Markus Anfang (; born 12 June 1974) is a German retired

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 lea ...

and manager who last coached 2. Bundesliga club of

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

Playing career

Anfang's career began in the late 80s at the northern Cologne low tier (

Kreisliga The Kreisliga (), along with the ''Kreisoberliga'' () and the ''Kreisklasse'' (), are the lowest set of divisions in the German football league system, set at step 8 and below. Structure Whereas the top amateur divisions are organised by the 21 ...

) club KSV Heimersdorf. His first steps in the professional football league were done in 1995 with

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

. Anfang also played for

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

before he decided to move to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

where he played for

FC Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared. History Tirol Innsbruck was formed after the dissolvement of FC Swarovski Tirol in 1992 which w ...

. He won the

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

in three consecutive years between 2000 and 2002. In the 2002–03 season he moved to

. Having received as many as eight offers for transferring after disagreements at Kaiserslautern, he moved to

FC 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 ...

in 2003 before joining

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

in 2004, who he helped to the top division. He left Duisburg in 2006, returning to Düsseldorf, and then

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, before signing for

Eintracht Trier SV Eintracht-Trier 05 e. V., commonly known as Eintracht Trier (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club was established on 11 March 1948 through the merger of Westmark 05 Trier ...

in 2009.

Managerial career

After coaching SC Kapellen-Erft in one year with much success, Anfang was offered the job as youth coach in the academy of

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. He worked as youth coach of the academy from January 2013 to June 2013, and got the job as coach for the under-17 team. On 29 August 2016, he was appointed as the new coach of

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

. On 17 April 2018,

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

announced he would become the new head coach for the 2018–19 season. His final match was a promotion–relegation match against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. He finished with a record of 31 wins, 26 draws, and 14 losses. In the summer of 2018 he moved to

, just to be sacked on 27 April 2019, placed first in the league table. He finished with a record of 19 wins, six draws, and eight losses. For the 2020–21 season, he moved to

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

. He finished with a record of 17 wins, seven draws, and 13 losses. In June 2021, it was announced Anfang would become manager of

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

for the 2021–22 season. He resigned on 20 November 2021 due public prosecutors’ investigations into allegations that Anfang had used a forged

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

vaccine certificate. The sports court of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

(DFB) issued a professional ban in January 2022 retrospectively from 20 November 2021 for one year. He also has to pay a fine of €20,000. He finished with a record of five wins, four draws, and five losses. In the summer of 2022, he was appointed by

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

. Dynamo Dresden started the 2022–23 season with a 4–3 loss in the

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 ...

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

. Dynamo Dresden finished in sixth place in the 2022–23 3. Liga season, one point behind promotion and two spots behind the Promotion playoff, and 1 point and 3 spots behind direct promotion. He was sacked on 20 April 2024. On 29 May 2024, it was announced that Anfang would become head coach of

on 1 July. However, he was dismissed from his position along with his assistant Florian Junge on 22 April 2025.

Managerial record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anfang, Markus 1974 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Cologne FC Energie Cottbus players German expatriate men's footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Fortuna Düsseldorf players German men's footballers MSV Duisburg players FC Schalke 04 players FC Wacker Innsbruck (2002) players SV Eintracht Trier 05 players Expatriate men's footballers in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Austria 3. Liga managers Holstein Kiel managers 1. FC Köln managers SV Darmstadt 98 managers SV Werder Bremen managers Dynamo Dresden managers 1. FC Kaiserslautern managers 2. Bundesliga managers German football managers West German men's footballers FC Tirol Innsbruck players