Marco Kurz (born 16 May 1969) is a German
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
manager and former player who played as a
defender. He last managed Australian side
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...
.
Playing career
Kurz, who played as a defender, started playing football at SV Sillenbuch, a small club in his native
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, and then for
VfL Sindelfingen
VfL Sindelfingen is a German sports club from Sindelfingen, Baden–Württemberg. The club was founded in 1862 and has more than 9,000 members, making it one of biggest sports clubs in Germany. VfL Sindelfingen has departments for various sports ...
. At age 20, he had his breakthrough into professional football, when he signed a contract for his local
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 ...
side
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...
in the summer of 1989. After one year, where he—with the exception of 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 ...
—only played for VfB's second team, he was transferred to
1. FC Nürnberg in 1990; there he was more successful, earning 108 caps in four seasons. When the team was relegated to the
2. Bundesliga after the 1993–94 season, Kurz took up an offer by
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...
. Dortmund won the title of German champion in the following season, with Kurz playing four times.
At rival club
Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...
, where Kurz subsequently played from 1995 to 1998, he earned 58 caps. With Schalke he won his biggest title, the
1996–97 UEFA Cup, under coach
Huub Stevens
Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional football manager and player.
Playing career
Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittard and PSV. During his time at P ...
. In 1998, he transferred to the south of Germany again, joining
TSV 1860 Munich
, commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football.
1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...
. He played 128 times for 1860 Munich until 2004, when the club was relegated to the
2. Bundesliga.
2004–05 was Kurz's last season as a player. He spent it at
SC Pfullendorf
SC Pfullendorf is a German sports club based in Pfullendorf, Baden-Württemberg. The 700-member club is best known for its football department, but also has departments for chess, table tennis and ice stock sport, a winter sport similar to cu ...
, a
Regionalliga Süd (then third division) team (11 caps). Shortly after joining Pfullendorf, he was promoted to
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
; in 2005, he retired as a player, but stayed at Pfullendorf as head coach.
Managerial career
![Marco-Kurz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Marco-Kurz.jpg)
After managing
SC Pfullendorf
SC Pfullendorf is a German sports club based in Pfullendorf, Baden-Württemberg. The 700-member club is best known for its football department, but also has departments for chess, table tennis and ice stock sport, a winter sport similar to cu ...
, Kurz returned to
1860 Munich
, commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football.
1860 Munich was one of the founding members of ...
as a manager for the second team (Regionalliga Süd).
In March 2007, he was promoted to head coach of the first team.
1860 Munich sacked Kurz in February 2009.
Kurz joined
1. FC Kaiserslautern in June 2009.
He won promotion 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 ...
for the club in 2010. The subsequent
2010–11 season was changeable and most of the time, FCK was threatened by relegation, but eventually they finished a sensational seventh in the German top flight—their best finish in the bundesliga since
1998–99, when they finished fifth.
2011–12 was much worse, with Kaiserslautern occupying a relegation berth virtually all season. As a result, Kaiserslautern parted ways with coach Kurz on 20 March 2012.
On 18 December 2012, it was announced by Bundesliga side
1899 Hoffenheim that Kurz would be the new head coach for the second half of the
2012–13 season, when Hoffenheim faced the threat of relegation.
Hoffenheim were not able to emerge from the drop zone and decided to fire Kurz on 2 April 2013.
Then, Kurz was manager of
Ingolstadt 04 between 9 June 2013
and 30 September 2013.
![MarcoKurzFCI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/MarcoKurzFCI.jpg)
He was named the head coach of
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga.
Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...
on 23 December 2015.
After scoring four points in seven games, Kurz was sacked on 13 March 2016.
On 16 June 2017, Kurz was appointed head coach of
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
club
Adelaide United
Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...
. He won his first competitive match as manager for Adelaide United on 9 August 2017 in the round of 32 of the
FFA Cup
The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...
defeating the
Newcastle Jets
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...
1–0. He made his A-League managerial debut on 8 October 2017 against
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
with the result being a draw at 1–1. Kurz helped Adelaide reach the final of the
2017 FFA Cup
The 2017 FFA Cup was the fourth season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 32 teams began competing in the competition proper (from the round of 32), including the 10 A-League teams and 21 Football Fed ...
against
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
on 21 November 2017 after defeating
Western Sydney Wanderers
Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...
2–1 in the semi-finals; they went on to lose 1–2 after extra time. In 2018, Kurz led Adelaide United to their second
FFA Cup
The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...
triumph, defeating Sydney FC 2–1.
On 28 June 2019, Kurz was appointed manager of A-League side
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...
on a two-year deal, after their previous manager,
Kevin Muscat
Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and the current manager of Yokohama F. Marinos. As a player, he represented the Australia national team at international level winning 46 caps and sco ...
, stepped down.
In January 2020, after six months in the role, Kurz was dismissed by Melbourne Victory; this was the third-fastest coaching dismissal in A-League history. Kurz left having managed the Victory for just 13 matches, for four wins, three draws and six losses; the six defeats were the most losses the Victory had suffered after 13 games of a season. At the time of his dismissal, Victory were sixth in the league with 15 points, their equal-lowest points tally after 13 games alongside the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons. He was replaced by Victory assistant coach
Carlos Pérez Salvachúa.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Borussia Dortmund
*
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 ...
:
1994–95
*
DFL-Supercup:
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
Schalke 04
*
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
:
1996–97
Manager
1. FC Kaiserslautern
*
2. Bundesliga:
2009–10
Adelaide United
*
FFA Cup
The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...
:
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurz, Marco
1969 births
Living people
Footballers from Stuttgart
German footballers
Association football defenders
VfB Stuttgart players
1. FC Nürnberg players
Borussia Dortmund players
FC Schalke 04 players
TSV 1860 Munich players
SC Pfullendorf players
Bundesliga players
UEFA Cup winning players
German football managers
TSV 1860 Munich managers
1. FC Kaiserslautern managers
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim managers
FC Ingolstadt 04 managers
Fortuna Düsseldorf managers
Adelaide United FC managers
Melbourne Victory FC managers
Bundesliga managers
2. Bundesliga managers
A-League Men managers
German expatriate football managers
German expatriate sportspeople in Australia
Expatriate soccer managers in Australia