Jan Wappler is a Swiss-Australian football executive whose professional path blends international experience, strategic leadership, and a deep belief in the transformative power of sport. With dual citizenship and a background that spans public service, global education, and executive roles across several football institutions, Jan has become known for helping historic clubs reposition themselves with purpose, identity, and ambition.
Born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and shaped by a multicultural upbringing, Jan has always been drawn to international environments. He speaks several languages fluently and developed an early passion for travel and cultural exchange. Although his initial professional years were spent in Switzerland’s public and private sectors, a desire for greater purpose and impact led him to change course at age 30, committing fully to a career in sports. With a long personal history in tennis and a growing appreciation for the unifying spirit of football, Jan made the transition in 2016, viewing it as both a personal reinvention and a natural evolution of his interests.
In the years that followed, Jan gained practical football management experience across multiple countries. He worked with UD Ibiza in Spain, contributed to special event operations at VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and spent time at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters. These roles helped him build a foundation in club operations, matchday management, and strategic coordination within football’s institutional landscape. His academic background, including an MBA in Sports Management from Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid – Universidad Europea, a CEMS Master in International Management from the University of Sydney, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Bond University, added strong theoretical grounding to his growing hands-on expertise.
Jan’s most recent role was as Director of Corporate Affairs at Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña, one of Spain’s most storied football clubs. Joining Dépor in 2023, he helped drive a new era of institutional and cultural renewal. His responsibilities spanned rebranding the club’s visual identity, leading its communication and marketing strategies, structuring new international partnerships, and promoting corporate social responsibility initiatives. During his tenure, Dépor secured promotion from the third division to LALIGA Hypermotion and managed to consolidate its position in the second tier by the end of the 2024–2025 season. Jan’s role was central to the club’s off-pitch transformation, building a more contemporary, connected identity to match its sporting revival.
In the summer of 2025, Jan made a personal and professional return to Switzerland, taking on a new challenge as Chief Commercial Officer of FC Schaffhausen. One of the country’s oldest clubs, founded in 1896, FC Schaffhausen is embarking on a long-term rebuilding project following recent relegation to the third division. Under new ownership with Lotus One Swiss AG, which is part of the Lotus Singapore Group, a global entity with philanthropic values, a new and visionary local president in Martin Frick who is a successful businessman from the banking and banking technology industry, Boletin Hasani, a young and dynamic entrepreneur and CEO as well as sporting director Bernt Haas who played at the top level in Switzerland and across Europe, the club is undergoing deep structural reform. Jan is at the heart of this transformation, overseeing sponsorship, marketing, fan engagement, CSR, and infrastructure coordination as part of the club’s extended management team.
His arrival at FC Schaffhausen reflects both continuity and ambition. Like his work in Spain, this new role places him in a position to help restore a historic club’s identity, strengthen its relationship with the local community, and prepare it for sustainable long-term growth. The goal is clear: to return to the Swiss Super League within five years, driven by professionalism, financial discipline, and strong civic engagement. For Jan, the opportunity to contribute to a football institution deeply rooted in a region known for its landscapes, wines, and the Rhine Falls represents both a homecoming and a new chapter in his career.
Jan Wappler’s trajectory reveals a consistent commitment to rebuilding institutions with heritage, heart, and vision. Whether in Galicia or Schaffhausen, he has become a trusted leader in helping clubs navigate complex transitions while anchoring their future in purpose-driven strategies.
Our Exclusive Interview with Jan Wappler
Who is Jan Wappler beyond football? How would you describe yourself outside the game?
Thanks to my international upbringing in a multicultural household, I very much feel like a citizen of the world. At least that’s how I’ve seen myself for most of my life. Closing in on my 40th birthday, it is true that I now feel more drawn to my place of birth again which is also one of the reasons my wife and I decided to return after our recent time abroad in Spain and once again make it our home. That said, I still am very much interested in all things related to international travel, foreign cultures and languages, music, traditions, food, most definitely also global football, as well as our dachshund dog Suki. Finally, my wife being Brazilian (of Japanese descent) also makes me a huge fan of everything to do with Brazil (as well as Japan).
You’ve worked and studied across Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Turkey and Australia. How have these diverse environments shaped your approach to football leadership and club development?
You obviously take away many learnings and experiences from every country or club you work in or for. It’s true that the countries I’ve worked (and studied) in are quite diverse and at times the total opposite of each other in terms of work ethic, organization, but also as far as the intensity of passion for the game. Each of the opportunities I’ve had, whether in a big, medium, or small-sized club, a meticulously organized or a more chaotically run club (or country), it teaches you the importance of being flexible and the need to adapt to every situation as quickly as possible. It’s about understanding the location the club is in, who it represents, the culture and mentality of the city and its people, quintessentially its identity, what makes it tick and distinctive from others. Before being able to develop a project or starting to work effectively, I believe it is paramount to understand the place you’re in, engage in a lot more listening than speaking, and most importantly, work to gain the trust of those around you.
Looking back, what made you take the leap into the sports industry at age 30, and how did that decision change your outlook both professionally and personally?
I came to the conclusion and conviction that I wanted to enter an industry I had always been passionate about and from a very young age at that. In my case, this moment came about at age 30, but I believe it could also have happened sooner or later. The moment itself is not important as such, but your conviction and especially in my case, my gut feeling told me it was the right path to take.
