Ehe was not given a choice: When Tim Görner first announced his commitment to FSV Frankfurt, he was lying in a baby seat and had only been born a few hours. He was taken from the hospital to the FSV office. There grandfather Görner signed the membership application for his grandson. When Tim Görner says that he was born a member of the club, he is not exaggerating.
The grandfather once took his son Michael, who is now FSV President, to the stadium. The grandmother still attends every home game today. There she sees her grandson gesturing, clapping, scolding and cheering on the sidelines.
Back in the DFB Cup
The 27-year-old has been an FSV trainer for over a year. He is the youngest coach in German professional football. He took over the regional league team when they were about to fall into the Hessenliga. Since then, the club has undergone an amazing development. FSV finished this season in fifth place in the Südwestgruppe, two places ahead of Offenbacher Kickers, who have a significantly higher budget.
And last weekend, Frankfurt won the Hessen Cup and thus qualified for the first main round of the DFB Cup in August. For the first time since 2016. After years of regression and stagnation, the FSV is on the rise again with Tim Görner. The team benefits from their extreme cohesion, has increased in fitness and made great progress in terms of play. She can now play different systems.
Flashback: In March 2022, the FSV is stuck in the table basement. A relegation would mean the loss of the youth academy. It’s about jobs, livelihoods. Thomas Brendel, until then sporting director and interim coach in personal union, grasps at the last straw: He offers assistant coach Tim Görner the post of head coach.
He has never coached a senior team. Tim Görner has a few hours to weigh the pros and cons. “I think the risks have outweighed it. There was a great danger that I would burn myself.” There is his age. In addition, the fact that father Michael is the club president. The shaking of heads in the environment seems to be foreseeable.
The chance
“Tim could also have been the gravedigger,” says Brendel. Görner has been with the club since 2016, looked after the U17s and U19s, and became Brendel’s assistant in autumn 2021. “If I hadn’t managed to stay up in the league, everything I’ve worked for might have been in vain,” says Tim Görner.
Why did he still take the risk? “It was also a great opportunity.” nine goals make the difference in favor of the FSV. In the summer, Brendel mucks out the squad that has been broken up by small groups: 19 players leave the club; primarily talents from the region are committed. Tim Görner can continue.
Partially played in a frenzy
The start of the new season is bumpy; on the second day of play, FSV loses 7-0 in Homburg. Gradually, however, the team internalized Görner’s game philosophy. In the winter break, the FSV is in eighth place in the table. “We knew then that we had potential,” says Görner.
Before the start of the second half of the season, the team intends to score more points than in the first series – and sometimes gets intoxicated. FSV remains unbeaten nine competitive games in a row; at leader Ulm even manages a 4:1. Görner says he hasn’t changed in his role as head coach.
Tim Görner was very successful with FSV Frankfurt last season.
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Image: picture alliance / Eibner press photo
He counts interpersonal relationships as one of his strengths: if he makes mistakes due to a lack of experience, he has no problem admitting this to the team. “On the other hand, I’ll also say clearly: It wasn’t the tactics that mattered today. That’s when the boys realize: that’s authentic.”
Thomas Brendel describes Görner as “very meticulous”; his training is attractive and up-to-date. In addition, many of the players would have played under Görner in the U17 or U19. “It’s good that both the team and the coaching staff had a fresh start in the summer. There is little scorched earth left.”
Others have more money
That was an advantage for Görner, says Brendel. Görner will continue to coach FSV in the coming season; he recently extended his contract. He says he has no career roadmap. His goal is the pro license, the last level of training that he still lacks as a coach and that will make him a football coach. With the FSV he wants to make it back into the top third in the new round.
Brendel points out that some league competitors have more financial leeway. “If we continue to play in the regional league in the next few years, Tim will also consider other options at some point.”
The first team that Görner coached was the Bambini from Germania Enkheim. He was 16 years old then. He later studied International Management. For a long time, being a football coach was just a hobby. You believe him when he says: “I didn’t extend my contract because I say only FSV for life. But I see a perspective here and believe that something can be achieved here.” Görner’s grandmother will probably be sitting in the stands again in the new season and proudly watching him at work.
