Joseph Andrew Enochs (born September 1, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who spent the majority of his career at German club

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The c ...

. He began his professional career with the San Francisco United All Blacks before moving to Germany to sign with

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

. He never played for the first team and moved to Osnabrück in 1996. Enochs earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the United States national team in 2001.

College

Enochs attended

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

, where he played soccer from 1989 to 1992. He finished his four years at Sac State with nine goals and fifteen assists in 71 games.

Club career

All Blacks

After finishing his career with Sac State, Enochs signed with the U.S. Third Division (

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

) San Francisco United All Blacks and played until the summer of 1994.

St. Pauli

In 1994, Enochs received a phone call from a former Sac State teammate

Mark Baena Mark Baena (born November 27, 1968) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. Baena is the USL First Division#All-time USL leaders, highest goalscorer in the history of USL First Division, where he amassed eighty-six ...

. Baena was playing in Germany and was looking for a roommate. Enochs decided to take Baena up on his offer and moved to Germany. Enochs later explained, "I was going to come home after the first year

n Germany N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

but I was having too much fun." In 1994, Enochs signed with

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. ...

. The team placed him with its Fourth Division amateur farm team. The next season, Enochs and his team mates had moved to the third-tier

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

for the 1995–96 season where he played in 34 games, scoring one goal. He performed well enough that he was offered a position on St. Pauli's first team, but he decided to move to third-tier club

in 1996.

Osnabrück

Enochs quickly established himself at Osnabrück, seeing time in 30 games in the 1996–97 season. He never played less than 39 games a season as he was selected as team co-captain. In 2000, Osnabrück earned promotion to the

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 ...

, but was back in the third tier the next season. The team won promotion again in 2003 and again in 2007, this time in the last game of the season. Enochs broke the club record for games played on May 19, 2007. In June 2007, he signed a one-year extension to his contract. Enochs won the " Goal of the Month" award of German television network ARD's ''

Sportschau ''Sportschau'' is a German sports magazine on broadcaster ARD, produced by WDR in Cologne. The magazine started in 1961. In its Saturday' edition, the ''Sportschau'' shows a summary of the Bundesliga, whereas the Sunday edition reports on the la ...

'' in September 2004 for his strike against eventual cup winners Bayern Munich in the second round of the 2004–05 DFB-Pokal. At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, his club opened a special section for children on the West stand of the stadium, that is named after Enochs. He retired at the end of the 2007–08 season.

International career

Enochs earned his only cap with the U.S. national team in a June 7, 2001, scoreless tie with

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. Enochs came on for

Tony Sanneh Anthony Sanneh (born June 1, 1971) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. Club career Youth and college Tony Sanneh was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota to an African father from Gambia and an ...

in the sixty-second minute. He left the game in the ninety-first minute after suffering a gash to his forehead during a collision.

Richie Williams Richard "Richie" Williams (born June 3, 1970) is an American former professional soccer player and coach. Known for his diminutive height and his dogged tackling, Williams spent the vast majority of his playing career in the United States, pla ...

came on for him.

Managerial career

Zwickau

For the 2018–19 season he was signed as the head coach of

FSV Zwickau FSV Zwickau is a German association football club located in Zwickau, Saxony. Today's club claims as part of its complex heritage sides that were East Germany's first champions: 1948 Ostzone winners SG Planitz and 1950 DDR-Oberliga champions ZSG ...

. In February 2023, he was sacked.

Personal life

Enochs met his wife, Gunilla, a few months after he arrived in Germany through a

blind date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

. That led to marriage and the birth of his daughter, Emily. Enochs is the uncle of American baseball player Spencer Enochs Torkelson. In 2008, Enochs opened a bar in the historic part of Osnabrück.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

*
Cal State-Sacramento stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enochs, Joe 1971 births Living people People from Petaluma, California Association football midfielders American soccer players Soccer players from California United States men's international soccer players USISL players Sacramento State Hornets men's soccer players San Francisco United All Blacks players FC St. Pauli players VfL Osnabrück players 2. Bundesliga players American soccer coaches 2. Bundesliga managers 3. Liga managers VfL Osnabrück managers FSV Zwickau managers American expatriate soccer players American expatriate soccer coaches American expatriate soccer players in Germany Expatriate football managers in Germany