Klaus Linnenbruegger is a German former

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 le ...

and coach who briefly played professionally in Germany and coached Canadian clubs.

Playing career

Linnenbruegger began his professional career in his native city of

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

with VFB03 Bielefeld at the junior level and finally at the senior level. In 1971, he emigrated to Canada and landed in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. During his tenure in Canada he played with Ottawa St.Anthony Italia, Ottawa Cenntenials Soccer Club, and Ottawa Maple Leaf Almrausch with whom he finished second in the 1980

The Challenge Trophy The Challenge Trophy (french: Trophée Challenge) is a national amateur soccer cup in Canada contested by the champions of individual provincial soccer competitions. It is one of the oldest soccer competitions in Canada, being held since 1913. ...

tournament.

Managerial career

Linnenbruegger`s first major coaching duty was with the

Ottawa Wizards Ottawa Wizards were a Canadian soccer club which operated in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL), from 2001 to 2003. The team's home stadium was the OZ Optics Stadium. Though the team had a relatively short tenure with the CPSL, the cl ...

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. where he had a tremendous season recording a 17 game undefeated streak, and making CPSL history by becoming the second club to achieve a

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

the first being the

Toronto Olympians Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. The Wizards clinched the Eastern Conference and finished first in the overall standings. He guided Ottawa to repeat their success in the

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional So ...

tournament by defending their title once more in a 1-0 victory over

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. The next season, he was replaced by

Hubert Busby, Jr. Hubert Busby Junior (born 18 June 1970) is a Canadian-born Jamaican football manager and former player. Playing career In 1993, Busby Jr. played in the Canadian National Soccer League with Windsor Wheels. As a player, Busby Jr. spent time with ...

, but was reinstated as head coach on September 10, 2003. He finished off the season with a six game undefeated streak and clinched their division. The Wizards announced their withdrawal from the

Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...

stating disagreement with the rules of competition. On May 26, 2011 he served as assistant coach to the Ottawa Fury of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

. He was appointed interim head coach for the Fury for the remainder of the 2011 season after the early departure of head coach Steve Payne.

Honors

Ottawa Wizards *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: 2002 * Canadian Professional Soccer League Eastern Conference Champions: 2002, 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linnenbruegger, Klaus Living people German footballers German football managers Canadian soccer coaches Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) managers Sportspeople from Bielefeld Association footballers not categorized by position Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia Year of birth missing (living people)