Success is no accident.

It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love for what you are doing or learning to do.

- Pelé -

Who we are.

Sports and football mad professionals

We live and breathe football and have great respect for its social significance. With this passion for the game in our hearts, we always keep a cool head and achieve on-target results in a pragmatic way to ensure long-term value for our clients and our favourite sport.
What makes us different:

Less general consultancy, more targeted expertise.

For each individual client we compile unique teams of experts and managers to work with you on developing the right solution. Our industry expertise and extensive experience make every project a success.

Independent minds take independent action.

We never allow ourselves to get bogged down in the constraints of established conventions and patterns of behaviour prevalent in the football entertainment industry. We operate independently: there is no external influence on our consulting work. Our goal is to build something special, growing and shaping the world of football together with our clients.

Giving it our all, every day: 100%

We encourage each other to innovate so that we can inspire our clients with new ideas. What fans expect from their team at every match, that’s what we bring to our work every single day: 100% effort and dedication. And because success is no accident, as Pelé rightly put it, we’ve made his recipe for success part of our guiding principles.

Our Team - Passion and Profession

Pelé’s recipe for success speaks perfectly to who we are. Especially when it comes to sports and football. For HFP, that is truly what it is all about.

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Philipp Herpel brings his passion to work every day. Sports are his life, so he turned his passion – football – into his profession. The qualified engineer, EMBA graduate from Kellogg-WHU and lecturer at the Institute of Sport Economics and Sport Management at the German Sport University Cologne/Germany knows that planning, organising and implementing projects and processes require targeted management. To achieve this every day, the managing director of HFP GmbH leverages his extensive knowledge, valuable experience with large-scale projects and excellent contacts to experts in all areas of the sports industry. Team spirit is what Philipp lives by, both at work and as a passionately committed member of 1. FC Köln. He is driven by the desire to make a positive difference in sports, on both a large and a small scale.

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Thomas Bootsveld looks to the future, always. The industrial engineer and MSBC graduate (Master in Sports Business and Communication) supports concept creation and project reporting, while also developing targeted and needs-based project management tools for our clients. On the consulting side, Thomas’s knowledge in the areas of sports technology and the digital transformation of sports associations remains ever up to date, also thanks to his previous professional experience (for example, at the International Paralympic Committee). For Thomas, being a loyal fan means being able to navigate the highs and lows: he is a supporter of SV Werder Bremen, all the way from the Champions League down to Bundesliga 2 and back again.

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Katja Giebeler thinks several moves ahead while always keeping the overall objective of processes and projects in her sights. As a business economist, she advises national and international clients on complex and multi-layered projects in the sports and football industries. She is currently drawing on her core areas of expertise, particularly in project and knowledge management as well as sustainability, to provide targeted support to the host cities of EURO 2024. Katja’s skill set also includes web design, which is clearly on display on our homepage – a clear and sporty design. In her free time, she can be found enjoying the great outdoors: whether on a hike or gardening at home.

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Nicola Herpel keeps track of everything administrative at HFP. The qualified librarian is a knowledge management professional and is responsible for accounting and personnel management. Nicola finds a balance to the hustle and bustle of everyday life on the yoga mat or by singing in the choir.

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Since UEFA EURO 2024, Benedikt Müller is bringing his extensive experience in mega-events and tourism to the project work at HFP. Before and during his tenure as the Host Cities Relations Manager for UEFA, he was engaged for years in coordinating all Host Cities and their interfaces around EURO 2024. Thanks to his previous activities in Europe, the Middle East, and China in strategy development and stakeholder management, Benedikt can draw upon an immense treasure trove of experience for sports and mega-event projects. Privately, Benedikt is a passionate fan of 1. FC Köln – his love for football (unfortunately inevitably .-) knows no league.

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Carina Schmidt, a graduate in business administration and cultural, leisure and sports management, successfully ties together her expert knowledge with practical experience in event planning and implementation. Her passion for projects that are impeccably designed from start to finish is reflected in her precise approach as well as in her meticulous attention to detail and the big picture alike. Carina’s enthusiasm for sports is by no means merely academic, however: she is a loyal supporter of Dortmund Borussia.

HFP – specialised consultancy for the sports and football industries

As a consulting firm operating on the global stage, HFP GmbH specialises in the sports industry and especially the football industry. Our clients include football and other sports associations, governments of World Cup and EURO host countries, venues, sports facility operators and clubs. We provide support on all questions concerning the planning and implementation of large-scale projects and investment decisions.

Our company name, HFP, reflects how we got started along our path towards becoming one of the “hidden champions” on the consulting market: Philipp Herpel and Alexander Fuchs met while serving on the Organising Committee of the 2006 Football World Cup and founded Herpel, Fuchs + Partner GmbH – HFP in 2008. After ten successful years, Philipp Herpel was appointed sole managing partner. Since then, Alexander Fuchs has devoted himself entirely to his responsibilities as a coach and interim manager and remains closely connected with the company.

HFP has always stood for agile, timely and on-budget project management performed by a small, experienced team of permanent employees – supplemented, if necessary, by our partners from a network of internationally qualified, top-notch specialists and experts.