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News
- 7 Jan 2026
Hamburg to hamburgers: The former Bundesliga boss now a McDonald's manager
Martin Macdonald
- 8 Jan 2026 07:15 CST
- 5 min read
Nieuws
Football players and managers often find some weird and wonderful jobs after leaving the game and Alexander Nouri is no different.
The 46-year-old enjoyed a journeyman career as a player, featuring for the likes of Werder Bremen II, KFC Uerdingen and VfL Osnabrück before turning to coaching.
His coaching career was slightly more glamorous than his playing days as he actually managed Werder Bremen for a short period in the Bundesliga before eventual assistant spells with Hertha BSC, and the United States Men's National Team.
At boyhood club Bremen, he was charged with helping them avoid relegation and subsequently took them on a 11-game unbeaten run to shoot up the table to survive. He holds a cult hero status at the club.
Now, though, he has swapped the Bundesliga for Burgers as he is now in charge of two McDonald's restaurants in Herzogenrath, a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia and neighbouring Kohlscheid.
Speaking to German outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung, Nouri said: “Ultimately, both worlds are about bringing people along.
“In football, it’s players; here, it’s employees.
“But the basic principle is the same: you have to understand who’s sitting in front of you, what motivates them, what they need to perform. But the basic principle is the same: you have to understand who is sitting in front of you, what drives them, what they need to deliver.”
He last managed a club in 2022 with Greek side Kavala and after that didn't work out he sought out other career paths.
Ultimately, the promise of more stability for his wife and two children led to the decision to join the management at McDonald's.
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Bundesliga
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