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Wolfgang Rolff
Wolfgang Rolff - SV Werder Bremen (1).jpg
Rolff with Werder Bremen in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1959-12-26) 26 December 1959 (age 65)
Place of birth Lamstedt, West Germany
Height 1.79 m
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Laval United (manager)
Youth career
TSV Lamstedt
OSC Bremerhaven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1980 OSC Bremerhaven 35 (6)
1980–1982 Fortuna Köln 75 (17)
1982–1986 Hamburger SV 129 (24)
1986–1989 Bayer Leverkusen 99 (9)
1989–1990 Strasbourg 30 (4)
1990–1991 Bayer 05 Uerdingen 20 (0)
1991–1994 Karlsruher SC 94 (14)
1994–1995 1. FC Köln 14 (0)
1995–1996 Fortuna Köln 16 (2)
Total 512 (76)
National team
1983–1989 West Germany 37 (0)
Teams managed
1997 Hamburger SV (assistant)
1997–1998 SV Meppen
1998 VfB Stuttgart (assistant)
1998 VfB Stuttgart (caretaker)
2000–2001 Bayer Leverkusen (assistant)
2001–2002 Kuwait (assistant)
2004–2013 Werder Bremen (assistant)
2013 Werder Bremen (caretaker)
2014 Azerbaijan
2014–2015 Eintracht Frankfurt (assistant)
2015–2016 Al-Salmiya SC
2016 Hannover 96
2016–2017 Shandong Luneng (assistant)
2020– Laval
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Wolfgang Rolff (born 26 December 1959) is a German football manager and a former player. He was known for being a tireless midfielder during his playing days.

Playing Career Highlights

Wolfgang Rolff played in Germany's top football league, the Bundesliga. He played 356 matches and scored 47 goals for famous clubs like Hamburger SV, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer 05 Uerdingen, Karlsruher SC, and 1. FC Köln.

He also played 126 matches in the 2. Bundesliga, which is Germany's second-highest league. He played for teams such as OSC Bremerhaven and SC Fortuna Köln. Rolff even had a time playing in France for RC Strasbourg.

Major Club Wins

Rolff achieved great success with his clubs.

  • In 1983, he won the Bundesliga title with Hamburger SV. This means his team was the champion of Germany's top league.
  • In the same year, he was part of the Hamburg team that won the European Cup. This is the biggest club competition in Europe, where the best teams from different countries play against each other. They beat Juventus in the final.
  • Five years later, in 1988, he won the UEFA Cup with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The UEFA Cup (now called the UEFA Europa League) is another important European club competition.

International Matches

Wolfgang Rolff also played for the West Germany national team. He first played for his country in 1983.

He was part of the national squad for two major European tournaments:

Rolff also played for West Germany in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. His team finished as runner-up in that tournament, meaning they reached the final but did not win. In total, he played 37 international matches for his country until 1989.

Coaching Career

After retiring as a player, Wolfgang Rolff started a career in coaching. He often worked as an assistant coach for many well-known teams and managers.

Early Coaching Roles

  • In 1997, his former teammate Felix Magath hired him as an assistant coach at Hamburger SV.
  • In 1998, Rolff became the main coach for SV Meppen for six months.
  • He then worked as an assistant to Winfried Schäfer at VfB Stuttgart. For a short time, he was also the "caretaker manager" for Stuttgart. A caretaker manager takes charge temporarily when the main coach leaves.
  • From 2000 to 2001, he was part of the coaching team at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, another one of his old clubs.

Later Coaching Roles

  • After leaving Leverkusen, Rolff worked as an assistant coach for the Kuwait national team until 2002.
  • In July 2004, he joined SV Werder Bremen as an assistant manager. He stayed there for many years.
  • In 2013, when the main coach Thomas Schaaf left, Rolff became the interim head coach for a short period.
  • He continued to work as an assistant coach for other teams like Eintracht Frankfurt and Shandong Luneng.
  • In 2015-2016, he managed Al-Salmiya SC.
  • Since 2020, he has been managing Laval.

Honours and Achievements

Wolfgang Rolff won several important titles during his career as a player and a manager.

As a Player

With Hamburger SV

With Bayer Leverkusen

  • UEFA Cup: 1987–88 (Another major European club competition winner)

With West Germany National Team

As a Manager

With Al-Salmiya

  • Kuwait Crown Prince Cup: 2015–16 (Cup winner in Kuwait)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Wolfgang Rolff para niños

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