Simon Köpf (born March 25, 1987) is a retired German footballer who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and current manager of TSV Essingen.

Career

Köpf began his career with

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

, and made his debut in March 2007, when he replaced

Dennis Hillebrand Dennis Hillebrand (born 30 November 1979 in Leonberg) 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 ...

in a Regionalliga Süd match against

Bayern Munich II FC Bayern Munich II (''FC Bayern Munich Amateure'' until 2005) are the German reserve football teams, reserve team of Football in Germany, German association football club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, currently playing in the Regionalliga B ...

. He made a further four appearances in the 2006–07 season, and eighteen the following year as Aalen qualified for the new

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

. After failing to make a first-team appearance in the first half of the season, he signed for

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German footb ...

in January 2009, for whom he made nine appearances but was unable to prevent the club being relegated (along with Aalen). He made 43 appearances over the next two seasons, but missed almost the entire 2011–12 season due to injury: he only made one appearance, as a substitute for Vincenzo Marchese in the last minute of the season, as Kickers celebrated the Regionalliga Süd title with a 2–0 win against

. He was released by Kickers in July 2013 and signed for TSV Essingen.

Coaching career

Retiring at the end of 2018, Köpf was immediately hired as the assistant manager of TSV Essingen. On 10 March 2022 Köpf appointed as head coach on a temporary basis until the end of the season.TSV Essingen: Stephan Baierl muss gehen
remszeitung.de, 10 March 2022 However, he continued in the same position prior to the 2022-23 season.

References

External links

* 1987 births Living people German men's footballers VfR Aalen players Stuttgarter Kickers players 3. Liga players 1. FC Normannia Gmünd players Men's association football central defenders Sportspeople from Schwäbisch Gmünd Footballers from Stuttgart (region) German football managers 21st-century German sportsmen {{Germany-footy-defender-1980s-stub