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SV Ried to become a partner club of FC Schalke 04
Austrian second-division side SV Ried will enter into a partnership agreement with FC Schalke 04, becoming the club's third international partner club. The Royal Blues had previously announced a partnership with VVV-Venlo in early June, with Emmanuel Gyamfi and Paul Pöpperl joining the club on loan soon after. A few weeks later, Schalke announced another partnership with FC Aarau, who they will face in a friendly on 12th October.
Ben Manga, director of squad planning, scouting and the Knappenschmiede youth academy, commented on the agreement: “The continued expansion of our network is of great importance to the successful implementation of our strategy of developing young players and of integrating them into our first team. Each of the clubs involved benefit from the expertise and the opportunities offered by the other partners. This joint understanding was reached during the course of our discussions with SV Ried. It’s an important basis for a successful partnership.”
As part of their cooperation, both clubs will pursue the goal of improving their talent development programs in order to create new opportunities for young players. Additionally, the sporting management of both clubs will exchange and share ideas in the areas of scouting, business intelligence and data.
Wolfgang Fiala, managing director of sport at SV Ried, said about the partnership: “The markets in both domestic and international football are becoming increasingly more saturated through the involvement of investors and investment groups. As a result, we have decided to pursue the concept of partner clubs at the regional, national and international levels. During our discussions with FC Schalke 04, it emerged that the sporting management of both clubs had similar ideas when it came to partnering in the areas of scouting, data and the overall development of the clubs. We will be able to expand our scouting network and presence in terms of attracting and retaining players in the future, which we would have otherwise not been able to under normal circumstances. In FC Schalke 04, we have a club at our side that is similarly structured to ours and which prioritises a love of the game, without the involvement of external investors. We are by no means dependant on our partner club.”
SV Ried are currently top of the table in Austria’s second division. The club were founded in 1912 and have won the Austrian Cup on two occasions, in 1998 and 2011.
