Ralf Loose (; born 5 January 1963) 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 ...

coach and former player who last managed Swiss club

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

. He is most noted for his stint with the

Liechtenstein national football team The Liechtenstein national football team () is the national Association football, football team of the Principality of Liechtenstein and is controlled by the Liechtenstein Football Association. The organisation is known as the ''Liechtenstein ...

Playing career

Loose played as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

between 1981 and 1986 for

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 also for a year for

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

. Between 1987 and 1994 he was at

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 ...

. He has also been captain for the

Germany national under-21 football team The Germany national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Germany in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and is controlled by the German Football Association (DFB), the governing body of football in Germany. Before th ...

Managing career

Between 1996 and 1998 Loose was the coach for the Liechtenstein Under-18s team. On 1 July 1998, he was appointed to Liechtenstein national team manager. Ralf held this position until 29 July 2003. On 1 July 2004, he became coach at a regional team

Sportfreunde Siegen Sportfreunde Siegen is a German association football club based in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. After going through insolvency in 2008, the first team was forcibly relegated to the fifth-tier NRW-Liga. Promotion to fourth division Regionallig ...

. After a brief spell with FC St. Gallen he returned to

. Ralf Loose replaced Rainer Hörgl as coach at

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

in October 2007. Loose was sacked in April 2008, after a dismal season that has left Augsburg teetering close to relegation. He was appointed as manager of

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 ...

in April 2011. He earned promotion in his first season, after a playoff victory over

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 ...

, but was sacked in December 2012, after a poor start to the 2012–13 season. Loose was appointed manager of

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

club,

FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stad ...

on 1 July 2019

References

1963 births Living people German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Rot-Weiß Oberhausen players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players German football managers Footballers from Dortmund FC Augsburg managers FC St. Gallen managers German expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Liechtenstein German expatriate sportspeople in Liechtenstein Expatriate football managers in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Liechtenstein national football team managers Dynamo Dresden managers Sportfreunde Siegen managers 2. Bundesliga managers SC Preußen Münster managers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders 3. Liga managers FC Winterthur managers 20th-century German sportsmen {{Germany-footy-defender-1960s-stub