Kathleen Krueger retired from professional football in 2009, aged 24, after 33 Bundesliga appearances with Bayern. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Bundesliga club Hamburg on Tuesday named Kathleen Krueger as sporting director, making her the first woman to hold the position on a permanent basis in league history.

Krueger, 40, joined the 1983 European Cup winner after two decades at Bayern Munich, where she last occupied an organisational management role.

In a statement, Hamburg praised the incoming Krueger’s work with former Bayern coaches Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Hansi Flick, and Jupp Heynckes.

“I am very pleased with the trust placed in me,” Krueger said in the statement.

“It is a real privilege to be able to play a decisive role in shaping the future of Hamburg, one of the biggest names in German football.”

A former player, Krueger retired in 2009, aged 24, after 33 Bundesliga appearances with Bayern, staying with the Bavarian giant after hanging up her boots.

Krueger takes over from former sporting director Stefan Kuntz, who left the club in January.

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A traditional giant of German football, Hamburg returned to the Bundesliga last summer after seven seasons in the second division and has already secured top-flight status for the next campaign.

The appointment of women to sporting director roles is rare in men’s football. Helena Costa currently serves as sporting director of Portuguese first division side Estoril, having been appointed in January 2025.

Krueger is the latest woman to be named in management and coaching positions in the Bundesliga this season.

Union Berlin manager Marie-Louise Eta became the first coach of a men’s club in a major European league when she took over in April.

RB Leipzig named former Switzerland international Tatjana Haenni as CEO in January, the first woman to hold the position in Bundesliga history.

German clubs have traditionally employed a sporting director model, which shares responsibility between coaches and administrators and has become more popular elsewhere in recent years.

Sporting directors set a club’s strategic direction and oversee player recruitment, tasks that are sometimes performed by managers in other leagues.

Published on May 12, 2026