An exclusive in-person interview with Fabian Hürzeler
This interview was conducted at the midway point of season 24/25 and first published in Dogma Issue 14 (February 2025).
With the season now concluded, have things panned out as we hoped they would, do any of Fabian’s comments seem more pertinent now than when he first shared them with us, and should we feel positive about this season, disappointed and regretful, or perhaps phlegmatic?
Photography credit: Paul Hazlewood
Hi Fabian and thanks for giving up your time. Could you start by telling us about the first games you remembered watching or playing, who you supported, what made you think I love this game? The early days?
So the funny thing is I was hiding when I was young, to avoid football training, I was hiding under the table and my Dad forced me to go and that was the start. And then I think it changed into my passion and my obsession, and from that point on, I really loved to play the game, but to not only play the game but to see it from different angles, so the angle from the coach and the supporters, from all different perspectives. As a fan, as a player, and as a coach.
There are several leagues that I follow, and there are some clubs that will always stay in my heart. I played a long time for Bayern Munich so I always follow them. St Pauli, my former club, will always be in my heart, and Pipinsried my first club as a head coach. Also the MLS for sure because I played not only for the German Federation, I also experienced the American National Federation. I didn't play an international game for the United States but I experienced it, and that's why I also follow the MLS. There are several clubs and leagues you follow just because of the obsession and the passion you have for this game.
So you trained with the American national team?
It was the U23 team so we only had a camp together, and honestly I really like to be in the United States. It was the country where I was born so you always have some feelings that it's back to the roots, but in general, like I said, it's just the passion and obsession for this game, to follow it, to see it, to be part of it.
At some point, when you had stopped hiding under the table, something must have snapped and you thought ‘this is it for me’. Can you remember when that happened and how old you were?
I was nine or ten when I really started to be obsessed and started trying to improve myself. I remember when we were on holidays, I always took a tennis ball with me, we lived in Germany but travelled to the United States, and every second whenever I found a place where I could play I would keep the tennis ball up, no matter if I was at the airport, in the airplane, on the vacation, every second to have this ball with me and try to improve myself, and I think in this period I really developed this obsession and passion for football.
There are some memories from my past that are also special for me, when I was a young player scoring my first goal for the German Federation, I think I was 15 or 16, it was in a very famous stadium, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, against France. I scored two goals, these are the things you always have in your memory and you never forget.
Thinking of memorable moments, what would you say is the best game you have seen live and the best atmosphere?
The best atmosphere I have experienced as a coach, I have to say, was the derby between St Pauli and Hamburg. These games have unbelievable atmospheres to be honest, I’d never experienced something that loud in the stadium before, this intense atmosphere. There was a lot of pressure in these games, a lot of rivalry and you can really feel it. You felt it every second of the game, before the game, at half time and after the game. Also the week before the match there was this unbelievable atmosphere in the city and I will never forget these occasions, they were something really special.
Did you win many of these games?
I won, lost and drew these games, so I experienced all the different feelings you can get.
How do you cope with the feeling of loss and disappointment after a big defeat? How do you cope with that? How do you get yourself back up?
I think that's one of the hardest things in this business, to always wake up the next day and keep pushing yourself and say all right, we have to go on, we have to continue. Because of course there are disappointments, when you try to prepare one week for a game and it was an important game and a special game for the supporters, you tried to be the best prepared team, and you have a good feeling before the game, and a good feeling at the start of the game and then it ends with a disappointing result, then it's very important to stay calm, to not get too emotional, because when you get too emotional you do things you will regret.
So it's very important to just try to stay predictable, try to stay your own person, and don't try to get distracted by too much emotion, and I think that's a very, very important part of being a coach but also one of the hardest parts. Waking up the next day with this bad feeling inside of you, with this feeling of disappointment, not only for yourself, but also the whole club. It is a feeling that’s bad, but I also see it as a lesson.
So every defeat, every bad experience, every tough moment, you have to go through like a lesson for your life that is a preparation for the next bad time. It is very, very hard, especially when you lose a big game, but you have to see it as a lesson, you have to be really self-critical in that moment, but I think in the end this will make you grow as a person.
Photography credit: Andrew Forsyth
Can we go back to the away game at P****e last year when you were in the away end. Was that your idea or was that someone else's? Did you realise the importance of the game?
It was my idea. I understood it because of the things the fans shouted to each other! It was quite emotional and that's why, yeah, it was very important for me to not only get this feeling of this rivalry but also get the feeling of the Premier League atmosphere and how it is, and that's why it was a great experience and something that really helped me.
‘Challenging the establishment’ is a mantra that you have communicated as a unifying concept. Is that specific mantra something that was important at your time at St Pauli, as well as now at the Albion?
We had that mantra in place because for me it's so important to visualise things. So in general in life, it is advice I would give to every person. You have to visualise where you want to go, and you have to set the standards and the goals very high because then you promise yourselves to never give up and that's what I tried with my former clubs, so every time we had a clear mantra, where we commit, we will follow it.
