New job on the island: Southampton, bottom of the Premier League, has presented Johannes Spors as its new technical director. Spors, who was born in Heidelberg, was most recently Global Sports Director of the 777 Football Group, which, among other things, holds shares in Hertha BSC.
Spors will take up his post on February 15 and will report to Southampton CEO Phil Parsons in his new role. “I’m delighted to finally start at Southampton. The Saints are a club with a great history and a commitment to developing players, not only in the academy but also in the first team,” Spors said in a club statement released on Friday.
“His expertise in the areas of talent identification, recruitment strategy and long-term squad development will be crucial in strengthening the club’s football operations,” reads the website of Southampton FC, which is currently ranked last in the Premier League, ten points behind the safety line.
Since summer 2022, Spors has been Global Sports Director at 777
Spors’ employment is through the London-based sports investment firm Sport Republic, which holds 80 percent of the shares in Southampton FC and also majority stakes in Turkish first division promoted team Göztepe Izmir and French third division club Valenciennes FC.
Spors, who once worked as a video analyst and chief scout in German professional soccer (TSG Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig, Hamburger SV) and was technical director at Dutch first division club Vitesse Arnhem between April 2020 and December 2021, was installed as sports director at 777 Partners club CFC Genoa in December 2021. He had served as Global Sports Director of the 777 Football Group since summer 2022.
A candidate in Newcastle last year
The US company 777 Partners, which has been in extreme financial difficulty for months and is facing lawsuits from creditors in North America, had acquired stakes in seven football clubs on three continents (including Sevilla FC, Standard Liège, Vasco da Gama, Melbourne Victory) as part of its own expansion. In March 2023, the US company had acquired a stake in Hertha BSC and purchased 78.8 percent of the shares.
Last year, the purchase of Everton FC, which had been planned for months, fell through. Spors’ focus in his new job will be Southampton, but he also wants to and should set accents at the Sport-Republic locations in Izmir and Valenciennes. Last year, the 42-year-old was considered a hot candidate for the vacant position of sports director at Premier League club Newcastle United for a long time. Now, with a little delay, the dream of a job in England is coming true.
