Yannick and Anna Gerhardt are brother and sister, and they are inseparable. He, 20-year-old Yannick, has been a regular feature in a Bundesliga side from the Rhine for a good year. She, 16-year-old Anna, has been a regular feature of a second-division team from the Rhine for a few months now. The two Gerhardts play for 1. FC Köln. Yannick in particular has made a great start to his career at the Billy Goats. The club have developed his talent, nurtured him, challenged him and promoted him, with caution, foresight and responsibility.
Köln became of aware of his talent at an indoor tournament and they soon invited him for a trial. Yannick was one of 100 kids, but he was the most gifted – by far. He could shoot, he could hold up the play, he could pass, he could do it all. He was also physically strong at a young age and there were never any doubts about his attitude or his character. If you love this sport enough, only genuine emergencies would make you miss a single training session. And if you put in the hard work, progress is sure to follow. He’s also shown that he can overcome setbacks. He even passed his A-levels with flying colours.
“It wasn’t always easy to accommodate football and school,” says Yannick Gerhardt. His schedule was often tight: School in the morning, training in the afternoon, homework in the evening. He spent a lot of his time in the car with his parents in between. Usually, it was a 40-minute journey, but getting caught up in traffic between Düren and Cologne wasn’t exactly a rare experience. “Sometimes I could take the opportunity to do some studying,” he says. But a lot of the time, his thoughts would drift to the next game on the weekend.
Yannick Gerhardt featured in each of the club’s youth teams from the U10s upwards. He was always one of the best, he was often captain and he was usually the go-to guy. Köln were German B Youth Champions in 2011 not least thanks to Gerhardt’s performances. He also won the DFB Junior Cup with the Billy Goats in 2013. “They were of course great highlights for me. We were a terrific unit. You don’t forget things like that,” he says. In the same year, he was awarded a silver Fritz Walter Medal in the Under-19s category. He soon stepped up to the U21 side, albeit for just a few games. His career took on a blistering pace from there. Manager Peter Stöger realised that Yannick Gerhardt was too good for the Regionalliga and promoted him to the first team.
His childhood dream had become a reality. That was certainly the realisation on 20th July 2013, when Gerhardt surprisingly featured in Köln’s starting line-up for their 2. Bundesliga opener against Dynamo Dresden. The Billy Goats were comfortably promoted at the end of the season and had become a regular feature. “It was a sensational year for me. I never expected it,” says the 20-year-old contemplatively. In the summer, Benfica were hell-bent on signing him. There were daily updates in the Cologne media. Were the Rhineland club about to lose their flagship player? Of course not. Gerhardt stayed true to his beloved Köln, where he had signed a contract extension until 2018 just months earlier.
It’s one of the reasons why the fans love him. They also love his down-to-earth approach and the fact that his heart truly does lie with 1. FC Köln. “I grew up here. I almost know everybody that works here and every corner of the place. Köln aren’t just my employers, but also by passion. I’m proud to have come from the youth system into the Bundesliga squad,” says Gerhardt.
He’s just 20 years old, but his CV is already full of extraordinary moments. His eyes light up when he begins to think back to them. His first international on 22nd March 2012 against France is one of them. Germany’s U18s may have lost 3-2, but it was still a highlight for Yannick Gerhardt, who was brought on for the second half by manager Christian Ziege. “Each international appearance is unforgettable for me,” says Gerhardt. He is now an U20 international under coach Frank Wormuth. He hopes to continue, step by step. Next would be the U21s, before the senior national team, something Gerhardt can hardly say out loud. “It doesn’t get bigger than that. You can’t achieve much more. It’s impossible to describe how it feels to wear the eagle on your chest.”
Anna Gerhardt listens keenly to her brother, although she has similar stories of her own. Yannick is a good foot taller than her, but that’s not the only reason she looks up to him. She visits him regularly on the weekend in Cologne and tries to emulate her brother – she has long been following in his footsteps. The parallels are unmistakable. Of course, she comes from Krezau as well and has followed the path to 1. FC Köln. She plays for the DFB-Team too, currently with the U17s.
“When my brother used to play a game, I would be on the sidelines playing on my own. I always had a ball at my feet,” she says. There’s just one difference. Yannick is left-footed, Anna is right-footed. That wasn’t good enough for her. She wanted to emulate her brother as much as possible, so she practised and practised with her weaker foot. These days, she’s just as strong on both sides, giving her a big advantage.
Anna Gerhardt is currently making developmental steps that Yannick too had to go through. Even at just 16, she’s already a regular feature of a side that has a good chance of being promoted to the Allianz Women’s Bundesliga in the summer. She is the fledgling in manager Willi Breuer’s team so to speak, but she’s not alone. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, her brother is sitting in the stands crossing his fingers. She’s also working on her A-levels at the moment and is in year 11. “If I need help, then I can always turn to Yannick,” she says. “He helped me with my maths homework the other day.”
She wants to continue her studies after school. She’s not sure what, but she knows where. In Cologne of course! She knows that she has to go further than her brother in this area. She has to have something to fall back on. By that point at least, she wouldn’t be considered the little sister anymore, but rather a young woman. There’s one thing that will never change though: Anna and Yannick Gerhardt will always remain close.