Looking back, making this decision taught me that if you’re truly passionate about something, you must pursue it no matter what instead of playing it safe and avoiding it as a way of escaping uncertainties and dealing with the unknown. In addition to this, I definitely also believe that taking a leap of faith as I did showed me that it is never too late to go and find your luck.
At Deportivo La Coruña, you oversaw the beginnings of a rebranding project as far as visual and verbal identity as well as corporate repositioning. What were the biggest challenges and successes of that process?
Whilst this project is yet to be completed and finally unveiled by some of my talented and dedicated former colleagues, I look back at the beginnings of the task and remember clearly how sensitive a topic it was as a whole. At the end of the day, you’re diving into history, traditions, emotions, identity and sentiment, all of which are such crucial elements that define a football club and generate belonging and connection among its supporters. Therefore, to even embark and decide to be brave and convince a number of colleagues (locals and non-locals) that this is and will be a major part of the club taking the next step towards returning to the biggest stages, a place it truly belongs, was definitely not easy. When your club is deeply rooted in traditions where every little detail you may want to tweak or not could turn into a major upheaval causing shockwaves in your fan community, you must consider very carefully what you really want to achieve with the rebranding or repositioning as a whole. Therefore, defining the “why” as well as the scope of the project was definitely the biggest challenge to begin with, the “how far do we want to go with this?”. Secondly, you need to find the right partners to accompany you along that ensuing process. We knew that any potential partner (visual and creative) would have to literally immerse themselves in the club, the city, experience the at times harsh climate, see the sights and hear the sounds, taste the cuisine, learn all the history and details… in essence, experience it all to understand the identity, passion and what the overall sentiment of Dépor is for its “socios” (members), loyal fans as well as the wider community. I’m sure that the project will be a success knowing the people who worked on it, contributed to it both from a visual and verbal perspective, and I can’t wait to see it all come alive when the club deems it is appropriate to do so.
Having worked with clubs of different sizes and histories, what are the key ingredients for long-term, sustainable success in modern football?
At the risk of sounding too simplistic, I am deeply convinced that regardless of a club’s size or history, the key ingredient for sustained success in modern football is the environment the club operates in and the people that work in it, for it and around it. The bigger the club or the more significant its history, the greater the pressure and expectation will usually be. To offset this burdensome pressure, I think it is essential to create a bubble for a positive and harmonious work environment to take place which allows a myriad of puzzle pieces to all come together to fit perfectly as one big piece. When your core group of collaborators possesses the talent, confidence, the right mentality, has mutual respect among and for each other, and when there is a culture of recognition, empathy and empowerment, you can achieve incredible things. Naturally, there are a number of key and well-known organizational, sporting and financial variables which can determine if a club can have long-term and sustainable success both on and off the pitch, but to me personally, the key ingredient and starting point with the ability to make or break a project as the most sensitive component of all, has to be the culture, people and overall environment surrounding a club.
In an increasingly globalized football landscape, how important is local identity in shaping a club’s commercial and cultural strategy?
Local identity is extremely important in a landscape of international clubs competing both for global audiences as well as commercial and global relevance. Having a clear understanding of your local identity will go a long way towards defining your purpose, explaining who you are, giving an answer as to why you’re doing what you’re doing, simply put, it lays out your raison d’être and should be a source and guiding principle for your mission, vision and set of values as a club.
Your current role at FC Schaffhausen comes at a time of major structural change. What excites you most about being part of this rebuilding phase?
What excites me most is the opportunity to help and contribute towards the club improving one step at a time, giving it a professional structure and gradually restoring the community’s sense of belonging and pride in the club. Not long ago in 2022 FC Schaffhausen played a promotion playoff to secure a spot in Switzerland’s top division. Although eventually unsuccessful, it certainly showed the potential the club has. At the same time, the downward spiral that followed was a real pity to see. Speaking with different sectors of society in my short time since joining the club, you can sense and truly feel the pain which the recent decline has caused. Therefore, a huge accomplishment and satisfaction would be for us to bring the smiles back to the faces of all the people who sympathize with FC Schaffhausen and rekindle the excitement among so many young kids who want to be proud of their team again.
What are your future ambitions in football, and how do you see your role evolving in the broader landscape of the sport?
In my still short time of being part of this industry, I have already had the privilege of meeting so many interesting people and profiles, learning from diverse professionals in different countries and also working alongside immensely talented colleagues, including one of the finest young CEOs in club football today. That alone already makes me very happy and proud in itself. With that in mind, and to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t plan to look too far beyond the here and now of where I am today. Therefore, my immediate ambition is to do as well as I can in my current role to help the ownership and leadership team by contributing towards creating a better future for FC Schaffhausen, improving the club’s standing within society and regaining trust and confidence among partners, fans and the community alike. Beyond that, I don’t have any predefined ambitions or expectations and neither do I have a clear idea or estimate of how long I will continue or not continue to be part of this industry. What I do know, however, is that a role like my current one, being at the intersection and center of so many vitally important functions and departments in a club, should and must always have a crucial role to play in order to create what I mentioned earlier, namely, a positive and protected work space and environment where everyone can thrive and excel to the best of their abilities to the overall benefit of the club they work for and represent. I often refer to this role or liken it to that of “Chief of Staff”, one which already exists in a number of football clubs, but I believe should and will further grow in importance and prominence across clubs going forward.
