Björn Mehnert (born 24 August 1976) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and a former player who played as a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Mehnert began his career with his hometown club,

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, and progressed through the reserve team, being promoted to the first-team squad of the then-European champions in 1997. He made his debut in the second leg of the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, replacing Steffen Freund as a 20th-minute substitute, and made three appearances in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, and one in the Champions League, against

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

. Mehnert left Dortmund at the end of the 1997–98 season, joining ambitious

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

side

LR Ahlen Rot Weiss Ahlen is a football in Germany, German football club based in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 2006 the club was known as ''LR Ahlen'' for its major sponsor, but underwent a name change when the sponsor withdrew its support after th ...

, but returned six months later for another couple of seasons in Dortmund's reserve team. In 2002, he signed for

Wuppertaler SV Wuppertaler SV is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. The city was founded in the year of 1880 by the union of a number of smaller towns including Elberfeld, Barmen, Vohwinkel, Cr ...

, where he spent four and a half seasons, leaving in January 2007 to join

Preußen Münster Preußen or Preussen is the German word for Prussia. It also refers to: Ships * Preußen (ship), ''Preußen'' (ship), windjammer built in 1902 * SMS Preußen (1873), SMS ''Preußen'' (1873), armored frigate * SMS Preußen (1903), SMS ''Preußen ...

. Six months later he returned to Wuppertal to play for the reserve team, before joining amateur side

Westfalia Rhynern Westfalia Rhynern is a German association football club from the district of Rhynern in the city of Hamm, Westphalia. History The club was established in 1935 as ''Turn- und Sportverein Rhynern'', but disappeared after two years when, like man ...

. In 2010, he was appointed as player-manager of SV Hohenlimburg, before returning to manage Rhynern a year later, having retired. He also works for

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section. The footba ...

, in the capacity of sports

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and video analysis.

References

External links

* 1976 births Living people German men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Borussia Dortmund II players Borussia Dortmund players Rot Weiss Ahlen players Wuppertaler SV players SC Preußen Münster players Bundesliga players German football managers Rot Weiss Ahlen managers Footballers from Dortmund {{Germany-footy-defender-1970s-stub