sixty has to offer in terms of drama (laughs). It was not until he was promoted from the Bavarian League in 1991 with Karsten Wettberg - a single rush of emotions with wonderful camaraderie. And then the damned second division season, where we slipped into this stupid relegation group because of two goals difference to Mainz. All the hatred that hit us in the east, the descent, my third shoulder injury and the cruciate ligament tear - it was terrible. An unpleasant end to your career.
After coaching positions in Starnberg and at the Löwen-U21, you became sports director at TSV 1860 in 2011, shortly before investing. You are not squeamish about Hasan Ismaik in the book.
He always demanded respect, but there was often a lack of balance. I always behaved correctly towards him at the few meetings and even suggested that he get some kind of sports supervisor, but there was never any professional collaboration. We could have moved up in the three years with a consistently implemented plan, but it was always a tug-of-war with personal animosities, an absurd comedy. In each transfer period I had to juggle three budgets, hold players out, then cancel. Still, we were sixth twice and seventh once in the second division. With a very mediocre budget.
"I don't know where the success in 1860 will come from under the current conditions"
For the better, nothing has changed after you left in 2014 ...
That is very mild to say. Almost descended twice, then twice. Add to that the deep division in the club. I don't know where success will come from under the current conditions.
No hope?
I'd be happy, I've loved 1860 since I was a child. But without a common plan, you won't get out of this league. You need broad quality. Even a Michael Köllner cannot do magic.
What are you doing today besides writing books?
(laughs) After my 60th birthday, I adjusted my work-life balance, I'm a partner in a rehab studio, and every now and then I scout for different coaches and clubs, but I'm no longer in this mill every day. From Tutzing on Lake Starnberg you can follow the world in a relatively relaxed manner. And every two months we have our regulars' table with former lions, there is always fun.
( Krammer Ludwig )