After my father bought an English membership, he handed away inside a 12 months, leaving me not sure of how you can proceed.

After her father’s passing in 2010, Katharina Liebherr shortly discovered the ins and outs of proudly owning a soccer group.

German-born Swiss businessman Markus Liebherr handed away following a coronary heart assault in August of 2010 on the age of simply 62, solely 13 months after shopping for Southampton and taking the membership out of administration. A mourning Katharina was then tasked with taking management, regardless of admitting that she didn’t know the way.

Katharina has now admitted issues didn’t come straightforward when turning into a soccer membership proprietor in a single day, nonetheless retaining a 20% stake after promoting 80% to the Gao household again in 2017.

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Speaking to German outlet Blick, Katharina stated: “It was a shock when my father purchased Southampton FC! As a household, we had no expertise on this business.

“He bought the club in 2009 and died in 2010. I have never seen him as happy as he was this year. Even though he wasn’t allowed to witness any of our ascents, he still fulfilled his lifelong dream.”

Katharina was overwhelmed with the help she obtained following the passing of her father, with followers nonetheless paying tribute 13 years later.

She added: “I had stayed very a lot within the background the 12 months earlier than. The followers didn’t know what to anticipate.

“I used to be OK with the truth that I needed to show myself first. I feel a very powerful factor is to just accept that you simply don’t know something about soccer until you’ve been on the pitch for 30 years.

“You have to know what you can do and what you can’t do.”

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The shock demise of her father led to tributes from a grateful fanbase who have been anxious that their membership might now not exist after he took them over within the third tier.

They have since spent 11 straight years within the Premier League till their relegation final season.

Tributes have included the Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup, with banners of his face seen at St Mary’s Stadium throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.