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Remembering Hans Bangerter

Obituaries

We look back at the career and legacy of former UEFA General Secretary Hans Bangerter, who has died at the age of 98.

Hans Bangerter was UEFA's General Secretary from 1960 to 1988
Hans Bangerter was UEFA's General Secretary from 1960 to 1988 UEFA Comms & Public Affairs
UEFA mourns former General Secretary Hans Bangerter

Hans Bangerter’s career as UEFA General Secretary began in January 1960, in the basement of an apartment block in the Swiss federal capital Berne, which he shared with two secretaries.

It ended with his retirement in December 1988 after almost three decades of devoted service to UEFA and European football. By then, Bangerter had gained widespread respect and renown not only as a key figure in UEFA’s development, but also as a catalyst for ideas, measures and innovations that marked the evolution of the game across the continent.

Succeeding Frenchman Pierre Delaunay as UEFA General Secretary, Hans Bangerter came to UEFA at a time when the organisation was still young and finding its way. Over the years, he helped the body grow and prosper, and was eventually able to look back on an exceptionally busy and fulfilling professional life as the man who had helped in no small part to shape the organisation’s destiny during its formative years.

New start in Berne

Hans Bangerter was an honorary member of UEFA
Hans Bangerter was an honorary member of UEFA Getty Images

Born in Studen, a village close to Berne, Hans Bangerter started his new job as UEFA set up home in Switzerland after spending the years since the body’s founding in 1954 at premises at the French Football Federation’s headquarters in Paris.

UEFA went on to operate from offices in Berne’s Swiss House of Sports from 1962 to 1974. By the time Bangerter took his well-deserved retirement, the European body was based in purpose-built offices at UEFA’s own building in Jupiterstrasse in the Berne suburbs, with a staff that had in the meantime grown to around 30.

Shaping UEFA’s destiny

Hans Bangerter (right) with one of the four UEFA Presidents he served under - Frenchman Jacques Georges
Hans Bangerter (right) with one of the four UEFA Presidents he served under - Frenchman Jacques GeorgesUEFA Comms & Public Affairs

As UEFA General Secretary, Hans Bangerter helped build and consolidate the body with the utmost diligence. He served the first four UEFA presidents – Ebbe Schwartz (Denmark), Gustav Wiederkehr (Switzerland), Artemio Franchi (Italy) and Jacques Georges (France) – and was closely involved in the work of UEFA’s Executive Committee, as well as many other committees and bodies. This gave him the vast knowledge and expertise needed for his role; he watched countless matches, and took part in courses, conferences and social events from one end of Europe to the other.

In order to construct an effective administration within European football, it required all of Bangerter’s patience, skill, diplomacy, leadership, good fortune and – above all – his determination to commit himself wholeheartedly to an enduring cause.

He was often referred to as a gentleman of football, or as Mr UEFA, as he helped develop the young confederation from initial obscurity into an organisation whose activities gradually attracted ever keener interest from the media and the public at large – even though he never sought the spotlight in what was becoming an increasingly media-conscious environment.

Taking his chance

Hans Bangerter (second right) at the UEFA EURO '84 final tournament draw
Hans Bangerter (second right) at the UEFA EURO '84 final tournament draw Icon Sport via Getty Images

Hans Bangerter took his chance with UEFA when it came his way. He had been working as an assistant general secretary of FIFA since 1953 when, in 1959, he was offered the opportunity, upon Pierre Delaunay’s resignation, to take over the UEFA General Secretary’s post.

When Bangerter came to office, the UEFA competitions were already functioning quite regularly but were still in their infancy. Over his years as General Secretary, UEFA would play the role not only of a focal point for purely sporting affairs, but also for diverse legal and political issues that became connected with the game as it evolved.

A coordinator and mediator

Hans Bangerter (second right) chairing a UEFA conference of national association Presidents and General Secretaries in 1967
Hans Bangerter (second right) chairing a UEFA conference of national association Presidents and General Secretaries in 1967UEFA archives

Hans Bangerter saw his role as General Secretary essentially as that of a co-ordinator and mediator. He took a particular interest in the question of television rights and the coverage of football matches And it was he who may take the credit for the introduction of two pieces of legislation that were to become characteristic of the European club competitions and other football tournaments.

How the European calendar took shape - Hans Bangerter

Firstly, he succeeded in establishing the principle of fixed dates for the matches of the European competitions. Previously, there had been no such co-ordination, and the introduction of “European Wednesdays” throughout the continent not only simplified organisation, but helped concentrate the media’s attention and public interest on one midweek evening with the same intensity as a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Secondly, he came up with the idea of overcoming the deadlock of drawn ties – which had often resulted in the need to arrange play-off matches despite the constraints, even then, of the calendar – by making goals scored away from home count double, a device that was deployed in European competitions until the 2020/21 season.

He was never short of ideas. For example, in an article entitled ‘Prospects of the new Decennium’ published in the UEFA Official Bulletin of March 1970, he suggested: “Would it not be possible to have a nursery in or close to the stadium so that even couples with small children can go and see the match together? How many a young housewife might thus become a serious fan of the game!”

Keen and perspective interest

Hans Bangerter (right) with former UEFA vice-president Egidius Braun at the UEFA Congress in Budapest in 2016
Hans Bangerter (right) with former UEFA vice-president Egidius Braun at the UEFA Congress in Budapest in 2016Getty Images

Hans Bangerter decided to relinquish his post at the age of 64, announcing his plans to retire at the UEFA Congress in Munich in 1988 and entering retirement at the end of that year.

Four years later, during the first European Championship to take place without his direct active involvement, in Sweden in 1992, the UEFA Congress acclaimed Hans Bangerter’s contribution to the development of UEFA by naming him an honorary member.

In active retirement, he continued to take a keen and perspective interest in UEFA’s affairs and fortunes, helping maintain contact among fellow former officials and committee members from throughout the continent, and was a familiar and welcome figure at major UEFA events.

UEFA and European football owe a debt of considerable gratitude to Hans Bangerter as the man who took the fledgling body and helped guide it into maturity.