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Yannick and Anna Gerhardt are brother and sister, and they are inseparable. He, 20-year-old Yannick, has been a regular feature in a Bundesliga side from the Rhine for a good year. She, 16-year-old Anna, has been a regular feature of a second-division team from the Rhine for a few months now. The two Gerhardts play for 1. FC Köln. Yannick in particular has made a great start to his career at the Billy Goats. The club have developed his talent, nurtured him, challenged him and promoted him, with caution, foresight and responsibility.
Köln became of aware of his talent at an indoor tournament and they soon invited him for a trial. Yannick was one of 100 kids, but he was the most gifted – by far. He could shoot, he could hold up the play, he could pass, he could do it all. He was also physically strong at a young age and there were never any doubts about his attitude or his character. If you love this sport enough, only genuine emergencies would make you miss a single training session. And if you put in the hard work, progress is sure to follow. He’s also shown that he can overcome setbacks. He even passed his A-levels with flying colours.
“It wasn’t always easy to accommodate football and school,” says Yannick Gerhardt. His schedule was often tight: School in the morning, training in the afternoon, homework in the evening. He spent a lot of his time in the car with his parents in between. Usually, it was a 40-minute journey, but getting caught up in traffic between Düren and Cologne wasn’t exactly a rare experience. “Sometimes I could take the opportunity to do some studying,” he says. But a lot of the time, his thoughts would drift to the next game on the weekend.
Yannick Gerhardt featured in each of the club’s youth teams from the U10s upwards. He was always one of the best, he was often captain and he was usually the go-to guy. Köln were German B Youth Champions in 2011 not least thanks to Gerhardt’s performances. He also won the DFB Junior Cup with the Billy Goats in 2013. “They were of course great highlights for me. We were a terrific unit. You don’t forget things like that,” he says. In the same year, he was awarded a silver Fritz Walter Medal in the Under-19s category. He soon stepped up to the U21 side, albeit for just a few games. His career took on a blistering pace from there. Manager Peter Stöger realised that Yannick Gerhardt was too good for the Regionalliga and promoted him to the first team.
His childhood dream had become a reality. That was certainly the realisation on 20th July 2013, when Gerhardt surprisingly featured in Köln’s starting line-up for their 2. Bundesliga opener against Dynamo Dresden. The Billy Goats were comfortably promoted at the end of the season and had become a regular feature. “It was a sensational year for me. I never expected it,” says the 20-year-old contemplatively. In the summer, Benfica were hell-bent on signing him. There were daily updates in the Cologne media. Were the Rhineland club about to lose their flagship player? Of course not. Gerhardt stayed true to his beloved Köln, where he had signed a contract extension until 2018 just months earlier.
It’s one of the reasons why the fans love him. They also love his down-to-earth approach and the fact that his heart truly does lie with 1. FC Köln. “I grew up here. I almost know everybody that works here and every corner of the place. Köln aren’t just my employers, but also by passion. I’m proud to have come from the youth system into the Bundesliga squad,” says Gerhardt.
He’s just 20 years old, but his CV is already full of extraordinary moments. His eyes light up when he begins to think back to them. His first international on 22nd March 2012 against France is one of them. Germany’s U18s may have lost 3-2, but it was still a highlight for Yannick Gerhardt, who was brought on for the second half by manager Christian Ziege. “Each international appearance is unforgettable for me,” says Gerhardt. He is now an U20 international under coach Frank Wormuth. He hopes to continue, step by step. Next would be the U21s, before the senior national team, something Gerhardt can hardly say out loud. “It doesn’t get bigger than that. You can’t achieve much more. It’s impossible to describe how it feels to wear the eagle on your chest.”
Anna Gerhardt listens keenly to her brother, although she has similar stories of her own. Yannick is a good foot taller than her, but that’s not the only reason she looks up to him. She visits him regularly on the weekend in Cologne and tries to emulate her brother – she has long been following in his footsteps. The parallels are unmistakable. Of course, she comes from Krezau as well and has followed the path to 1. FC Köln. She plays for the DFB-Team too, currently with the U17s.
“When my brother used to play a game, I would be on the sidelines playing on my own. I always had a ball at my feet,” she says. There’s just one difference. Yannick is left-footed, Anna is right-footed. That wasn’t good enough for her. She wanted to emulate her brother as much as possible, so she practised and practised with her weaker foot. These days, she’s just as strong on both sides, giving her a big advantage.
Anna Gerhardt is currently making developmental steps that Yannick too had to go through. Even at just 16, she’s already a regular feature of a side that has a good chance of being promoted to the Allianz Women’s Bundesliga in the summer. She is the fledgling in manager Willi Breuer’s team so to speak, but she’s not alone. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, her brother is sitting in the stands crossing his fingers. She’s also working on her A-levels at the moment and is in year 11. “If I need help, then I can always turn to Yannick,” she says. “He helped me with my maths homework the other day.”
She wants to continue her studies after school. She’s not sure what, but she knows where. In Cologne of course! She knows that she has to go further than her brother in this area. She has to have something to fall back on. By that point at least, she wouldn’t be considered the little sister anymore, but rather a young woman. There’s one thing that will never change though: Anna and Yannick Gerhardt will always remain close.
