2024/25 was meant to be the last season that Tommy Stroot would be at the helm of VfL Women, with the head coach saying last May that he wanted to look for a new challenge after the end of his contract. The search for a successor can now be called off, however, after the 35-year-old agreed to extend his stay at VfL Wolfsburg, signing a new contract that will keep him at the club until 30 June 2027.
“My path at VfL still has a way to run”
“I came to my decision to leave VfL Wolfsburg after the end of the season last May, after giving it a lot of careful thought,” Stroot explained. “Nevertheless, the conditions have changed since then at VfL, in particular with the new chairman of the supervisory board and the managing director for sport. Sebastian Rudolph and Peter Christiansen have firm ideas in terms of the measures required for women’s football at VfL to have a successful future, and for the team to remain competitive domestically and internationally at a high level. I had a number of honest discussions with management, in particular with Ralf Kellermann, and I realised that my work here was very much appreciated. Over the past few weeks, therefore, I came to the realisation that my path at VfL still has a way to run and that I don’t need a new club to have a new challenge. I’m delighted to be one of those who will be holding the reins in sporting terms as we look to take the club in a new direction in terms of the personnel and the structure.”
“There could be no better head coach for this team”
“It is absolutely fantastic that we have managed to convince Tommy to sign a contract extension here at VfL Wolfsburg,” said managing director for sport Peter Christiansen. “Over the last few weeks, I have had a number of opportunities to see for myself just how professionally and at how high a level VfL Women is run, and realised that there could be no better head coach for this team. From that point, there was no alternative for me other than simply not to accept Tommy’s decision to leave VfL next summer, and instead reopen the discussion with him. Ralf Kellermann and I were able to show Tommy that we have goals in terms of how we want VfL to be successful in the future in women’s football, and how we can achieve them together. And now I’m delighted to say that Tommy’s staying with us!”
