Jurgen Klopp’s wife Ulla Sandrock has been an influential voice behind some of the biggest decisions of his career.
Ulla has been credited with convincing the outgoing Liverpool boss to spurn the advances of Manchester United in 2013, leading to him taking over at Anfield two years later.
Klopp, 56, also cited her advice as behind his decision to extend his Liverpool contract two years ago. Previously, she had expressed concerns over the toll management was taking on her husband during his final season at Borussia Dortmund.
And the outgoing Liverpool boss, who shocked the world of football in January when he announced he will leave at the end of the season, claimed his wife had already decided on his next steps after he leaves Anfield.
‘There’s a few things Ulla told me – I have to learn cooking and a dance class. I said you don’t want me to have a break because if I do that I will start working after four weeks again!’ Klopp told Sky News in April.
Jurgen Klopp’s wife Ulla has been an influential voice during key moments in his career
Klopp, pictured with wife Ulla and their dog Emma in 2013, met his second wife in 2005
Ulla – pictured with Klopp after Dortmund won the 2011 Bundesliga – has been a rock by his side
‘I should learn cooking probably so I can at least make some breakfast or whatever. This will be the first time in my life where I don’t have a real idea of what I will do and that’s exactly what I want.
‘During COVID I did scrambled eggs but after that I forgot it again. I was raised in the Black Forest with two sisters, the only reason I knew where the kitchen was because the smell came from there! I’m pretty useless in private life.’
The Liverpool manager’s shock announcement that he will leave the club at the end of the season promises a new dawn for the couple, who live in the seaside town of Formby in a house previously owned by Steven Gerrard.
Klopp is creating ‘an ecological family paradise’ in Mallorca after purchasing a villa on the Balearic island for £3.4million. He purchased the home in Mallorca in June 2022 for £3.4m (€4m) from Swiss businessman and artist Rolf Knie and has decided to completely rebuild the 5,000-square metre property.
They made an instant impact on Formby after moving there in 2015, with Klopp regularly spotted at quiz nights in local pubs and offering to help teams with their answers.
Meanwhile, back in April 2020, Ulla handed out £1,000 worth of food vouchers to Waitrose staff as a ‘thank you’ for working on the frontline.
She gave a total of 20 vouchers worth £50 each to each of the store’s workers who were on the shop floor at the time.
One staff member told the Liverpool Echo: ‘This was an incredible thing to do. Typically, Ulla didn’t want to make a fuss, or receive any recognition, and just wanted people working in shops to get the recognition they deserve.’
Klopp had initially announced his decision to leave the Reds when his contract expired at the end of the 2024 season, before later signing an extension until 2026.
He admitted Ulla had been central to convincing him to extend his deal. As she had been for several big decisions during his managerial career.
‘There’s something to announce. Like last time some will like it, some will not like it too much. If you don’t like it, stop watching now,’ Klopp said after announcing his contract renewal in 2022.
‘I stay for another two years… and only me. No, all my coaches will as well, which is the most important actually.
‘Why? Is now the question. Because Ulla wants to stay and as a good husband what are you doing when your wife wants to stay? You are staying.’
‘The most important contract in my life I signed is the one with Ulla.
‘That’s where it started again. We sat in the kitchen at the table and Ulla said, ‘I can’t see us leaving in 2024.’
Ulla was claimed to have a ‘bad feeling’ about Klopp replacing Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United
Klopp claimed Ulla had been key to convincing him to extend his Liverpool contract in 2022
‘What is very important and is probably the most important – because I could not work against that and wouldn’t want to work against it – is that my family, in this case especially Ulla, she just loves it here.
‘If she would say, ‘Honestly, I love the football and I love watching it but I actually want to go home’, then we would go, that’s the truth. She started it and here we are.’
There seems no doubt that Ulla would have been a crucial voice in Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool. Explaining his reasoning in a video message, the German said he was ‘running out of energy’ as he approaches a decade on Merseyside.
Liverpool legend Phil Thompson claimed Ulla told Klopp to reject Man United’s 2013 approach
The outgoing Liverpool boss revealed how he told Ulla that his time at Anfield was up.
Opening up on his conversations with his wife about his decision, Klopp said: ‘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.
‘That’s exactly what I know I have to do, but nobody has to worry until the end of this season, I know that I will be fine until then.’
Klopp also explained how his wife took the news. ‘I had to explain it, of course I had to. It was not like, ‘Oh, thank God.’ You must not misunderstand. Not at all,’ he said.
‘She asked me why and I explained it like I explain it now to you, with a few more maybe private details, but besides that it was pretty similar.
‘And obviously Ulla wants me to do well and be fine, and when she realised that I’m really clear about that – and she knows I don’t take these kind of things lightly – she is happy for me, that I’m happy with the decision. Because that’s the truth.’