And in the end you always can reflect. So sometimes in life you will fail, but without having courage, without visualising where you want to go, I'm sure you won't achieve anything. And it is important to have this always in your mind and try to set the standards high for yourself, for the club, for everyone that you know where to go, that you know why you come here every day in this training ground, what you want to improve every day because you have a clear goal, where you want to get to with a clear vision.
Was it easy to come in with your vision and align that with the vision of the club, and do you feel it was a good match for you?
Yeah, absolutely. For me, it's very important to have the right feeling in my stomach when I make a decision. Afterwards you always think more rationally and making argument pros and cons, what’s for the change what is against, but in the end, I always decide on my own and I always decide what I feel inside of me and that's how I make bold decisions in life because it's my life and these are my decisions, so I have to feel comfortable with them.
I don't want to make a decision only to make another person happy because then I won't be happy and I am not myself. So I need to make my decisions. I think it's important to have the courage. In the end, you always get considered by your decisions, so you will get positive or negative feedback, it's part of the business. But I feel comfortable when I make my own decisions because then I feel authentic.
How do you think the fanbase can buy into your vision, and best support a shared ambition of successfully challenging the establishment?
Everyone has to be on the same page, I think that's the most important thing. So everyone needs to feel part of it and it's an exchange, but an exchange from both sides. So when we are unhappy with something, then we need to be able to address it without it being personal, and the same in the other direction. So when you are not happy with the performances or with things that are going on, I think it's also important to get the feedback from this side because in the end, you can only improve by having critical feedback, and you can only improve by having an honest exchange with one another. And I think that's the main thing, and you can only build this exchange by having this social bond, by having this exchange, so I think that's the key.
Communication is vital for that and then, of course, everyone needs to be clear about their role. So I'm sure everyone has a small impact on success, and I don't say that my impact is higher than the impact of others, because I think everyone in the club is so important. From the kit man to the chef to the physio to the supporters to the CEO. Everyone has an impact on success. That's why I say being on the same page is crucial.
Photography credit: Paul Hazlewood
You mentioned the importance of communication and the exchanges from both sides; supporters and team. But criticism is, presumably, not hugely helpful. How should we balance this?
You need to build a relationship before you can be critical, I think that's the most important thing. Also to understand that there will be bad periods, especially in the Premier League as the season is so long and there will be tough periods, but the stronger the bond is between us, between the club and the supporters, the better we will get through these times.
Is there a question you never get asked but you wish you were?
I think in football we only talk about players and money. But we never talk about the person behind the player, and that there are individuals with different needs, different wishes, and therefore we need to have an understanding of that. They all have fears, they have doubts. It is a people business, and that's why sometimes I have the feeling that we don't really recognise these aspects in the football industry, and that we have to take more care of the players.
It doesn't mean that we shouldn’t be demanding of them or pushing them to their limits. But I think this is a big topic because I experienced this in my own life. If I feel comfortable, if I feel valued, if I feel that I have self-confidence, I am then the best version of myself. And if you can implement this to the players then they can show their full potential.
Is there one thing about your job which you wish people better understood?
I talk the same with my friends from my family, like, if they call me and I didn't answer them and they say you don't have time for me or something. Then it's like, do they have an understanding that when I'm here the club is my priority. It's my absolute priority, and there's nothing more important than the club for me.
So there are things they have to understand, so for family and friends in that moment they're not a priority for me and it seems maybe harsh now what I say, but that's the truth.
So I think you can only be really successful if you're completely into it. And I'm into this club and I sacrifice a lot, but I'm not complaining about it because I choose it on my own and I'm happy that I can live this life and I can have this privilege to be at this club, but I think people who are not working in this business don't always understand.
This is a club that nearly went out of business. I'm sure you're aware of the history but I think perhaps some of the time, elements of the fanbase are just grateful we're here at all. Do you think we need to have higher expectations, all of us?
This club achieved great things in the past, but I think sometimes it's not about reputation. The reputation we have is like we are a nice club and we are the nice Brighton & Hove Albion, but if you really want to achieve something, you won't achieve it because you are nice to each other.
I think you achieve something when you are demanding of one another, when you are honest to one another, and pushing and pushing. Know your history and where you come from and what brought us here, it's always important to know the roots. But now let’s take the next step together and I think we have to be more ruthless.
Don't accept the defeats and don't accept things like the home game against Southampton, for example. So these things one day they should be unacceptable and they should create a big wave of criticism afterwards, because that’s where we want to go. If Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, if they play a draw at home against Southampton, it would create a very, very big wave of criticism because they are the establishment.
Photography credit: Paul Hazlewood
This interview was first published February 2025 in Dogma Issue 14. Fabian Hürzeler was talking to Andy Message and Parker. With thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and ROOF for facilitating.
