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https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/almuth-schult-fussball-wm-ard-tv-interview-reden-wir-ueber-geld-li.3484911?reduced=true
Interview with former goalkeeper Almuth Schult about her salaries, discussions with the DFB & challenges for mothers in football
Full article in German here
Mrs. Schult, let's talk about money. You grew up on a farm. What did you learn about money there?
You have to work for a long time and invest first before you see any return. You don't get paid every month, instead you often only earn money at harvest time. And you're dependent on the weather. […]
So your parents weren't wealthy?
If you measure it in terms of land ownership, maybe they were but not in everyday life. We always had enough, but we never lived extravagantly. […]
Did you work on the farm to earn your pocket money?
No, that was separate. It was simply taken for granted that we children helped out on the farm, although sometimes we earned a little extra money for it. […]
When I was ten, I got eight Deutsche Marks a month […]. It was important to my parents that we learned to handle responsibility from an early age, so once we turned twelve, they transferred an entire year's worth of pocket money into a children's bank account and we had to budget it ourselves. […]
You joined the Hamburger SV when you were 16. How much did you earn as a Bundesliga footballer?
It was a big-name club, but I had hugely overestimated it. […] I earned 500€ a month. […] After taxes and deductions, I had €120 a month left for food and a public transport pass.
That doesn't sound particularly glamorous.
[…] Back then, I learned in a very tangible way what I could afford and what I couldn’t and that has shaped me to this day. I've always saved enough money that I could live for about a year without any income. […]
Did your parents support you financially during your time at HSV?
My parents always supported me but I never wanted to ask them for money. […]
You were in the same school class as HSV's youth players. How was your everyday life different from theirs?
[…] I have no idea how much he earned but it was more than I did. […] The boys in the academy had an all-inclusive service at the boarding school, whereas we women got only about one and a half sets of HSV training gear. […]
You then realized you had no real chance of breaking through at HSV and moved to regional league club Magdeburger FFC.
Financially, that was basically a step into nothing. That was the first time I asked my parents to support me financially. When we were promoted to the second division, the club found a sponsor who paid me €200 a month. […] Then, when I moved to Bad Neuenahr in the Bundesliga and started studying in Cologne, I earned more than 500€ a month for the first time.
In May 2013, you joined VfL Wolfsburg as Germany's number-two goalkeeper […]. What financial difference did that make?
That was a significant jump in salary. From that point on, I was able to make a living from football. But […] it still wasn't a five-figure monthly salary. At that stage, we all still had jobs on the side or were studying. That system only changed shortly after I arrived. […]
You also received bonuses as a national team player. […] How much did the DFB pay you back then?
A few thousand euros a year, depending on how many appearances you made. I couldn't really plan with that money because, at the time, I couldn't count on being selected. But it helped me tremendously […].
That doesn't sound like enough to save much for retirement.
The money only increased later on. In 2013, we won the European Championship and received a 22.500€ bonus from the DFB. […] And when we won the Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the DFB doubled the Olympic champions' bonus paid by the German Sports Aid Foundation to 40.000€. […]
You were back in goal just four months after your first pregnancy and […] only the second birth-giving mother in German professional football. What was that period like for you?
There simply weren't any rules or guidelines. […] I don't want to go into detail, but I didn't feel the level of trust from many of those in charge that I needed. I'm glad I had a different experience in the United States, where mothers on the team are seen as an asset. […]
In September 2022, after a break of 1165 days, you made your Germany comeback in the World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria […].
My return was the result of a very long battle that cost me many days of my career. A lot of things happened back then that, I think, should have been handled differently. I didn't always feel that I was treated fairly […].
Why do you think you were treated that way?
I assume it was because I often pointed out uncomfortable truths, demanded changes, and wasn't afraid to be difficult. […] And then there were certainly many people who generally had prejudices against mothers and children in professional sport. […]
What exactly were you trying to change?
For example, I wanted clear regulations for mothers and children in the national team. By the time of the 2023 World Cup, it was officially written into the rules for the first time that players were allowed to bring their children with them. […] [We fought for that for a long time.]
It's not just the DFB. […] [C]lubs can also create better conditions […]. And politicians could introduce maternity protection regulations specifically for elite athletes. […]
You were appointed to the national team's players' council after the 2011 World Cup and often negotiated with the DFB, including over bonus payments. What were those discussions like?
[…] Especially in the beginning, the language used wasn't always very respectful and sometimes the written minutes contained things that differed from what we had actually agreed on verbally. But there were also plenty of very positive experiences where both sides reached an agreement quickly […].
Toward the end of your career, you moved to the United States: First to Angel City FC […] then to Kansas City Current in 2024. Women's football is very popular there, investors are coming in and the stadiums are well attended. What impact does that have?
Every player receives a base salary of 32.500€ plus performance bonuses. […] During my time there, I earned roughly the same as I had in Wolfsburg. The difference was that the cost of living […] was extremely high.
You left Angel City after just one appearance, were without a club afterward and then became pregnant again. Were those two things connected?
After Angel City, I had already found a new club but I also knew that I was pregnant. Because I've always been honest, I told them. The club then decided to look elsewhere and I ended up without a team. During that period, my only major sponsorship deal - with Euronics - was what got me through.
What kind of income can a sponsorship like that provide?
Including TV commercials and everything that comes with it, it can be a high five-figure sum. […]
You now work as a pundit for ARD. There's a rumor going around that you earn around 20.00€ per appearance. Is that true?
I'm not allowed to talk about my salary. But I can say this much: When I started in this business, I earned just a few hundred euros per appearance. Today, my fee is significantly higher. That said, many people underestimate how much work goes into it. […]
Top women's footballers are now signing contracts worth six figures a year and transfer fees have surpassed the one-million mark. Does it bother you that you're missing out on that era?
I could be frustrated about the money. But I also see the price that comes with it […] I'm a European champion, I've won Olympic gold, I've won many titles with Wolfsburg and I'm still working in football - so I'd say my career has turned out pretty well.
