Thomas Hitzlsperger
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Thomas Hitzlsperger[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | [1] | 5 April 1982|||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Munich, West Germany | |||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
1988–1989 | VfB Forstinning | |||||||||||||||||||
1989–2000 |
Bayern Munich | |||||||||||||||||||
2000–2001 |
Aston Villa | |||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
2001–2005 | Aston Villa | 99 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||
2001 | → Chesterfield (loan) | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
2005–2010 | VfB Stuttgart | 125 | (20) | |||||||||||||||||
2010 |
Lazio | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
2010–2011 | West Ham United | 11 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
2011–2012 | VfL Wolfsburg | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
2012–2013 | Everton | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
Total | 259 | (31) | ||||||||||||||||||
International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
Germany U19 | ||||||||||||||||||||
2002–2004 | Germany U21 | 20 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
2004–2010 | Germany | 52 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Thomas Hitzlsperger (born 5 April 1982) is a German
As a player he spent the early part of his career playing for
Hitzlsperger also represented the Germany national team, earning 52 caps and being selected for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008. Following a series of injuries, he retired from football in September 2013. After his retirement, he came out as gay, the highest-profile male footballer in the world to do so.[4]
Club career
Early career
After joining the VfB Forstinning youth team in 1988, Hitzlsperger signed to the
Aston Villa
After a short trial with Celtic in August 2000, Hitzlsperger joined Aston Villa on a free youth transfer from Bayern Munich. He made his Aston Villa debut in a 3–0 home defeat to Liverpool on 13 January 2001 as an 84th-minute substitute for Jlloyd Samuel; it was his only appearance during his first season in England.[5][6][7]
Whilst at Aston Villa, Hitzlsperger was briefly loaned out to
Hitzlsperger moved into the Aston Villa first team following the arrival of new manager
Stuttgart
Hitzlsperger signed for
On 14 August 2007, Hitzlsperger extended his contract until the summer of 2010.[18] On 22 July 2008, he was appointed the new captain by manager Armin Veh following the departure of Fernando Meira. On 1 December 2009, he was deposed as team captain by Stuttgart's new manager Markus Babbel.[19]
Lazio
On 31 January 2010, Hitzlsperger moved to
West Ham United
Hitzlsperger signed a three-year deal with Premier League club
Wolfsburg
On 17 August 2011, Hitzlsperger signed for Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on a three-year deal, after being released by West Ham three months earlier.[28] His contract was terminated at the end of the season.[29] He played for Stuttgart and Wolfsburg 131 matches in the Bundesliga and scored 20 goals in the German top flight.[30]
Everton
On 19 October 2012, Hitzlsperger joined
In September 2013, aged 31, Hitzlsperger announced his retirement from football citing the strain of "many transfers and some injuries".[36] Although he had received offers to resume his playing career, he reported, "I've noticed: I need something else."[37]
International career
Hitzlsperger captained the
Germany's coach
Hitzlsperger remained first-choice in 2010 World Cup qualifying, playing in all but one match and scoring a goal,[48] but he missed out on his nation's World Cup squad in June 2010. His international career ended on 11 August 2010 with his 52nd cap.[49]
VfB Stuttgart management
On 12 February 2019, Hitzlsperger became Head of Sport of VfB Stuttgart.[50] He was promoted to CEO and resigned in January 2022 to return to his television career.
