Sophie Herzog (28) has not played football herself for years. But the former Basel and FCZ player makes an exception. «I have an annual obligation to play. Every Christmas I go a little “go tschutte” with my brother, ”the Basel woman once said in an interview with SRF radio.
At Herzog, football is also a family affair. Her father Jacques Herzog (71) is an FCB fan and built the St. Jakob Park as part of the star architect duo Herzog & de Meuron. And now it is his daughter who will take a seat on David Degen’s new FCB board of directors. As the youngest and the only woman.
What made Herzog jump into the highly regarded office? It remains open, because she doesn’t talk yet. The future members of the board of directors will remain silent until the official election at the ordinary AGM of FC Basel Holding AG on June 15.
Herzog wants to make a difference in Basel sport
It is probably going in the direction that Herzog suggested two years ago in an interview on the anniversary of her former sports high school: “I am very attached to Basel, it would be nice to make a difference in the field of sports.” Now she’s getting such a chance. Perhaps Herzog will take care of the FCB youngsters in the future, her father is already on the board of trustees of the junior campus.
From former player to member of the board of directors – that has never happened before in Swiss football. But Herzog is well versed in unparalleled careers. Because even as an athlete, she has had a remarkable role reversal behind her.
The Basel woman made it to the top of the national soccer field, the former national junior player won the Swiss championship with the FCZ in 2014. But it’s over at the age of 22: Herzog starts a triathlon career. She describes her transition in 2019 as follows: “It was a good age to start a second career. I always had in the back of my mind to try endurance sports from time to time. Even as a footballer, I had my strengths there and less with explosiveness. “
Sport as a hobby alongside doctoral thesis
The team athlete becomes an individual athlete who swims, runs and rides a bike. “The training is definitely harder and more intensive than in football,” says Herzog, who admitted a certain tendency towards masochism in an interview with SRF two years ago: “I’ve always been someone who liked to explore my own limits.”
The most amazing thing about Herzog’s career: she only pursues both football and triathlon as a hobby. Because the Basler woman has a professional career in addition to around 20 hours of triathlon training a week. And how. She studied biotechnology at the Basel location of the ETH Zurich, completed her master’s degree and is now writing her doctoral thesis.
The FCB office will soon be added. She no longer needs to use the secret routes at Basel train station as she did during her FCZ season. It was sometimes uncomfortable for her to walk through the train station with the Zurich sports bag, as she once said the “Bz” – now it’s more red-blue than ever.