Jörn Lenz

Jörn Lenz (born 12 April 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Lenz had four different spells with BFC Dynamo during his professional playing career and has continued to serve as part of the club's backroom staff since retiring in 2008. Lenz played a total of 374 matches for BFC Dynamo between 1988 and 2008. He made two appearances for BFC Dynamo in the 1989-90 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Career

Early career

Lenz was born in Warnemünde. He began playing football for the youth teams of enterprise sports community BSG Schiffahrt/Hafen Rostock in Rostock. He was admitted into a Children and Youth Sports School (KJS) in 1981 and then taken over by football club FC Hansa Rostock. Lenz then joined the youth academy of BFC Dynamo in 1985. He was promoted to the reserve team of BFC Dynamo in 1987. Lenz made 54 appearances with the BFC Dynamo II in the second tier DDR-Liga between 1987 and 1989.

BFC Dynamo

Lenz made his first appearance with the first team of BFC Dynamo as a 19-year-old in the first round of the 1988–89 FDGB-Pokal against BSG Energie Cottbus II on 9 September 1988. He started the match as a substitute and was exchanged for Waldemar Ksienzyk in the 80th minute. He was thus given the opportunity to play alongside players such as Andreas Thom, Thomas Doll and Frank Rohde. Lenz then made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga against BSG Energie Cottbus on 5 May 1989. BFC Dynamo won the 1988–89 FDGB-Pokal. The team was set to play the first ever DFV-Supercup against SG Dynamo Dresden on 5 August 1989. Lenz started the match as a substitute, but was exchanged for Jörg Fügner in the 77th minute. BFC Dynamo won the match 4–1 and became the first and only winner of the DFV-Supercup in the history of East German football.

Lenz then made his international debut for BFC Dynamo in the return leg of the first round of the 1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup against Valur on 26 September 1989. He started the match as a substitute, but was exchanged for Heiko Bonan in the 33rd minute. Lenz scored the winning 2–1 goal for BFC Dynamo in the 83th minute. Lenz also played in the first leg of the second round against AS Monaco FC at the Stade Louis II on 17 October 1989. AS Monaco FC was coached by Arsène Wenger and fielded prominent players such as George Weah at the time. Lenz started the match in the starting line-up, but was exchanged for Eike Küttner in the 46th minute. He missed the return leg against AS Monaco FC due to an injury.

Lenz made 12 appearances for BFC Dynamo in the 1989–90 DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo was rebranded as FC Berlin on 19 February 1990. Lenz played five matches for FC Berlin the 1990 Intertoto Cup. Jürgen Bogs returned as coach at the beginning of the 1990–91 season. Lenz was recurringly included in the starting line-up and made 16 appearances for FC Berlin in the 1990–91 NOFV-Oberliga. He made 23 appearances for FC Berlin in the 1991–92 NOFV-Oberlig Nord and played all six matches for FC Berlin in the 1991–92 2. Bundesliga play-offs. However, FC Berlin failed to win promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the second season in a row. Lenz left FC Berlin for local rival Tennis Borussia Berlin after the season.

Tennis Borussia Berlin

Lenz joined Tennis Borussia Berlin in the 1992–93 season. At Tennis Borussia Berlin, he reunited with former teammate Bodo Rudwaleit. The former goalkeeper of BFC Dynamo and ten times East German champion Rudwaleit was the goalkeeper of Tennis Borussia Berlin at the time. Tennis Borussia Berlin reached the final of the 1992–93 Berlin Cup. The team defeated Türkiyemspor Berlin 2–0 in the final at the Mommsenstadion on 6 May 1993. Tennis Borussia Berlin also won the 1992–93 NOFV-Oberliga Nord. But the team finished the 1992–94 2. Bundesliga play-offs on second place. However, the winner 1. FC Union Berlin was denied a license and Tennis Borussia Berlin was therefore allowed to advance to the 2. Bundesliga instead. Lenz made his debut in the 2. Bundesliga against 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the on 27 July 1993.

Tennis Borussia Berlin was qualificied for the 1993–94 DFB-Pokal as a team in the 2. Bundesliga. Lenz made his debut in the DFB-Pokal in the second round of the 1993–94 DFB-Pokal against ASV Neumarkt on 24 August 1993. Lenz made 11 appearances for Tennis Borussia Berlin in the 1993–94 2. Bundesliga. He made a brief return to FC Berlin at the end of the 1993–94 season and played nine matches for FC Berlin in the 1993–94 NOFV-Oberliga Nord. Tennis Borussa Berlin finished the 1993–94 2. Bundesliga on 17th place and was immediately relegated to the Regionalliga Nordost. Lenz became regular player in Tennis Borussia Berlin in the Regionalliga Nordost. The team won the 1995–96 Regionalliga Nordost, but was defeated by VfB Oldenburg in the Play-offs for the 2. Bundesliga. The play-offs were lost after a 2–1 goal to VfB Oldenburg on stoppage time in the return leg. Lenz has described the defeat in the play-offs as his hardest sporting moment. Lenz left Tennis Borussia Berlin for FC Energie Cottbus after the 1996–97 season. He had made 100 appearances for Tennis Borussia Berlin in the Regionalliga Nordost between 1994 and 1997.

Return to FC Berlin

Lenz joined FC Energie Cottbus in the 1997–98 season. However, he was sparingly used and played only two matches for FC Energie Cottbus in the 1997–98 2. Bundesliga. Lenz returned to FC Berlin during the winter break. He would be a key player in the team for several seasons to come. Lenz became the new team captain of FC Berlin in the 1998–99 Regionalliga Nordost. FC Berlin reverted to its old club name BFC Dynamo during the season. BFC Dynamo reached the final of the 1998–99 Berlin Cup. The team defeated Berlin Türkspor 1965 4–1 in the final at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 11 May 1999. Lenz was team captain of BFC Dynamo also in the following season. BFC Dynamo was qualified for the 1999–2000 DFB-Pokal as winner of the 1998–99 Berlin Cup. The team lost 2–0 to DSC Arminia Bielefeld in the second of the 1999–2000 DFB-Pokal in front of 2,400 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 7 August 1999 The team finished the 1999–2000 Regionalliga Nordost on 17th place and was relegated to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord.

VfB Leipzig

BFC Dynamo dominated the 2000–01 NOFV-Oberliga Nord. The team had only suffered three losses and conceded 17 goals during the league season. However, BFC Dynamo was defeated by 1. FC Magdeburg in the play-offs for the Regionalliga. And it was now also clear that the club was in serious financial difficulties. Insolvency proceeding were opened against BFC Dynamo on 1 November 2001. The club now had to continue under amateur conditions and the team was going to be automatically relegated to the Verbandsliga Berlin. Lenz left BFC Dynamo for VfB Leipzig