Personal life
Hitzlsperger, the youngest child of Ludwig and Anneliese Hitzlsperger, was born in Munich and grew up in Forstinning, alongside his five brothers and one sister.[51][52] Hitzlsperger has an interest in economics, and while in England studied investment strategies, although he did not complete the course.[53] He regularly visited the Bank of England to discuss finance with the bank's governor, Mervyn King, a lifelong Aston Villa fan.[54]
Hitzlsperger has blogged for Störungsmelder, an anti-racism site that encourages debate about xenophobia and racism in Germany.[53]
In June 2007, Hitzlsperger split after an eight-year relationship from his longtime girlfriend, Inga, just one month before they were due to get married.[55] On 8 January 2014, a few months after retiring, he became the highest-profile male footballer to come out as gay at the time.[56][57][58] (In 2023, Czech Jakub Jankto became the first active male national footballer to come out as gay.) Hitzlsperger said that he had only realised that he was gay in the past few years.[56] He received widespread support from former fellow players of the Germany national team, such as Lukas Podolski, who said of his coming out as "brave" and "an important sign of our time" as well as a reaction from Joachim Löw who said of his decision as "personal" and that he "deserved respect from every side."[59]
On 9 April 2011, Hitzlsperger was caught travelling in his Range Rover at 107 mph (172 km/h) on the A14 in Suffolk. On 14 July 2011, he was fined £750, plus £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge, and was given six penalty points on his driving licence by Bury St Edmunds Magistrates' Court. However, he was spared a driving ban as he was at the time unemployed and his barrister, Craig Harris, successfully argued that he needed his car to drive around the country and look for a new club.[60]
In January 2022, Hitzlsperger told ARD, that a "collective coming out" of gay footballers could be a solution to their problems of hiding their sexuality. Hitzlsperger took the example of 125 Catholic priests in Germany who decided to come out at once.[61]
In January 2024, Hitzlsperger was named by Aston Villa as a member of the Honorary Anniversary Board ahead of the club's 150th anniversary season.[62]
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | Ref. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Aston Villa | 2000–01 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | [7] | ||
2001–02 | Premier League | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1 | [7] | |||
2002–03 | Premier League | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4[c] | 0 | — | 33 | 4 | [7] | ||
2003–04 | Premier League | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 38 | 5 | [7] | |||
2004–05 | Premier League | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 2 | [7] | |||
Total | 99 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | 114 | 12 | — | |||
Chesterfield (loan) | 2001–02 | Second Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 6 | 0 | [63] | |
VfB Stuttgart | 2005–06 | Bundesliga | 26 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7[e] | 0 | — | 38 | 4 | [7] | |
2006–07 | Bundesliga | 30 | 7 | 5 | 3 | — | — | — | 35 | 10 | [64] | ||||
2007–08 | Bundesliga | 25 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | — | 30 | 7 | [7] | ||
2008–09 | Bundesliga | 32 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | 10[e] | 2 | — | 45 | 7 | [65] | |||
2009–10 | Bundesliga | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 7[f] | 0 | — | 22 | 2 | [7] | |||
Total | 125 | 20 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 2 | — | 172 | 30 | — | |||
Lazio |
2009–10 |
Serie A | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | [7] | |||
West Ham United | 2010–11 | Premier League | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 3 | [7] | ||
VfL Wolfsburg | 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | [66] | |||
Everton | 2012–13 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | [7] | ||
Career total | 259 | 31 | 22 | 8 | 14 | 5 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 326 | 46 | — |
- ^ Appearances in the FA Cup and DFB-Pokal
- ^ Appearances in the English League Cup and German League Cup
- ^ Appearances in the UEFA Intertoto Cup
- ^ Appearance in the Football League Trophy
- ^ UEFA Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Germany | 2004 | 2 | 0 |
2005 | 11 | 0 | |
2006 | 7 | 2 | |
2007 | 10 | 2 | |
2008 | 13 | 2 | |
2009 | 8 | 0 | |
2010 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 52 | 6 |
- Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hitzlsperger goal.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 September 2006 | Serravalle , San Marino |
San Marino | 9–0 | 13–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
2 | 11–0 | |||||
3 | 6 June 2007 | AOL Arena, Hamburg , Germany |
Slovakia | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
4 | 17 November 2007 | Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany | Cyprus | 4–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
5 | 6 February 2008 | Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria | Austria | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
6 | 6 September 2008 | Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein | Liechtenstein | 5–0 | 6–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying |
Honours
VfB Stuttgart
- Bundesliga: 2006–07
- DFB-Pokal runner-up: 2006–07
Germany
- UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2008
- FIFA World Cup third place: 2006
- FIFA Confederations Cup third place: 2005
Individual
- kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2006–07[68]
- Federal Cross of Merit (2020)[69][70]
References
