TSG Hoffenheim mourns the loss of President Peter Hofmann

In Peter Hofmann, TSG has lost a great personality who was a member of the club for over five decades and led the club as its President since 1996. The qualified electrician, who lived in Hoffenheim, was re-elected eight times by members, the last time on December 3 2018 without any votes against. "I am deeply shocked by Peter's death. In Peter Hofmann we have lost a man who knew and lived TSG like no other. His work will remain unforgotten. We will miss him very much. He will be bitterly missed as a unifying force, as he brought TSG e.V. and TSG Spielbetriebs-GmbH together with great passion to form a family. We owe it to his memory to master the future in his sense. Our thoughts are with his family", TSG shareholder Dietmar Hopp paid tribute to the work of his long-time colleague.

Peter Hofmann was chairman of the registered football club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and in this capacity also a minority shareholder of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH, which represents the club in the Bundesliga. Before becoming TSG president, Peter Hofmann was a player, chairman of the match committee, Head of Football and had been a member of the club since 1966. He performed various functions for the club all the way from the A-class to the Bundesliga and the Champions League. The rise of TSG Hoffenheim to the top of German football will always be closely associated with the name Peter Hofmann.

Peter Hofmann joined TSG in 1966 at the age of seven - initially against his mother's will and mainly thanks to the persuasion of his uncle. After spells at SV Sinsheim and FC Zuzenhausen, Peter Hofmann returned to his home village club where he ended his playing career following an injury in 1986. At that time, the master electrician took over his father's business, which is still located in the heart of Hoffenheim in Waibstadter Street.

By the time TSG Hoffenheim started their ascent up the leagues with the backing of Dietmar Hopp in 1989, Peter Hofmann was already connected to the club as a functionary after his playing career ended. In his role as TSG’s head of match committee, the then 30-year-old was present at the meeting in which Hopp offered his support to the club, which had been relegated to the A-class only a few days earlier. Hofmann became the first point of contact for the SAP co-founder and current majority shareholder of Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH. Hofmann not only actively helped to shape TSG's success with a total of nine promotions, time and time again he also helped out energetically. In 1996, Hofmann was ultimately elected Chairman as successor to long-standing board member Theo Berberich, and since that date the members have confirmed him in this office on eight separate occasions. Peter Hofmann was thus the longest-serving president of all Bundesliga clubs.

"I could not imagine life without Hoffenheim," was one of his defining statements. Peter Hofmann never lost his down-to-earth and hands-on manner. He always had an open ear for the concerns and worries of others and did his utmost to help when a TSG member or fan needed help.  Under his leadership TSG Hoffenheim grew from a few hundred to more than 10,000 members. This community has lost its centrepiece. TSG Hoffenheim will very much miss Peter Hofmann.