Jurgen Klopp spent almost a decade at Anfield and was supported through thick and thin by his wife, Ulla Sandrock
Jurgen Klopp’s wife Ulla could be at Anfield on Saturday afternoon(Image: FEDERICO GAMBARINI / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp will return to Liverpool on Saturday afternoon as the German returns to the Anfield dugout. Klopp will take charge of the Liverpool legends alongside Sir Kenny Dalglish as they take on Borussia Dortmund in a charity match.
The 58-year-old left Liverpool in 2024 after a successful nine-year period during which he won plenty of silverware. This included the Champions League and the Premier League alongside a slew of domestic cups.
Klopp’s exit was heartbreaking for Reds fans as they bid farewell to a modern hero at Anfield – and his wife, Ulla, was also leaving behind a place she had called home. The couple have been married since 2005 and Ulla committed time, effort and money to the local area she resided in while Klopp was Liverpool manager.
Klopp’s wife made a “substantial” donation to the Formby Community Football Club during the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown in 2020. These funds allowed for food and medicine to be delivered to those who were struggling across the city.
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Ulla became a pillar of the community alongside her husband after donating £1,000 worth of food vouchers at a Waitrose in Formby as a thank you to staff. It’s understood that 20 separate £50 vouchers were given to staff who were present at the time Ulla was in the store.
In fact, it was Ulla who encouraged Klopp to stay at Liverpool when he signed a contract extension in 2022. At the time, the German joked that he was being a “good husband” by signing a deal through to 2026, despite initially planning to leave in 2024.
On the Liverpool X account, Klopp said: “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. 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.”
He added: “The most important contract I signed in my life was the one with Ulla. And that’s why it start again, because actually we sat at the kitchen table and Ulla said ‘I can’t see us leaving in 2024’.
“I said ‘what?’ That’s how it all started and when that started I thought ‘let’s have a think.'”
While Klopp did eventually leave in 2024 and allowed Arne Slot to take over the reins at Anfield, he will make a triumphant return on Saturday afternoon alongside a host of other Reds icons – one of which may include wife Ulla.