Benno Schmitz (born 17 November 1994) is a German 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 football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern () is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system, b ...

club

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 ...

Career

Schmitz started playing football at local

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

club SV Waldperlach. In 2001, he joined the youth ranks of

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

where he eventually was promoted to their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in 2012. Having failed to establish himself at the first team, he left the club and signed for Austrian champion Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2014. On 23 August 2014, he made his

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

debut in a 5–0 home win against Rheindorf Altach by coming on as a substitute for Christian Schwegler after 83 minutes. In 2018, after a quiet stint with Leipzig, Schmitz was transferred to newly relegated side

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 ...

for a fee of €1.5 million. In March 2022, having established himself in the club's starting line-up during the 2021–22 season, Schmitz extended his contract at Köln until June 2024. On 25 July 2024, he joined

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

side

Grasshopper Club Zurich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional multisports club based in Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hoppers''. The oldest and b ...

on a free transfer. He joins the Swiss record champions on a three-year deal until 2027. On 23 June 2025, it was confirmed that Schmitz would return to his native Germany and join

with immediate effect, the same team with whom he made his professional debut. This moves comes due to familial reasons. He made 30 appearances for Grasshoppers and supplied seven assists.

Career statistics

Honours

; RB Salzburg (4): *

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 ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16

References

External links

Eurosport profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, Benno 1994 births Living people German men's footballers Footballers from Munich Men's association football fullbacks Germany men's youth international footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Swiss Super League players 2. Liga (Austria) players FC Bayern Munich II players FC Red Bull Salzburg players FC Liefering players RB Leipzig players 1. FC Köln players Grasshopper Club Zurich players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 21st-century German sportsmen