Mirko Sandmöller is Borussia’s new youth academy director

Mirko Sandmöller has taken on the role of youth academy director which was vacated by new sporting director Roland Virkus.

Mirko Sandmöller has been appointed as Borussia’s new youth academy director. The 38-year-old has worked at the club since 2008 and most recently worked as chief executive of the youth academy. Sandmöller, who has a degree in sports science, has taken over from Roland Virkus, who became VfL’s new sporting director in February. Virkus: “I’ve worked closely with Mirko over the past few years and I trust him. He’s my logical successor because he understands our philosophy, the way we work, our structure and he’s already very familiar with how things are done.”

Sandmöller has already undertaken several different roles at Borussia’s youth academy. As part of his A-licence coaching qualifications he did an internship at the club and was subsequently given a permanent job. Since then, he’s not only been assistant coach of the U13s, U15s, U17s and U23s, but he was also head coach of the U14s and U15s between 2016 and 2018. Additionally, he was the manager of our club’s boarding school between 2012 and 2018, and has been chief executive of the youth academy since 2017.

“I’m really pleased that the club has put their trust in me,” commented Sandmöller. “I strongly believe I’ve got what it takes to do my job to the best of my ability. I’ve experienced and learned a lot in the past few years. The current situation is certainly challenging, but we have some ideas and we want to add new impulses so we can train and educate as many young players who have a chance of turning pro as possible.”