- ^ a b "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
- ^ "Thomas Hitzlsperger Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "Ende März ist Schluss: Hitzlsperger übergibt an Wehrle". kicker.de (in German). 17 March 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "Thomas Hitzlsperger: 'I finally figured out that I preferred living with a man'". The Guardian. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b Whitehead, Richard (20 November 2004). "Thomas Hitzlsperger and Bruce Rioch". The Times. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Thomas Hitzlsperger career statistics". soccerbase.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Thomas Hitzlsperger » Club matches". World Football. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ a b "Seasonal review october 2001". Chesterfield F.C. 17 November 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Hitzlsperger stays on". BBC Sport. 21 November 2001. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger back at Villa". BBC Sport. 10 December 2001. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ "Plucky Foxes hold Villa". BBC Sport. 20 April 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Villa claim late win". 14 December 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Slater, Gary (21 April 2005). "Villa short of conviction". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 May 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
- ^ Ridley, Ian (15 December 2002). "Hitzlsperger hits late on". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Thomas Hitzlsperger profile". UEFA. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
- ^ "Stuttgart seal Hitzlsperger deal". BBC Sport. 13 April 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ Sivananda, Senthuran. "VfB Stuttgart – Energie Cottbus" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Archived from the original on 1 January 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
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- ^ "The winds of change". vfb.de. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Bilancio separato e consolidato al 30.06.2010" [2009–10 Annual Report] (PDF). SS Lazio (in Italian). 28 October 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
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- ^ "Sam sets out promotion plan". whufc.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "Bundesliga – Wolfsburg sign Hitzlsperger". Yahoo Sport. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ "Salihamidzic, Chris and Hitzlsperger part company with VfL Wolfsburg". vfl-wolfsburg.de. VfL Wolfsburg. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ^ Arnhold, Matthias (23 September 2015). "Thomas Hitzlsperger — Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger Signs". evertonfc.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger Trains With Blues". evertonfc.com. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
- ^ "Everton 2–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger To Stay With Blues". evertonfc.com. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ Whalley, Mike (6 June 2013). "Hitzlsperger and Mucha leave Everton". Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "Thomas Hitzlsperger retires at 31 | VfB Stuttgart". Bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
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- ^ Nursey, James (30 April 2005). "Hitz over – but Thomas won't forget Villa spell". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
- ^ "Kontrastprogramm zu München". Der Spiegel (in German). 3 March 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
- ^ a b Honigstein, Raphael (14 December 2007). "Small Talk: Thomas Hitzlsperger". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
- ^ Chittenden, Maurice (16 April 2006). "Bank governor's secret sessions kept German player on the ball". The Times. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ "Ein Monat vor Hochzeit: Liebes-Aus!". Rheinische Post (in German). 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Thomas Hitzlsperger: Former Aston Villa player reveals he is gay". BBC Sports. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger: "Ich äußere mich zu meiner Homosexualität"". kicker (in German). 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
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- ^ "Unemployed millionaire footballer escapes driving ban". Telegraph. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Austin, Daniel (1 February 2022). "Collective coming out could be solution for gay footballers, says Thomas Hitzelsperger". Metro. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "AV 150: Honorary Board Announced". Aston Villa Football Club. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Thomas Hitzlsperger". Soccerbase. Centurycomm Limited. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger Thomas". kicker.de (in German). Olympia Verlag. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger Thomas". kicker.de (in German). Olympia Verlag. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "Hitzlsperger Thomas". kicker.de (in German). Olympia Verlag. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ a b Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Thomas Hitzlsperger". National Football Teams.
- ^ "Bundesliga Historie 2006/07" (in German). kicker.
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- ^ "Ordensverleihung "Vereint und füreinander da"". bundespraesident.de (in German). Retrieved 24 September 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Thomas Hitzlsperger at Soccerbase
- Thomas Hitzlsperger at fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Thomas Hitzlsperger at WorldFootball.net
- Blog at Störungsmelder