Daniel Wendel Imhof (born 22 November 1977) is a Canadian retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who last played for

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

Club career

Early life

Imhof was born in

Wil Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...

, Switzerland, but his parents, Wendel and Edith Imhof, immigrated to Canada when he was four. Imhof grew up in

Smithers Smithers is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Middle English term "smyther", referring to a metalsmith, and is thus related to the common occupational surname Smith. The name Smither is related. People *Alan Smithers (born 1938), ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and started a study to become a sport teacher at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

. In this period he was key player of the university's soccer team. His two brothers play in the lower leagues in Switzerland; Dominic Imhof plays for FC Tuggen and Christoph Imhof played for

FC Gossau FC Gossau is a Swiss football club from the city of Gossau in the canton of St. Gallen. It currently plays in the Challenge League, the second-highest level of Swiss football. History After its foundation in 1906, FC Gossau spent the first 65 ...

. He also has a younger sister, Angela Imhof.

Switzerland

During the spring of 1998 Imhof went to Europe in order to secure a place in a European football club. Relatives had arranged for him to take part in a training session at their local Swiss

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

FC Wil FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss second tier since regaining promotion in ...

, after which

Marcel Koller Marcel Martin Koller (born 11 November 1960) is a Swiss professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Al Ahly in the Egyptian Premier League. Playing career Born in Zürich, Koller played his entire career ...

, the head coach, offered him his first professional contract. Two years later Imhof followed Koller to his next club,

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

with whom he would win the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

VfL Bochum

During the summer of 2005 Imhof followed coach Koller to a new club for the second time by joining German 2. Bundesliga club

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

. In 2006, after Imhof's first season with Bochum, the club was promoted to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. When Imhof's contract expired in 2007, Bochum was at first reluctant to offer him a new contract as Imhof had not seen consistent playing time during the previous season due to injury. However, as Bochum were unable to find an adequate replacement for Imhof, he was offered a new one-year contract. Ironically, Imhof appeared in the majority of matches for Bochum during the 2007–08 season, and following the season it was rumoured that clubs such as

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

of the

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, and

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

were interested in him.

Return to St. Gallen

On 14 January 2010, he announced his return to FC St. Gallen, leaving VfL Bochum and the Bundesliga after four and half years.

International career

He made his debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in an October 2000 World Cup qualification match against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. As of November 2009, he has earned a total of 36 caps, scoring no goals. He has represented Canada in 13

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches. He has also played at the

2001 Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organised by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the nation who founded the tournament, pr ...

Honours

Club

St. Gallen *

: 1999–2000 *

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

: 2011–12 VfL Bochum * 2. Bundesliga: 2005–06

References

External links

Daniel Imhof Online Soccer Coaching Academy
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Imhof, Daniel 1977 births Living people People from Wil People from Smithers, British Columbia Soccer people from British Columbia Swiss emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Swiss-German descent Naturalized citizens of Canada Association football midfielders Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss expatriate footballers Swiss footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany FC Wil players FC St. Gallen players VfL Bochum players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in Germany Sportspeople from the canton of St. Gallen