Thomas Schaaf facts for kids
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Schaaf with Werder Bremen in 2009
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 30 April 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Mannheim, West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.79 m | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| BBV Union Bremen | |||
| 1972–1978 | Werder Bremen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1978–1980 | Werder Bremen II | 59 | (0) |
| 1978–1995 | Werder Bremen | 281 | (14) |
| Total | 340 | (14) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1995–1999 | Werder Bremen II | ||
| 1999–2013 | Werder Bremen | ||
| 2014–2015 | Eintracht Frankfurt | ||
| 2015–2016 | Hannover 96 | ||
| 2021 | Werder Bremen (interim) | ||
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Thomas Schaaf (born on April 30, 1961) is a German professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender. Thomas Schaaf is known as a 'one-club man'. This means he spent his entire playing career with just one team: Bundesliga club Werder Bremen.
After his playing days, he became a coach. He started coaching Werder Bremen in 1999 and stayed until 2013. This made him one of the longest-serving coaches in the Bundesliga.
Contents
Playing Career: Thomas Schaaf's Time as a Player
Thomas Schaaf was born in Mannheim, Germany. He joined Werder Bremen's youth academy in 1972 when he was 11 years old. Six years later, in 1978, he became a professional player.
He started slowly with the main team. In his first four years, he played only 21 league games. Most of these were in the second division during the 1980–81 season. He made his first game in the Bundesliga on April 18, 1979. This was a 0–3 loss against VfL Bochum.
After a few years, he became a key player for the team. He played 260 top-flight games in the seasons that followed. He retired in 1995 at the age of 34.
During his time with Werder Bremen, he helped the club win two national championships. He also won two DFB-Pokal cups. In the 1991–92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, he was a substitute in the final against AS Monaco FC. He came on after 30 minutes and helped his team win 2–0 in Lisbon.
Managerial Career: Thomas Schaaf as a Coach
Thomas Schaaf began coaching while he was still playing. He started by managing Werder Bremen's youth teams.
Werder Bremen Coach: 1987–2013
Early Coaching Days: 1987–1999
After coaching the youth teams, Schaaf managed the reserve team. This team played in the third-tier Regionalliga Nord. On May 10, 1999, he became the head coach of the main Werder Bremen team. The club was in danger of being moved down to a lower league.
Schaaf helped the team avoid relegation on the very last day of the season. Right after that, he led them to win the domestic cup. They beat Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out.
Winning the Double: 2000–2004
In the 2003–04 season, Schaaf led Werder Bremen to win "the double." This means they won both the Bundesliga league title and the DFB-Pokal cup in the same year. This was a huge achievement for the club. Two years later, they also won their first-ever DFB-Ligapokal.
European Adventures: 2004–2009
From 2004, Werder Bremen qualified for the UEFA Champions League five times in a row. This is Europe's biggest club competition. In the 2008–09 season, they didn't do as well in the league. However, they won the German Cup again. This was Schaaf's third cup win as a manager.
Winning the cup meant they qualified for the UEFA Europa League the next season. In that same season, Schaaf also guided the team to the 2009 UEFA Cup Final. They lost 1–2 to Shakhtar Donetsk after extra time.
Final Seasons at Werder: 2009–2013
On December 14, 2009, Thomas Schaaf signed a new contract with Werder Bremen. He led the team to third place in the league. They also reached the playoff stages of the 2010–11 Champions League. They also reached a second straight German Cup final, but lost to Bayern Munich.
Schaaf left Werder Bremen on May 15, 2013. This was by agreement between him and the club. The team finished a disappointing fourteenth in the league. This ended his 14 years as head coach of the club. It also ended his 41-year connection with Werder Bremen, which started when he was an 11-year-old youth player.
He coached 645 games for Werder Bremen. He had 308 wins, 138 draws, and 199 losses. He led the club to six major trophies and six appearances in the Champions League. During his resignation announcement, he spoke about his love for the club. He said he had "an extraordinary time here, connected with a lot of positive experiences and great successes."
Post–Werder Bremen Years: 2014–2016
Eintracht Frankfurt: 2014–2015 Season
After a year away from football, Schaaf became the head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt on May 21, 2014. He signed a two-year contract. In his first season, 2014–15, he led his team to a ninth-place finish. During this time, he coached his 500th Bundesliga match.
Schaaf resigned on May 26, 2015. His last game was a 2–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen. He finished with 12 wins, 10 draws, and 14 losses from 36 games. Armin Veh took over as coach after him.
Hannover 96: 2015–2016 Season
Schaaf was appointed head coach of Hannover 96 on December 28, 2015. He signed an 18-month contract. He officially met the media after his first training session on January 4, 2016. He took over a team that was in 17th place in the league.
His first match was a 2–1 home loss against SV Darmstadt 98. Hannover then failed to score a goal in their next four matches.
Schaaf was fired on April 3, 2016, after a 3–0 defeat to Hamburger SV. He finished with only one win and ten losses. His only win was a 2–1 victory over VfB Stuttgart on February 27, 2016. Daniel Stendel took over for the rest of the season.
Brief Return to Bremen: 2020–2021 Season
In May 2021, Thomas Schaaf returned to Werder Bremen for just one game. This happened after Florian Kohfeldt was dismissed before the last match of the season. In that final match, Bremen lost at home 4–2 against Borussia Mönchengladbach. This meant they finished 17th in the league table. As a result, they were moved down to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time since the 1979–80 season.
Career Statistics
Playing Career Numbers
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Werder Bremen | 1978–79 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 1979–80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1980–81 | 2. Bundesliga | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 23 | 1 | ||
| 1981–82 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1982–83 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 2 | ||
| 1983–84 | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| 1984–85 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| 1985–86 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 3 | ||
| 1986–87 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 4 | ||
| 1987–88 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 42 | 3 | ||
| 1988–89 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 3 | ||
| 1989–90 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| 1990–91 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| 1991–92 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 281 | 14 | 37 | 2 | 43 | 2 | 361 | 18 | ||
Managerial Career Numbers
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Werder Bremen II | 1 July 1995 | 9 May 1999 | 137 | 64 | 30 | 43 | 277 | 187 | +90 | 46.72 | |
| Werder Bremen | 10 May 1999 | 18 May 2013 | 672 | 321 | 141 | 210 | 1,218 | 903 | +315 | 47.77 | |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 21 May 2014 | 26 May 2015 | 36 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 59 | 64 | −5 | 33.33 | |
| Hannover 96 | 28 December 2015 | 3 April 2016 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 23 | −19 | 9.09 | |
| Werder Bremen | 16 May 2021 | 30 June 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0.00 | |
| Total | 857 | 398 | 181 | 278 | 1,560 | 1,181 | +379 | 46.44 | — | ||
See also
- List of one-club men
