Off to Georgia

Fixed: Feldhofer becomes new coach at traditional club

Ferdinand Feldhofer is back in the coaching business! The 44-year-old Styrian has signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with 19-time Georgian champions Dinamo Tbilisi. The former Rapid coach has already flown to Tbilisi, where he will be officially presented as head coach.

The top Georgian soccer league is played in calendar mode with ten teams and is currently on a "summer break" due to the European Championships in Germany. So far, half of the season has been completed and Dinamo Tbilisi is in fifth place after the first 18 rounds. Feldhofer is also represented internationally with the capital city club. Before the league resumes at the beginning of August, the Vorau native will play in the qualifiers for the Conference League group stage with Dinamo from July.

"It was a big wish and also a big goal of mine to be able to coach an attractive club abroad," says Feldhofer, who achieved championship honors as a player with Sturm and Rapid, and virtually began his coaching career in Styria (with Lafnitz). "The fact that it worked out with such a traditional club, which is also well known outside the Georgian borders, is all the better. Everything happened very quickly in the last few days. The two decisive things for me were the congruent way of thinking in terms of playing philosophy with regard to a dominant style and the club's clear objective of winning titles again in the near future. In addition, the timing is almost perfect, as there is a huge soccer euphoria throughout the country due to the first participation in the EURO."