Bernd Storck, HOM (born 25 January 1963) 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 football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and a professional football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He is the current manager of Cercle Brugge in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

, appointed for a second time following a brief second spell at

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

Club career

Storck made his player debut in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

with

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

as a defender. In the summer of 1983, he moved to

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 ...

, where he remained for six years. His biggest success as a pro was winning the 1988–89 DFB-Pokal. He played in 170 Bundesliga matches and scored eight goals.

Managerial career

After ending his playing career, he completed a manager's course and was an assistant coach with Borussia Dortmund,

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

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 ...

, and Partizan.

Almaty

In the middle of the 2008 season, he was appointed manager of Kazakh side FC Almaty to help the club avoid relegation in 2008.

Kazakhstan

At the same time he also managed Kazakhstan national under-21 team. Storck has complained about the state of the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

and the lack of cooperation he encountered from the local clubs' management. On 1 March 2010, Storck signed a new one-year contract as coach of Kazakhstan national team. Viktor Katkov, vice-president of

Football Federation of Kazakhstan The Kazakhstan Football Federation (KFF, ; ) is the governing body of Football (soccer), football in Kazakhstan. It organizes the football league, the Kazakhstan Premier League, and the Kazakhstan national football team. It is based in Astana. P ...

, said that "Our young team are progressing with every match, as shown by the games against Croatia and Ukraine at the end of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Bernd's football philosophy is a modern one and we are sure it will promote further improvement." Storck added: "I am proud to have the opportunity to continue my work with the Football Federation of Kazakhstan. We have made progress and I am keen to continue working with the team. It is interesting for me to see young footballers develop, and the whole of Kazakh football is developing right now and its status in Europe improving. I hope our work together will bear fruit and that the team can do well for the fans in Euro 2012 qualifying." He was sacked on 16 October 2010 after a poor start to

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

, losing to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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 ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. His final game was a 3–0 defeat against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Sayan Khamitzhanov, general secretary of the Football Federation of Kazakhstan said that "We can see the team progressing because young players are gaining important experience. However, he (Storck) had a task to collect at least three points in four matches and that was not done. That is why the federation has decided to turn to another coach."

Hungary U20

Storck was the coach for the Hungary national under-20 team at the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

. Hungary won their opening match against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

which was enough, as they went to lose to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the other group stage matches. However, in the round of 16, they were knocked out by eventual winners

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in a 2–1 extra time loss.

Hungary

On 20 July 2015, he was appointed as the head coach of the Hungary national team after the resignation of Pál Dárdai, who became the manager of the

club, Hertha BSC. On 4 September 2015, Hungary drew 0–0 with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at the Groupama Arena, and three days later on 7 September 2015 Hungary drew with

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

. Storck fired the assistant coaches of the Hungary national team on 20 October 2015, including Imre Szabics, István Sallói and József Andrusch. Storck convinced his former teammate,

Andreas Möller Andreas Möller (born 2 September 1967) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the head of the youth department at Eintracht Frankfurt. From 1985 to 2004 Möller played in ...

, to help him preparing the national team against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs. Hungary qualified for the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

on 15 November 2015 after 44 years when Hungary was qualified for the

UEFA Euro 1972 The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972. Only four ...

. Hungary beat

in the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs 1–0. The only goal was scored by László Kleinheisler, who had not played a single match in the 2015–16 season in his club Videoton. On the return match, Storck's team beat Norway 2–1 and qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 finals. One day after the successful playoff match against Norway, Storck extended his contract with the

Hungarian Football Federation The Hungarian Football Federation (HFF) (, ) is the governing body of football and futsal in Hungary. It organizes the Hungarian league and the Hungary national team. The MLSZ is responsible for the Hungarian football league system, the men's a ...

until the end of the

. In an interview with the Hertha BSC's official website, Pál Dárdai, former head coach of Hungary, said that he built the base of the team, while Storck added his part to reach the finals of the UEFA Euro 2016. Storck was asked in an interview with ''

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

'' what his best decisions were since his appointment. He said that he would have liked to attack against Romania in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group F match at the Groupama Arena, to show his philosophy but he decided to defend because he did not have enough time before the match to rebuild the team. He also pointed out that the fact that he had nominated both

Gábor Király Gábor Ferenc Király (; born 1 April 1976) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In his 25-year-long playing career, Király spent most of his career in Germany and England. He signed for Hertha BSC in 199 ...

and Richárd Guzmics in the starting line-up had been a good decision. On 14 June 2016, Storck managed Hungary in the first group match in a 2–0 victory over Austria at the UEFA Euro 2016 Group F match at the

Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux The Matmut Atlantique, also known as the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux (, "New Bordeaux Stadium"), is a football stadium in Bordeaux, France. It is the home of Championnat National 2 club FC Girondins de Bordeaux and seats 42,115 spectators. The spon ...