Klopp had reportedly been shortlisted to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in 2013, with the club’s then executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward giving him a tour.
Ulla, left, is Klopp’s second wife with the couple marrying back in 2005
Ulla had been by Klopp’s side as he led Dortmund to consecutive titles in 2011 and 2012
Klopp previously revealed Ulla had expressed concerns over the toll of management on him during his final season in charge of Borussia Dortmund
Ulla at a match between Liverpool and Swansea on November 29, 2015
According to Liverpool legend Phil Thompson, Klopp decline the role after Ulla claimed she had a bad feeling about Man United.
‘I interviewed Klopp for Sky, and I asked if he and Liverpool were created for each other. He looked at me and asked ‘Why?’,’ Thompson told TV2 in Norway.
‘Then Klopp told me he could have taken over Manchester United, but his wife said it wasn’t right.
‘When Liverpool arrived, his wife said it was right. There is something strange there.’
‘It is as if he’s created for Liverpool.’
Klopp remained at Dortmund for two further seasons, before leaving in the summer of 2015. By October, the vacancy at Liverpool had opened up, and the German snatched at the opportunity to test himself in England.
Ulla had been given the title of The First Lady of Bundesliga in her home country due to her charity work in both Germany and Kenya.
She worked as a teacher and hospital worker in Nairobi for three years. She had settled in Mainz, western Germany, where Jurgen was living too, working as the manager of the city’s football club, Mainz 05.
Jurgen Klopp was seen taking it all in ahead of his final game as he stood in the centre circle at Anfield alone this week
He was also seen in the grandstand with suggestions he was filming a farewell video
Ulla is a children’s novelist, and her book Tom and the Magic Football, was published in 2008.
The story is about an 11-year-old boy who finds a magic football in his attic, which turns him into an talented footballer. She late wrote a sequel to the book in 2010, set in Africa.
‘It’s like Harry Potter but about football. there’s no flying on his f****** stick,’ Klopp said.
During Klopp’s time in charge of Dortmund, Ulla had expressed concerns over his wellbeing during his final season in 2015, having been in charge of the Bundesliga side for seven seasons.
Dortmund had been in the relegation zone in February, before recovering to finish seventh.
In an eBook, Reading the Game, Klopp revealed Ulla had claimed the pressure of the season had taken its toll on her husband following a win over Werder Bremen before Christmas that season.
‘We had to sit it out, dig deep, and hold on until the bell rang in Bremen at the end of the final match before the winter break. Then I went home and my wife said I’d finally completely lost it – because I was in an incredibly good mood, euphoric,’ Klopp said.
‘We’d just lost in Bremen, we were 17th or 18th in the table that evening, which meant we would be spending Christmas in the drop zone – and I got home and I felt like a new man. And that’s because I knew that now we had a chance to tackle our problems.
‘And luckily, when we did, we were successful. Our play, and the results, in the second half of the season were at or above expectations, although of course it didn’t feel that way because you’re still weighed down mentally by what happened before.’
Ulla is Klopp’s second wife, having had been married to Sabine Klopp for 12 years until they divorced in 2001. Klopp married Ulla in 2005.
The former social worker met Klopp at Munich’s Oktoberfest in 2005, where she was working as a waitress. They moved in together after knowing each other for just three days.
Klopp became a grandfather for the first time last year after Ulla’s son Dennis, left, had his first child
The couple have no children together, but both have sons from their respective first marriages.
Klopp has a son from his first marriage called Marc, who used to play for Borussia Dortmund before having to retire in 2015 due to a series of injuries. He became the stepfather to Ulla’s son Dennis following their wedding.
The Liverpool boss emotionally announced last March that he was set to become a grandad for the first time.
Speaking to the club ahead of pre-season in July, Klopp revealed he had the ‘perfect summer’ spending time with his grandchild.
‘Finally. I already look like one and now I am one, it’s cool,’ Klopp said when asked about becoming a grandfather.
‘No, it’s perfect. Absolutely perfect summer.
Klopp said goodbye to the travelling Liverpool fans following Monday’s 3-3 draw at Aston Villa
‘We both thought it was a blessing that we could be around for about four weeks, seeing him growing and all these kinds of things, going through all the first phases. Yes, only staying on the sideline, but being involved anyway.
‘So, it was really good. And everything is good. Mum is good, Dad is good and baby is good as well. It’s long ago that we were in that role, to be honest. But I can tell you, it’s like riding a bike. You don’t lose it so it was there immediately.
‘Again, it’s just beautiful. The most beautiful thing I experienced probably in the last 30-odd years. And to welcome such a little wonderful human being.’
Klopp’s final game will be against Wolves on Sunday in what is sure to be an emotional occasion at Anfield.
The German departs having won eight trophies at the club, including the Champions League and Premier League.