Jens Melzig (born 28 September 1965) is a former professional German
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
defender.
Career
Born in
Cottbus
Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...
, Melzig began his career with
Energie Cottbus
FC Energie Cottbus ( Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, Energie played six seasons i ...
, helping the club earn promotion to the
DDR-Oberliga in 1986, and again in 1988 after they had bounced straight back down to the
DDR-Liga
The DDR-Liga (English: GDR League or ''East German League'') was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany), bei ...
. After
German reunification, Cottbus failed to qualify for the professional leagues, so in 1991 Melzig joined
Dynamo Dresden
Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Ka ...
, who had entered the Bundesliga. He was a first-team regular in two seasons with Dynamo, before joining Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen for another two-year spell, in which he was mostly used as a backup. In 1995, Melzig joined 2. Bundesliga side Chemnitzer FC, making twenty appearances as the club were relegated to the third-tier Regionalliga Nordost, where they joined Energie Cottbus, whom Melzig promptly re-signed for.
Melzig's second spell with his hometown club would only last one year, but it would be a hugely successful one. He scored seven goals as Cottbus won the division, and beat Hannover 96 in a playoff to earn promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. They also reached the final of the DFB Pokal, where they were defeated by Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart. Melzig did not join his teammates in the second division, though, opting to stay in the Regionalliga Nordost and join big-spending Tennis Borussia Berlin. Another promotion followed, and Melzig spent two seasons playing for TeBe in the second tier, retiring in 2000.
Honours
* DFB-Pokal finalist: 1996–97 DFB-Pokal, 1996–97
References
External links
*
1965 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Cottbus
German footballers
East German footballers
Association football defenders
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
FC Energie Cottbus players
Dynamo Dresden players
Bayer 04 Leverkusen players
Chemnitzer FC players
Tennis Borussia Berlin players
DDR-Oberliga players
Footballers from Brandenburg
{{Germany-footy-defender-1960s-stub