It was in front of the footballing world’s elite that Jürgen Klopp, an adidas brand ambassador, announced he was joining the ‘Common Goal family’. That announcement came in October 2019 when the Liverpool boss chose to eschew the limelight and use his acceptance speech for the FIFA Best Men’s Coach of the Year award to announce the news.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager told those present, and the millions watching at home, to ‘Google it’ if they didn’t know about the movement. And Google it they did, as the Common Goal website went into overdrive and crashed as a result of the Klopp effect.
Jürgen’s down-to-earth approach to his success and fame fit perfectly with the Common Goal ethos.
As he told The Player’s Tribune shortly after joining: “We should not forget what it was like when we had real problems. I am sorry, but anything that happens on a football pitch is not a real problem.
"There should be a bigger purpose to this game than revenue and trophies, no?”
And therein lies the heart of Common Goal.