Dirk Josef Hebel (born 24 November 1972) is a German former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. As a player, he played professionally in Germany, Turkey and England. He notably won the 1998–99 Third Division championship with Brentford. After retiring as a player, Hebel became an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

and a youth coach

Playing career

Germany and Turkey

Hebel began his career at hometown club 1. FC Köln. He moved to Turkey to join 1. Lig club

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In t ...

in January 1997. Hebel made 14 appearances and scored one goal during the 1996–97 season and helped the Green Crocodiles to a fifth-place finish in the league. One Turkish newspaper voted him the 1996–97 1. Lig Player Of The Season. Hebel left the club after the season.

Tranmere Rovers

After interest from Grasshopper Club Zürich,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and a failed trial at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, Hebel transferred to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

First Division club

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

on 3 September 1997. He failed to make an appearance for the first team during the 1997–98 season, but was a regular for the reserves and departed the club in May 1998. Looking back in 2005 on his lack of appearances for Tranmere, Hebel said "I think it was a problem of the way I play football, which didn't compare to the way our coach Aldo wanted me to play. It is difficult to change a style you played for 20 years of your life".

Brentford

Hebel signed for Third Division club Brentford on a free transfer on 25 August 1998. He made regular appearances until Boxing Day 1998 and made his final appearance for the club in a 3–1 victory over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

before injury ended his season. Hebel made 19 appearances during the Bees' Third Division championship-winning 1998–99 season. A family situation saw Hebel turn down a new contract in 1999, in order to return to Germany.

Return to Germany

Hebel signed for

Oberliga Nordrhein The Oberliga Nordrhein was the highest Football League in the region of Nordrhein which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 2008. In its last season, it was one of nine Oberligas in German football, the 4th tier of the Ge ...

club

Bonner SC Bonner SC is a German association football club based in Bonn. The club was formed in 1965 through the merger of ''Bonner FV'' and ''Tura Bonn''. Its former women's football department won the German national championship in 1975. History ''B ...

during the 1999 off-season. He made 19 appearances during the 1999–00 season and scored one goal. Hebel joined Oberliga Nordrhein club SCB Preußen Köln during the 2000 off-season. He made 26 appearances and scored five goals during the 2000–01 season, helping the club to a second-place finish behind

Bayer Leverkusen II Bayer 04 Leverkusen II was the German reserve football teams, reserve team of German football club Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Until 2005, the team played as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Amateure. The team has qualified for the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, on e ...

. Hebel wound down his career with spells at

VfL Köln 99 VfL Köln was a German association football club from the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), co ...

, FC Junkersdorf and SF Troisdorf, before retiring in 2005. During the 2003–04 season, he helped SF Troisdorf win promotion to the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein.

Post-retirement

While a player for FC Junkersdorf, Hebel held the role of

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

. In 2002, Hebel became a FIFA-registered

and set up the Fussballmarkt agency with friend Dominik Kaesberg and lawyer Nortbert Nasse. He has represented players such as

Mario Götze Mario Götze (born 3 June 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Germany national team. Although his favoured position is that of a playmaker, Götze has also played as a false ni ...

, Sunday Oliseh,

Goran Sablić Goran Sablić (born 4 August 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He spent most of his career in Croatia, playing for Hajduk Split and has also played for Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv. Sablić has had two spells as ...

and Patrick Weiser. In 2018, Hebel joined

SC Fortuna Köln SC Fortuna Köln is a German association football club based in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. History The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Köln 1911 (one of two clubs to ...

as an U14 coach.

Personal life

Hebel is married to Nicole and has two sons named Darren (named after former Brentford teammate Darren Freeman) and Liam.

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

: 1998–99

References

External links

Fussballmarkt official website
*
Dirk Hebel
at verein.fortuna-koeln.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Hebel, Dirk 1972 births Living people German footballers Footballers from Cologne Association football midfielders Süper Lig players English Football League players Brentford F.C. players 1. FC Köln players Bursaspor footballers Bonner SC players VfL Köln 99 players German sports agents FC Viktoria Köln players 1. FC Köln II players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey German expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England