Hertha BSC confirmed on Thursday that Michael Preetz has extended his contract with the club until 2009.
The former striker has been Hertha’s Director of Sport, Communication and Media since 2009, and his contract had been due to run out next summer.
The agreement will keep Preetz, who has now been with the club for 20 years as both player and official, in Berlin for the foreseeable future.
Record scorer to boardroom figure
The 49-year-old first joined die Alte Dame in 1996 as a player, transferring from SG Wattenscheid 09. He had started his playing career with his hometown club Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1986, and he also played for 1. FC Saarbrücken and MSV Duisburg.
Over seven years he made 227 league appearances for Hertha, scoring 93 times. In his time there they went from playing in the 2. Bundesliga to the UEFA Champions League in the space of two years, with his goals helping them to five consecutive seasons in European competition.
He retired as the club’s record goal scorer in 2003 and immediately became an assistant to the executive board, before replacing Dieter Hoeneß in his current role in 2009.
Looking to continue the club’s development
Although the club has been relegated twice since then, in 2010 and 2012, they have bounced straight back on both occasions, and the relative success since Pál Dárdai’s appointment as head coach in early 2015 has helped him to secure a longer deal.
“We are delighted to continue working with Michael Prettz, who will continue to successfully develop Hertha BSC over the next few years,” said club president Werner Gegenbauer after the club made the decision at a board meeting on Wednesday evening.”
Prettz has said that he is “pleased” that the club has shown confidence in him. He also said that he wanted to help develop the club’s profile and allow it to keep up with Germany’s bigger clubs.
He is also keen to see the club’s average attendances rise at the Olympiastadion to 60,000. “We know that this goal is ambitious, but we need to set goals," he said. The club is also looking for further financial investment in the near future.
Quotes via Hertha BSC and Der Tagesspiegel.