Lottermoser leaves

Coaching legend steps down at the end of the season

Ernst Lottermoser is leaving TSV St. Johann at the end of the season.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Big bang in the Westliga! Ernst Lottermoser resigns as coach of TSV St. Johann. What's behind the decision and what's next for the 56-year-old long-term coach. 

Hardly anything in Salzburg's lower soccer division is as closely linked as regional league club St. Johann and coach Ernst Lottermoser. The man from Pongau has been the leader of the pack for eight years, making him the longest-serving active coach in the province. But the two are going their separate ways at the end of the season. "I just feel empty and no longer have the energy," says the 56-year-old in an interview with the "Krone". 

The decision had been a long time coming. In the end, it was finalized during the preparations for the Western League spring (start on March 15). In the meantime, being a coach has become a year-round job and there is hardly any time for relaxation. "If you can't give your full performance, it's no longer possible." In addition, the challenges and uncertainties (reforms, etc.) are increasing all the time. Lottermoser wants to remember the good times.  

Ajibade, Djuric and Co. will have to manage without their long-term coaches from next season.

(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

There were plenty of them. "It was brutally beautiful, awesome," enthuses the coaching legend. The sporting highlight was the national championship title in 2021/22. There were also many other experiences. "You're so close to the players, you get so much out of it. You almost become a kind of father figure." Especially as he knows many of his players from their early youth days. "It's a great team that you won't find anywhere else."

Last common goal
He wants to play this role as father of the team until the end. Before the successful era comes to an end, the St. Johanners would like to secure their place in the Westliga. Then Lottermoser will bid farewell to the club, where he also worked with President Sepp Klingler ("He has become a friend of mine"). And he will not start a new era anywhere else. Because nothing is said to have been as inseparable as Lottermoser and TSV.