Philipp Hofmann (born 30 March 1993) is a German 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 plays for

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

as a forward. Hofmann is a product of the

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 ...

academy and made his professional breakthrough away from the club on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

, before transferring to

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

in 2014. Following two years in England with Brentford between 2015 and 2017, he returned to Germany and forged a career in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

with Greuther Fürth, Eintracht Braunschweig and

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

. An average of a goal every other game during three seasons with Karlsruher SC led to a transfer 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 ...

with VfL Bochum in 2022. Hofmann scored 18 goals in 36 caps for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

between U18 and U21 level.

Club career

Schalke 04

A forward, Hofmann began his career as a youth with local clubs RW Wenholthausen and SC Neheim, before signing for

club

in 2009. He won the Westfalenpokalsieger with the U19 team in the 2010–11 season and the U19 Bundesliga the following year. He made 24 appearances for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in the 2011–12 season, scoring six goals. Hofmann won his first and only first team call up for a

dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

match versus

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

on 14 December 2011 and remained an unused substitute during the 3–0 victory. Hofmann spent the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season on loan with

club

SC Paderborn 07 Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest successes since the turn of the mille ...

and made the first professional appearance of his career in a 4–0 victory over

on 11 August 2012, as a late substitute for

Diego Demme Diego Demme (born 21 November 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Napoli and the Germany national team. Club career Arminia Bielefeld Born in Herford, Germany, Demme began playing football a ...

. He made 31 appearances and scored six goals in a mid-table season. On 14 July 2013, Hofmann joined 2. Bundesliga club

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußball-Club Ingolstadt 2004 e.V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingols ...

on a two-year loan. He made 33 appearances and scored 9 goals during the 2013–14 season and notably scored two

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in three

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern, ( en, Regional league Bavaria), is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tie ...

appearances for the reserves. Hofmann's loan was terminated at the end of the 2013–14 season and he departed Schalke on 5 June 2014.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

Hofmann transferred to 2. Bundesliga club

on 5 June 2014. He began the 2014–15 season in a substitute role and scored on his debut in a 3–2 win over

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 ...

on 4 August 2014, scoring the winner just a minute after replacing the scorer of the Red Devils' opening two goals, Srđan Lakić. Hofmann won unfortunate media attention for missing a certain goalscoring opportunity from one yard versus

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

on 24 September, but was spared his blushes after Union failed to cancel out Alexander Ring's first half goal. Hofmann failed to come into regular goalscoring form and finished the 2014–15 season with 32 appearances and 9 goals as the Red Devils finished just two points shy of the

promotion playoff Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

place. He departed the

Fritz-Walter-Stadion Fritz-Walter-Stadion () is the home stadium of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and is located in the city of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was one of the stadia used in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It is named after Fritz Walter (1920–2 ...

in July 2015.

Brentford

On 23 July 2015, Hofmann moved to England to sign a three-year contract with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Brentford, for an undisclosed fee During an injury-hit 2015–16 season, Hofmann scored four goals in 22 appearances. He returned free from injury for the 2016–17

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, but began the season overweight and behind Scott Hogan and Lasse Vibe in competition for the team's lone forward role. After slimming down and making just five substitute appearances by early December, head coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...

challenged Hofmann to work harder to earn a starting place. Despite the departure of Scott Hogan in January 2017, a niggling back injury and a lack of match fitness rendered Hofmann unable to challenge for a starting berth during the second half of the season. He fell behind

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

forward Justin Shaibu in the pecking order and finished the season with 11 appearances and no goals. Hofmann departed Brentford in June 2017, after scoring just four goals in 33 appearances during his two seasons at Griffin Park.

Greuther Fürth

On 13 June 2017, Hofmann returned to Germany to join 2. Bundesliga club Greuther Fürth on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. After recovering from a

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. Its primary function is to resist outwar ...

injury suffered during pre-season, he made his debut for the club in a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

first round match versus SV Morlautern on 13 August 2017 and scored two goals in the 5–0 victory. Prior to the winter break, Hofmann made just 11 appearances (scoring three goals) and departed the

Sportpark Ronhof Sportpark Ronhof , Thomas Sommer is an association football stadium in the district of Ronhof in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany, and the home ground of Bundesliga team SpVgg Greuther Fürth. The stadium was originally opened on 11 September 1910 u ...

prior to the resumption of the 2017–18 season in January 2018.

Eintracht Braunschweig

On 23 January 2018, Hofmann transferred to 2. Bundesliga club Eintracht Braunschweig on a -year contract. He scored 12 goals in 52 appearances before his departure at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Karlsruher SC

On 11 June 2019, Hofmann transferred to newly promoted 2. Bundesliga club

on a two-year contract, with one-year option. He scored 53 goals in 104 appearances during three seasons at the

Wildparkstadion Wildparkstadion, currently known as BBBank Wildpark for sponsorship reasons, is a football (soccer), football stadium located in Karlsruhe, Germany. It is the home of the football club Karlsruher SC. It is located northeast of the Karlsruhe Pa ...

and was released when his contract expired at the end of the 2021–22 season.

VfL Bochum

On 4 May 2022, Hofmann signed a two-year contract with Bundesliga club VfL Bochum on a free transfer, effective 1 July 2022.

International career

Hofmann represented

between U18 and U21 level. He made his international debut for the U18 team in a 3–2 friendly win over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 22 March 2011, replacing goalscorer

Amin Younes Amin Younes (born 6 August 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger for Dutch club Utrecht, on loan from Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq, and the Germany national team. Younes started his youth career at SG Unterrath, bef ...

in the second half. He made two further U18 appearances before making his U19 debut with a start in a 5–3 friendly win over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 1 September 2011, being replaced by Niclas Füllkrug at half time. He scored his first international goal in another friendly three days later, with what looked to be the winner versus rivals the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, before

Ouasim Bouy Ouasim Bouy (born 11 June 1993) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre back. Bouy is a former Netherlands U19 international, and is able to represent either the Netherlands or Morocco at senior level. ...

salvaged a 2–2 draw. Hofmann scored six goals in six games during Germany's unsuccessful qualification period for the 2012 European U19 Championship. Hofmann scored two goals in four friendly appearances for the U20 team during the

season and made his U21 debut in a 4–0 2015 European U21 Championship qualifying win over the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

on 9 September 2013. He showed excellent form during the qualifying period, scoring seven goals in 10 games, but he failed to score in his two finals appearances before Germany were humiliated 5–0 by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the semi-finals. He scored 9 goals in 17 matches at U21 level.

Personal life

Hofmann attended the

Gesamtschule Berger Feld Gesamtschule Berger Feld is a ''gesamtschule'' in Gelsenkirchen. It is located in the Erle region and has 1325 pupils and 118 teachers. It is known for the fact that a great number of its former students have become professional football players. ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * *
Philipp Hofmann
at vfl-bochum.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Philipp 1993 births Living people People from Arnsberg Sportspeople from Arnsberg (region) Association football forwards German footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers FC Schalke 04 II players FC Schalke 04 players SC Paderborn 07 players FC Ingolstadt 04 players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Brentford F.C. players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in England Eintracht Braunschweig players People educated at the Gesamtschule Berger Feld 3. Liga players Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia FC Ingolstadt 04 II players Karlsruher SC players VfL Bochum players Bundesliga players