The European Tour is delighted to announce that Hendrik Almstadt, formerly a senior member of the Football Operations Group at Arsenal Football Club and Sporting Director at Aston Villa Football Club, will take up the post of Player Relations Director effective Wednesday 18th May
Hendrik will bring a wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge of Player Relations to this new role at the Tour’s Wentworth headquarters, helping expand the overall Player Relations team both on-site at tournaments and in the office, while at the same time developing the ‘Players First Philosophy’ central to Chief Executive Keith Pelley’s thinking.
Hendrik Almstadt said: “I am excited to join The European Tour and Keith Pelley’s management team at such a crucial stage of the Tour’s development. I’m passionate about developing sporting organisations, creating frameworks for high performance and working with individual athletes. This role is all about the players and I believe that much of my experience in football and business will be valuable for this post. I can’t wait to get started.”
During his five years at Arsenal, Hendrik led many projects on the football side of the organisation, analysing all aspects of the club’s technical and sporting functions. These projects covered the entire football set up from the first team to youth development, embracing elements such as squad planning, scouting and player recruitment, data analytics, contract management, financial budgeting and performance analysis.
Hendrik implemented and led the data analytics and technical scouting function at Arsenal which led to the identification of several first team players. On the youth development side, the 42 year old German helped restructure the Arsenal FC Youth Academy, leading the work around the Academy’s objectives and the club’s player investment / development strategy together with the Academy management team. He also implemented the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan.
A graduate of the London School of Economics, where he attained a Bachelor of Science degree, and of the Harvard Business School, from where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, Hendrik also worked as an analyst for Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt as well as being an Associate Director of private equity firm 3i Investments in London.
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “I am delighted to welcome Hendrik Almstadt as our Player Relations Director. His achievements in this realm and in the business sphere speak for themselves and I have no doubt he will be a tremendous asset to the Tour moving forward.
“As well as developing our Players First Philosophy, the aim for Hendrik will be to create an analytical database featuring all players from all Tours, including up and coming amateurs, with the goal of not only strengthening relationships with the players but also strengthening our fields.
“Hendrik is a highly intellectual individual with an analytical mind and an understanding of the elite athlete. It is this combination which, I believe, makes him the perfect fit for this job.”
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