Is Jurgen Klopp married?
Is Jurgen Klopp married: The Liverpool manager shocked the world when he announced his intention to step away from management at the end of the season.
He took over from Brendan Rodgers in 2015 and has led the Anfield club to success like no other, winning almost every trophy available to him during his tenure.
Throughout his time there, he has been supported by his wife Ulla Sandrock who has become a big admirer of the city of Liverpool.
Who is Klopp’s wife?
Is Jürgen Klopp married? Yes, he and his wife Ulla have been in a relationship since 2005. They met whilst Sandrock was working as a bar waitress during the Munich Oktoberfest.
Klopp had previously been married to a woman named Sabine up until their divorce in 2001.
He and Ulla’s relationship moved very quickly as they moved in together only three days after initially meeting and were married at the end of 2005.
She is a children’s novelist who published her first book – ‘Tom and the Magic Football’ – which is about a magic football that leads an 11-year-old boy to become an amazing footballer. The book was published in 2008, with a sequel following in 2010, set in Africa.
She also garnered the nickname ‘first lady of Bundesliga’ during their time in Germany.
Why was she referred to as the ‘First Lady of Bundesliga’?
See: What will Klopp do after leaving Liverpool?
It’s simple really, Ulla gained this nickname due to her kind-hearted nature and exceedingly charitable side that she displayed while he worked in Germany.
She also worked as a nurse whilst in Nairobi, Kenya, and helped starving children recover there.
Furthermore, she also made headlines back in April 2020 when she handed out £1,000 food vouchers to supermarket staff at a Waitrose branch in Formby, close to their family home.
Klopp has always had high praise for his wife with whom they share children from previous marriages. A son from each side. They also have a dog named Emma.
Talking about her books publicly, he said:
“It’s like Harry Potter but about football. There’s no flying on his f****** stick.”
Ulla was more measured with her response about the books saying they illustrated the “fascination of football” and “the longing for a distant hero world”.
Ulla’s influence on Klopp’s career
Ulla has long been a supporter of her husband’s career and has been spotted in the stands on multiple occasions cheering his team on.
It has been widely reported that she was a massive reason why Klopp didn’t take the Manchester United job back in 2013. She apparently had a bad feeling about the offer to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson.
When the Liverpool job arrived two years later, Ulla believed it was the right one causing him to take it.
She also expressed concerns over his well-being during his final season at Dortmund in 2015, having been in charge of the Bundesliga side for seven seasons.
More recently, Ulla was one of the main reasons Klopp signed a new deal at Liverpool in 2022.
“I stay for another two years… ‘Why?’ is now the question. Because Ulla wants to stay! As a good husband, what are you doing when your wife wants to stay? You stay,” said Klopp at the time.
“That’s not the only reason, but it’s one of the reasons.”
Liverpool fans were so grateful they created a chant that goes: ‘I’m so glad that Ulla loves Scouse, I’m so glad that she’s not moving house.’
How he broke the news to Ulla
Having already made up his mind about his future, all that was left was to explain it to his wife Ulla. Klopp had to get metaphorical for this.
The 56-year-old explained: “I tried to describe it already, I had to explain it to Ulla clearly.
“I tried to explain it with, I’m like a proper sports car – not the best one but a pretty good one, can still drive 160, 170, 180 mph but I’m the only one who sees the tank meter is going down.”
“The outside world doesn’t see that, that’s good, so you go until as long as we have to go, but then you need a break. In this case, you need to go to the petrol station.”
He would go on to say that after plenty of discussions with his wife, she understood and just wanted him to do what was best for himself.
The German has said he doesn’t intend to manage again for at least a year and instead live a normal life for that time.
