Bundesliga
Bo Henriksen is best known in Germany for saving Mainz from relegation in 2023/24, but there is plenty more to the Danish head coach than that rescue act as he is proving in the 2024/25 campaign.
Data correct as of 23 April 2025
Bo Henriksen
Age: 50 (born 7 February, 1975)
Club: Mainz
Role: Head coach
Country: Denmark
Had it not been for Henriksen’s arrival, Mainz may well be playing in Bundesliga 2 right now. After 21 matchdays of the 2023/24 campaign, the club had amassed just 12 points and were nine adrift of safety. However, with their new Dane at the helm, they picked up 23 points from their final 13 games to guarantee their top-tier status for another campaign.
That was just the latest chapter in his 30-year footballing career.
Long before he was standing in the dugout, Henriksen was a player himself and turned out for Kidderminster Harriers and Bristol Rovers in the lower tiers in England, as well numerous clubs in his homeland. He won the Danish Superliga with Herfølge in 2000 and was named the club’s Player of the Year in 2021, but it was at Brønshøj, the final stop of his playing days, that he began his coaching career.
As player-manager, Henriksen led the Danish outfit to promotion in 2010 and kept them in the second tier for several seasons before moving to Horsens in 2014. Another solid tenure subsequently led to him joining Danish giants Midtyjlland in 2021, and he picked up the first trophy of his coaching career with the Danish Cup.
On the move again in 2022, he took over at FC Zürich in Switzerland where he earned his reputation as a relegation firefighter. When Mainz needed something of a miracle in February 2024, they knew exactly where to turn. Sitting level on points with bottom-placed Darmstadt and with just one win in 21 Bundesliga games when Henriksen arrived, the Dane rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He guided the Nullfünfers to 23 points and ultimate safety on the final day of the campaign
Henriksen has since built on that success, despite losing some key players. After a slow start of just one win in the first five league games, Mainz soon picked up momentum. Incredibly, after 25 games, the Carnival Club were third in the standings and aiming for UEFA Champins League qualification. It came as little surprise when Henriksen's contract was extended through to summer 2027.
"The most important thing is that we are honest with each other and can therefore be who we are," said Henriksen. "It's a special culture. That's why I love being here and have extended my contract."
"He's pigeon-holed as only being a motivator, just because he jumps around a bit on the sidelines," said Mainz's sporting director Christian Heidel after the contract extension was agreed.
"First of all, that's good for Mainz. I don't need someone in a suit and tie who just stands there. And secondly, there's no way someone could be successful for a year by simply being a motivator. If it worked like that, then football would be very, very easy."
Coaches a bit like: Sebastian Hoeneß
Henriksen’s impact at Mainz can be compared to that of Sebastian Hoeneß at VfB Stuttgart. With the latter staring relegation in the face in 2022/23, the former Hoffenheim boss got the best out of his players to steer them away from the automatic dropzone, and they had far too much for Hamburg in the relegation play-off.
He then took them to a sensational runners-up finish in 2023/24, and while Champions League qualification may prove beyond Mainz this term, a top-half finish and potentially a place in European competition for 2025/26 is a realistic goal.
Watch: Mainz's relegation rollercoaster in 2023/24
Did you know?
At Kidderminster, Henriksen was affectionately known as “Bomber Bo" due to his goal threat. He was particularly popular at the club, and remains the only player to score a hat-trick for them in the English Football League.
What they’re saying
“I've never experienced a football coach like Henriksen. He's a very positive person, full of energy and very good professionally. The way he approaches the players, the whole club, is unique. Everybody loves Bo. He's positively crazy and exactly the kind of coach Mainz needed.” - Mainz midfielder Nadiem Amiri
"When Bo came in a year ago, he was the right coach at the right time. At that time, it was simply about staying up. Now he's also proved himself to be a coach that can develop this team. That's why it was very clear for us that we wanted to extend our collaboration." - Heidel
“I’ve played all systems as a coach and for me, it’s not about formations, but about what players are capable of doing. What do they feel secure in? What do they feel comfortable in? I don’t play the game, they do. So, I ask my players a lot: what do they trust? What have they tried before? If I go into the dressing room and say, ‘We have to do this, this and this’ and the players are not comfortable, then I’m going to look stupid. Because we’d be doing it for my sake, so I can look good. I don’t have to look good. I don’t look good anyway. I haven’t looked good in 49 years, so why should I start now?!” - Henriksen