Bulls boss Winkler:

“Want to play with local players”

Bernd Winkler enjoys his job as sports boss for the women of Red Bull Salzburg.

(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

Bernd Winkler is the sports director of Red Bull Salzburg's women's department, which was founded last year. In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, the 45-year-old talks about the Bundesliga, the path he has taken, finances and a big vision of his.

What does a working day look like for you?

My working days are characterized by a lot of flexibility. There are often things that come up that I don't know about in the morning. There are simple things like planning matches or transfer registrations. And there are also lots of things off the pitch. We have some girls at the boarding school, for example, so we have to keep looking at how they get from A to B. But we're a good team and nobody is too afraid to do things that don't exactly fit into their remit.

How do you like the role?

I really like it because my area of responsibility is incredibly broad. I get an insight into all the topics that I didn't know much about before.

You are currently playing in the Future League. What is the roadmap for the future? 

The goal is of course for our girls to play a good role in the Bundesliga in the future. But the big thing for us remains development. We want to develop girls from the region. We haven't set a fixed date for the Bundesliga because we don't know exactly when our girls will be ready to play at the top. The league has improved a lot in recent years and we don't want to put any pressure on the girls. If we have the feeling that it makes sense, we will take the step.

Winkler during the interview.

(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

How does the communication with FC Bergheim work?

We have a great exchange with FC Bergheim. We help each other, it's a real cooperation in both directions. As a small club in the Bundesliga, Bergheim doesn't find it easy, they need support. We can learn from them in other areas, which is why the cooperation is a great advantage for both sides.

How often do training sessions take place each week?

We train on Monday, Thursday and Friday in Rif and on Tuesday in the academy. However, the girls train even more often because most of them go to SSM and also do morning sessions there. The games all take place in Bergheim.

How many teams are there already?

If we don't have an adult team next season, there will still be two teams. We want to have three at some point (Bundesliga, Future League, U16). I don't see any point in the age groups below that at the moment, because the girls can play with the boys for a long time and are very well challenged there.

The Bulls also want to be successful in women's soccer.

(Bild: ANDREAS TROESTER)

How does the scouting work?

Good players quickly become known through the national junior championships for girls. But we also have a network of scouts who are out and about regionally. If there's a good girl there, we get to know her and have her on our radar. But they only come to us from the U16 level onwards. I'm the girls' chief scout (laughs). I inevitably watch more women's games than boys' games regionally.

Do you think the women will be paid at some point?

I assume that this topic will grow. There are hardly any female professional players in Austria at the moment. We in Salzburg are currently a long way away from that. We want to play with young, hungry and local players and not artificially push the issue of money. But I'm not ruling out a professional league at some point, because I hope that the league will grow and become more professional. However, this requires partners and sponsors or a corresponding market.

Do you want to continue to focus solely on domestic players?

That is our clear plan. We don't have the resources of boarding school places to bring in players from other countries. Last year, we only signed players from within a 50-kilometer radius. This year we have six boarding places for players from Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Carinthia, partly because they have no opportunity to develop in these federal states. The aim must be to have a wider range of female players in Austria. Not only for the Bundesliga, but also for smaller leagues. There are around 15,000 female players in Austria, around 100,000 in the Netherlands and around 50,000 in Switzerland. We're already a long way behind. And one thing is clear: the more players, the more talent the clubs have at their disposal.

Winkler (right) played in Salzburg's lower division for years.

(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

How did you get this job?

I've actually been with the club my whole life, including seven years as a scout for the first team, and then I realized that I wanted to do more. I was also a teacher and worked in television. At some point, three things at the same time were too much for me and I wanted to focus on one topic. Then the club approached me with the idea of setting up a women's section and asked me if I could imagine taking it on. I quickly came to the decision that I would like to do it. To this day, I don't regret the decision. It's great fun with the girls, they listen, want to learn and don't complain. If you take a closer look, you realize how exciting and high quality women's soccer has become. 

How many people work just for the women?

We have five staff members for the U20s and four for the U16s. And then of course there's me, I help out wherever I can (laughs).

Do you have a vision of playing in the stadium one day?

Playing in the stadium at some point is a big vision of mine. But we're still a long way away from that at the moment. It's important to say that we currently have a good framework that we want to build on and develop step by step.