Former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Dr. Philipp Laux, 47, is now working as a sports psychologist for BVB. The psychology graduate, who was introduced to the team on Thursday, will be supporting the licensed players, the coaching team and the staff of the Bundesliga runners-up in his role.

"Our aim is to position BVB in the best-possible way in all relevant subdivisions of professional sport and to form a network of specialists who work together in pursuit of a holistic approach. In view of this, we wanted to integrate the topic of sports psychology into the professional domain for the 2020/2021 season, in order to be able to work in a targeted manner on the potential development of each individual," said Sebastian Kehl, who heads up the licensed player division. Kehl added: "In the wake of the corona crisis, which has suddenly confronted us with completely new challenges, we are now bringing this measure forward. In Dr. Philipp Laux, we've succeeded in recruiting a psychologist who, on top of his professional training, has many years of experience as a professional footballer. He will support us in areas such as personality management, mental coaching and interdisciplinary cooperation with other experts.

Laux was BVB's second-choice shot-stopper behind regular No. 1 Stefan Klos in the 1993/94 season and deputised for Jens Lehmann from 2000 to 2002, making nine appearances in total. He was part of the team that won the Bundesliga title and reached the UEFA Cup final in 2002. He has a doctorate in psychology and has been self-employed since 2018.

After making 84 Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 appearances for 1. SSV Ulm, for whom he wore the captain's armband, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Braunschweig, Laux was forced to hang up his boots in 2003 due to cartilage damage in his knee. He then worked as a goalkeeping coach for the DFB and TSG Hoffenheim, before commencing a degree in psychology at the University of Mannheim. Between 2008 and 2018, he was a club psychologist at FC Bayern Munich, Rasenballsport Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart.