Uwe Gospodarek (born 6 August 1973) is a German footballer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He works as goalkeeper coach for Bundesliga side

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

Football career

Gospodarek started playing professionally with

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

, but would only manage seven first team appearances during four seasons, being barred by two internationals: first Raimond Aumann, then Oliver Kahn. Afterwards, he moved to VfL Bochum, helping it move straight from the second division into the UEFA Cup, as he only missed two league matches combined. After an unassuming stint with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Gospodarek resumed his career in the regional leagues, with

SSV Jahn Regensburg Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V., commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The club is based on a gymnastics club founded in 1886 a ...

, joining modest second-tier outfit

SV Wacker Burghausen SV Wacker Burghausen is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Burghausen, Altötting, Burghausen, Bavaria and is part of one of the nation's largest sports clubs with some 6,000 members participating in two dozen different sports. ...

in 2003–04. In 2007, he moved to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

, being released midway through his second season and retired in July 2009, joining former side Wacker Burghausen as goalkeepers' coach. On 20 December 2009, Gospodarek announced his comeback to active football joining

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, where he filled the vacant place after the death of

Robert Enke Robert Enke (24 August 1977 – 10 November 2009) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Mönchengladbach, Benfica, and Barcelona, but made the majority of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 ...

. He retired at the end of the 2009–10 campaign, without any appearances.

After retirement

On 8 August 2010, Gospodarek was appointed as the new goalkeeper coach of Germany U21 national team. He left this post in October 2013, and was replaced by Klaus Thomforde. In July 2012, Gospodarek got the job as youth goalkeeper coach at

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. Having worked for VfB Stuttgart since 2019, he signed with

in the summer of 2021.

Honours

* Bundesliga: 1993–94

References

External links

* 1973 births Living people German footballers Association football goalkeepers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players FC Bayern Munich II players FC Bayern Munich footballers VfL Bochum players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players SSV Jahn Regensburg players SV Wacker Burghausen players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Hannover 96 players Germany under-21 international footballers FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff VfB Stuttgart non-playing staff 1. FC Köln non-playing staff People from Straubing Sportspeople from Lower Bavaria Footballers from Bavaria West German footballers {{Germany-footy-goalkeeper-stub