Winfried Schäfer, known by his nickname Winnie Schäfer, is a German football coach and former football player. For twelve years, he coached the first football team of Karlsruher SC, which enjoyed a successful period.
Schäfer played for the Rhineland-Palatinate club TuS Mayen from his youth days until 1968. From 1968 to 1985, he played professional football for Borussia Mönchengladbach, Kickers Offenbach and Karlsruher SC in the Bundesliga. Winfried Schäfer made 403 Bundesliga appearances as a player and won the German championship and the DFB Cup. Winfried Schäfer became coach at Karlsruher SC in 1986 and the most successful ten years at KSC began. After 12 years in office, Winfried Schäfer left KSC. This was followed by further coaching positions in Germany at VFB Stuttgart and Tennis Borussia Berlin.
Winfried Schäfer lecture topics
Team building with a focus on international & intercultural teams
After working in Cameroon, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Iran, Jamaica, the Emirates and Qatar, Winfried Schäfer has the tools to adapt quickly and effectively to new cultural circumstances as a leader.
- How do I find my way in a new environment?
- How do I balance my role as a leader with respect and open-mindedness?
- How do I approach people?
- Who do I seek closer contact with?
- How do I implement cultural differences in my work and how do I use them to my advantage?
- How do I communicate in a team with people from different cultures?
- How do I bring my best qualities to a team and break down prejudices?
- How do I gain trust and establish a good working atmosphere?
- How do I criticise correctly and how do I motivate my team?
Pressure to perform and high expectations
Expectations, and therefore the pressure to perform, are particularly high in football. Every weekend can be an endgame for coaches and assistants. The recovery phase after a successful Saturday only lasts a few days before the next game takes centre stage.
- How do you increase your resilience and how do you communicate trust and self-confidence within the team?
- How do I deal with conflicts within the team?
Football and work culture
Football teams thrive on a balance between cooperation and internal competition – Cooperation & Competition. How can I transfer this balance to a team in order to:
- increase performance
- weld a team together
Politics in football – football politics
Football and politics are now inextricably linked at national and international level. How do you experience politics in football?
- Sportwashing in the Arab states
- International communication to the West and East through football in Saudi Arabia and Qatar
- Football as a social outlet in Iran
- Community spirit in Africa
- Plaything of the political elites in Thailand
- Football in Jamaica as a clash with England and the USA
As a German company, how can I use football to position myself internationally, open doors and market my product and my name better? How do I position myself as a representative of the Global North and as a German in countries of the Global South, which are increasingly looking at us with scepticism.
Winfried Schäfer – football globetrotter
Winfried Schäfer was coach of the Cameroon national football team from November 2001, became African champion in 2002 and took part in the 2002 World Cup with the team. He also took Cameroon to the final of the Confed Cup in 2003. The team lost this to France after a golden goal, having previously beaten the reigning world champions Brazil. The collaboration ended on 18 November 2004, a few hours after a 3-0 defeat against the German national football team. One of the reasons for the parting of the ways was the differences that had persisted for months due to allegedly outstanding salary and bonus payments.
During his time as an active coach, Winfried Schäfer took over other teams such as the Thailand national team, the Jamaica national team and coached teams in Azerbaijan, Dubai and Iran.
Winfried Schäfer is married, has two children and has lived with his family near Karlsruhe for more than 25 years.
In his talks, Winfried Schäfer shows how to work successfully with intercultural teams. He talks about leadership, teamwork, clear communication and identifying opportunities and goals despite adverse conditions and challenges.