Raphael Schäfer (Polish:'' Rafał Szafarczyk''; born 30 January 1979) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Biography

Early years

Raphael Schäfer was born in 1979 as a member of the German minority in the Upper Silesian town of

Kędzierzyn-Koźle Kędzierzyn-Koźle (german: Kandrzin-Cosel, szl, Kandrzin-Koźle) is a city in southern Poland, the administrative center of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County. With 58,899 inhabitants as of 2021, it is the second most-populous city in the Opole Voivode ...

and in 1986 with his father emigrated from Poland as

Aussiedler The right of return is a principle in international law which guarantees everyone's right of voluntary return to, or re-entry to, their country of origin or of citizenship. The right of return is part of the broader human rights concept freedom ...

to settle in northern Germany. Raphael Schäfer learned

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

in a few months. Schäfer began his footballing career at SC Drispenstedt in a suburb of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

. At the age of 12 he was scouted by Hannover 96 and joined the ranks of their youth teams. He became part of the first-team squad with 17 but never made it into the starting line-up. Thus, he decided to join Regionalliga side

VfB Lübeck VfB Lübeck is a German association football club playing in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein in the country's north. In addition to its football side the 1,000 member sports club also has departments for badminton, women's gymnastics, handball, and ...

before the 1998–99 season. At Lübeck he quickly became the first-choice goalkeeper but his team failed to qualify for 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 ...

in three consecutive seasons.

1. FC Nürnberg

Schäfer transferred to 1. FC Nürnberg in July 2001. The club had just been promoted 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 ...

and he became the second choice goalkeeper behind former German Under-21-international

Darius Kampa Darius Kampa ( pl, Dariusz Kampa; born 16 January 1977 in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Silesia, Poland) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also holds Polish citizenship. He spent five seasons in the Bundesliga The Bundesliga ...

. When Kampa had a series of weak showings for the team, coach

Klaus Augenthaler Klaus "Auge" Augenthaler (born 26 September 1957) is a German former professional football player and manager. A defender, he won seven Bundesliga titles in his 15-year club career with Bayern Munich. He also represented the West Germany nat ...

gave Schäfer the chance to shine in his first Bundesliga game against Borussia Mönchengladbach in March 2002. Despite playing a good game, Schäfer still remained as second choice as Augenthaler still considered Kampa his first choice keeper. When the club was

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

the following year, Schäfer had played three games for the Franconian side. At the start of the 2003–04 season, Nürnberg were plagued by financial trouble and looking to cash in on several players including Kampa. Manager

Wolfgang Wolf Wolfgang Wolf (born 24 September 1957) is a German football coach and a former player. Career Wolf was born in Tiefenthal. As a player, he spent twelve seasons in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Stuttgarter Kickers. Coaching car ...

appointed Schäfer as the first choice goalkeeper as he expected Kampa to leave the club before August 2003. However, Kampa was not sold but Schäfer remained the number one goalkeeper. He stayed in this position throughout the entire season despite substantial fan backing for his rival, Kampa. Even after Kampa was sold to Mönchengladbach before the 2004–05 season, which saw Nürnberg back in the top flight, Schäfer still had to fight off skepticism in his abilities from parts of the Nürnberg supporters. He answered his critics by showing substantial improvements throughout the following two seasons and was voted skipper of the Nürnberg team before the start of the 2006–07 season.

VfB Stuttgart

In July 2007, he moved to Nürnberg's Bundesliga rival

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 S ...

, making his debut for them on 10 August against

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 ...

. However, his performances were not as they were expected to be and he could not live up to the expectations. In summer 2008, he was replaced by

Jens Lehmann Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...

as Stuttgart's number one keeper.

Return to Nürnberg

In summer 2008, Schäfer returned to 1. FC Nürnberg and immediately became number one keeper again.

Honours

;1. FC Nürnberg *

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 ...

: 2006–07 * Promotions to the

in 2003–04 and 2008–09

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schafer, Raphael 1979 births Living people German footballers Hannover 96 players VfB Lübeck players 1. FC Nürnberg players VfB Stuttgart players People from Kędzierzyn-Koźle Polish emigrants to Germany German people of Polish descent Polish people of German descent Silesian-German people Citizens of Germany through descent Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Association football goalkeepers