Martin Schmidt steps down as sporting director

Martin Schmidt is no longer sporting director at 1. FSV Mainz 05. The 57-year-old, who coached youth sides and the first team in the Bundesliga between 2010 and 2017, has stepped down as sporting director due to private reasons, having held the role since the end of 2020. He will continue working for the club as a sporting consultant.

“Martin will always remain a 05er and we will always be friends with him.”

Board member for sport Christian Heidel explained: “Martin Schmidt has requested to relinquish his operational responsibilities and therefore his role as sporting director due to private family reasons, instead supporting the club more in a more behind-the-scenes role in the future. We agreed to this request with full respect for his decision and gratitude for what he’s done for the club. He won promotion to the third division with our U23s as coach and then wrote history by qualifying for the Europa League with the first team. He then settled in to his then new role as sporting director thanks to his expertise and passion. Whilst in this role, he played an important part in the club’s positive development in the past three and a half years. Martin will always remain a 05er and we will always be friends with him. He will continue to support us in a consultancy role and will play a big part in helping us set up the new leadership team in his place.” 

“The things we’ve experienced together have shaped my life.”

Martin Schmidt said: “My personal life back home in Switzerland has changed at short notice due to an illness in my family. This therefore means that other things will become my priority and will require me to be there in person. As a result of this, I told Christian Heidel that I wanted to relinquish my operational responsibilities and work in a consultancy role behind the scenes instead. I’m really thankful that the club have placed their trust in me over the past years to work in various different roles. I would especially like to thank Christian Heidel, who has helped to shape me as a person and played a big role in my career too. He has now also supported me with this change. This is my club, and it will always have a special place in my heart. The things we’ve experienced together have shaped my life.” 

NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM REPORTING TO BOARD MEMBER FOR SPORT CHRISTIAN HEIDEL

1. FSV Mainz 05 will now go into the new season with a new leadership team under board member for sport Christian Heidel. Niko Bungert will take over as sporting director and Meikel Schönweitz will become technical director. The pair will start their new roles on Wednesday when the club arrive in Austria for their pre-season training camp.

Niko Bungert new sporting director

Sporting director Niko Bungert will be responsible for 1. FSV Mainz 05’s first team, which he will also represent publicly. Bungert will also assume responsibility for the fitness and sports science teams, as well as women’s football at the club.

The 37-year-old played for the club’s first team between 2008 and 2019, making 219 competitive appearances. He captained the team and has had spells as assistant coach under Achim Beierlorzer and most recently Bo Henriksen. As club ambassador, he began to officially represent the club after his retirement and worked for all departments of the 05ers as a trainee. He also completed the DFB academy’s course ‘management in professional football’ during this period.

Meikel Schönweitz new technical director

Meikel Schönweitz, the new technical director, will be responsible for internal processes and structures, personnel management and the strategic development of Mainz football within the first team and the academy, alongside Volker Kersting, academy director. He will also represent the club at associations and on committees. 

The 44-year-old, born in Groß-Gerau, was a youth coach at Mainz 05 between 2010 and 2014. He then worked as a youth coach for the DFB and as the head coach of all Germany youth sides between 2014 and 2023. Schönweitz returned to Mainz in April 2023 to take on the role as director of football development. He will continue this work as part of his new role.

More bases covered in the future

Bungert and Schönweitz will also be responsible for squad planning, something that will be done together with Bernd Legien’s team (director for scouting and analysis) and Christian Heidel, as well as sports medicine and rehabilitation.

Board member for sport Christian Heidel added: “We have restructured our sporting leadership with Niko Bungert and Meikel Schönweitz, allowing us to cover more bases in the future. They are both extremely knowledgeable about the game and will quickly grow into their new roles. They have each spent lots of time already at Mainz 05 and are successful examples of our aim of developing leaders from within the club.”