OÖN: You both have special memories of Neuhofen – an important station in your career, right?
Thomas Reifeltshammer: In my case it’s probably even more special than Marcel’s. It’s my hometown club and it’s where I first ran after the ball as a little boy. And Neuhofen also played a special role in the final step to becoming a professional. I had actually already failed at the Rieder Academy and went back to my hometown club. Then came the cooperation between Neuhofen and the Rieder amateurs. If nothing had come of it, I probably wouldn’t have come back to the amateurs – and therefore to Ried. I had actually already given up my dream of becoming a professional and had a different career in mind.
Marcel Ziegl: I went through the Rieder Academy and also played at the syndicate in Neuhofen from time to time. That’s how I got to know Reifi. Somehow in the following years we were always the ones who stayed at SV Ried. A great friendship developed.
You never changed clubs in your career. Do you regret that afterwards?
Thomas Reifeltshammer: I always made the decision realistically: What is best for me? The answer was actually always Ried.
Marcel Ziegl: For me it would have been concrete once in 2015, when I didn’t extend my contract in order to keep things open and maybe take the next step. Then came my first cruciate ligament tear. Two days after my operation, Ried’s manager at the time, Stefan Reiter, called me and said: “Just so you know: the offer from our side still stands. Despite the injury, we won’t change anything in terms of the numbers, we want to that you stay.” From that point on it was similar to “Didi”: you had it in your head from time to time and went over it again and again, but in truth it always came out in the end that you didn’t want to leave and that Ried was the best fit.
SV Ried is the club you love – but your departure was not entirely free of conflict. How do you look back on it a few months later?
Thomas Reifeltshammer: Even though it’s been a while now, emotionally I haven’t yet finished leaving. This is not how I imagined it to be and it still hurts me. I also think that when you say goodbye, you shouldn’t always just see the period when everything may not have been right. I was extremely disappointed with how things turned out.
Marcel Ziegl: There have been many conversations in many directions. You have to find out for yourself what you really want to continue and in which direction you should go. After my career ended, I still didn’t know whether it was the right step. Me and Reifi are Rieder through and through. I was simply of the opinion that certain things needed to be changed, but I didn’t have the feeling that there was a willingness to change anything. And then I knew: at some point it wouldn’t have been right for me anymore. I still had an outstanding farewell, which the club also made possible for me. That’s why there’s no bad blood from me. I have a good relationship with the team and the people involved; it wasn’t a decision that meant the door was closed forever.
Thomas, what has to happen for you to make the door open again?
Thomas Reifeltshammer: What’s more, after I left, I expressed myself critically about some issues in the club. Of course, this didn’t go down well with certain people. But I also did that for one reason, because I noticed in my role at the time that certain structures in the club had to be changed. And these were demonstrably changed afterwards. For example, there is less influence of the executive committee on the sporting area. The proof of this is that there are also two managing directors, and the one in the sports sector is also allowed to make decisions and sign contracts himself. I see this as confirmation that I have given impetus to changing certain processes in the club. I now see it relatively soberly and have little contact with the people involved. I haven’t been to the stadium since then because I consciously wanted to keep my distance. I’m still a fan and a member, and that won’t change. I don’t currently know what has to happen for the door to open again…
You have both left the “professional football” bubble for the time being. How should you imagine that?
Marcel Ziegl: It was similar to going on vacation during the summer break – only permanently. For me it was completely strange, to put it bluntly it was little things, like meeting a friend at short notice in the evening for two or three beers. Normally as a footballer you always had the thought that you had to pay attention to a conscious lifestyle. Things like that disappeared completely. I still enjoy it to this day. A certain amount of pressure, which is job-related and which you also put on yourself, has been lifted. But of course it also hurts me not to be able to play football anymore.
Is it possible to see you both on the pitch again?
Thomas Reifetlshammer: A lot would have to happen…
Marcel Ziegl: Give me a new knee and I’ll be back on the pitch at the weekend (smiles). No, seriously: I shouldn’t have had any complaints about this happening again for over a year. The doctors also suggested that I leave it alone. We put the player issue aside, now the coaching issue has become ripe for discussion, especially since I’m currently doing the B license.
You’ve made a living from football for a long time – what are you currently doing?
Marcel Ziegl: For me, the new year will begin a new phase of my life. It will have a bit to do with football, but not in the form it was before. I’m currently preparing for it and I’m really looking forward to it.
Thomas Reifeltshammer: I have been a teacher at the Ampflwang middle school since February, teaching gymnastics, English and mathematics. I just wanted to become independent from football. It was important to me to have a basis, also for my family. And yet with this job I always have the opportunity to do something in football.
Like currently in amateur football. What are the big differences to professional football?
Marcel Ziegl: Basically, a professional’s daily routine is focused on football. In the House of Commons, everyone has a job – and it is more or less their leisure activity. Those are two worlds.
Thomas Reifeltshammer: In the professional sector, the player signs a contract. To put it bluntly, the club can say: You do what we want. In the amateur area it’s something different: You have to develop a certain feeling about how professionally you approach it. On the other hand, everyone is also ambitious and wants to be successful. Finding the right balance is the biggest challenge.
What are the goals for Neuhofen this season in the Landesliga West?
Marcel Ziegl: First and foremost, we got promoted and want to stay in the league. What’s in our heads is a single-digit place in the table. That is ambitious, but also realistic.
Thomas Reifeltshammer: For us, the main goal is to receive positive feedback. When you go your separate ways and the player says: I learned something from this coach and took something away with me – that is the greatest honor as a coach.
Positive feedback is a good keyword: What do you appreciate about each other?
Thomas Reifeltshammer: I’m certainly more emotional than Maci. However, he stays calm for a long time. When I react emotionally, all I need is a conversation with him and I’m calm again.
Marcel Ziegl: Regardless of whether on the pitch or privately, we are on the same wavelength. We think similarly in many ways. What I see as the incredible strength of “Didi”: having an opinion, representing it – but also being open to something different. In this respect we complement each other very well. There isn’t a day where one doesn’t learn something from the other.