. Three days later on 18 June 2016, his team drew 1–1 with

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. In the last group match Hungary drew 3–3 with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Parc Olympique Lyonnais Parc Olympique Lyonnais, known for sponsorship reasons as Groupama Stadium, is a 59,186-seat stadium in Décines-Charpieu, in the Metropolis of Lyon. The home of French football club Olympique Lyonnais (OL), it replaced their previous stadium, ...

on 22 June 2016. He offered his resignation on 15 June 2017 after a shocking 1–0 defeat against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

in the

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

match. However, the director of the Hungarian Football Federation did not accept his resignation, therefore Storck was confirmed in his position and was a given another opportunity to gain more points during the qualification process. On 17 October 2017, Storck lost his job in Hungary with mutual agreement.

Belgian Pro League

Since 2018, Storck has largely coached in Belgium, first taking charge of Excel Mouscron for the 2018-19 season, moving onto Cercle Brugge in October 2019. Cercle won their final four games to stay up, lying in 14th position when the campaign was ended early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. After a period in Slovakia with DAC Dunajská Streda, Storck was recalled to Belgium in December 2021 by Racing Genk, who had been runners-up for the 2020-21 season, but whose title challenge for the following campaign was faltering. He replaced John van den Brom. After a lacklustre campaign, Genk announced on 22 May 2022 that Storck and the club had mutually agreed to part ways. Three days after leaving Genk, Storck was hired by

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

for their 2022-23 campaign, but was dismissed just three months into the season, having picked up 14 points from their first 14 games of the season by October 2022. Within a month, Storck had been appointed by

for their relegation fight, taking over the club with them in 17th place, second-from-bottom in the league. After keeping the Kerels up at the end of the 2022-23 season, Storck left of his own accord. Having spent the 2023-24 season in Romania with Sepsi OSK, Storck returned for a second spell at Kortrijk in February 2025, again taking over in the midst of a relegation battle. Having saved the club's top-flight status previously, Storck was unable to prevent them from going down this time. 48 hours after Kortrijk's final game, he was re-signed by Cercle Brugge for the two legs of their promotion-relegation play-off final against Patro Eisden in a bid to keep them up.

Awards

On 15 March 2018, Storck was awarded with the Order of Merit of Hungary.

Career statistics

Club

Managerial

Honours

Player

Borussia Dortmund *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1988–89

Coach

Almaty *

Kazakhstan Cup The Kazakhstan Cup is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Kazakhstan Football (soccer), football, run by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan. The tournament was initially founded in 1936 as a competition for club ...

runner-up:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Storck, Bernd 1963 births Footballers from Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia Living people German men's footballers German football managers German expatriate football managers Germany men's under-21 international footballers VfL Bochum players Borussia Dortmund players Bundesliga players Kazakhstan national football team managers FK Partizan non-playing staff Hungary national football team managers Royal Excel Mouscron managers Expatriate football managers in Kazakhstan Expatriate football managers in Hungary Expatriate football managers in Serbia Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Slovakia Expatriate football managers in Romania German expatriate sportspeople in Hungary German expatriate sportspeople in Serbia German expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan German expatriate sportspeople in Belgium German expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia German expatriate sportspeople in Romania UEFA Euro 2016 managers Men's association football defenders Cercle Brugge K.S.V. managers FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda managers K.R.C. Genk managers K.A.S. Eupen managers K.V. Kortrijk managers Slovak First Football League managers Belgian Pro League managers Liga I managers West German men's footballers VfB Stuttgart non-playing staff Hertha BSC non-playing staff Borussia Dortmund non-playing staff VfL Wolfsburg non-playing staff Olympiacos F.C. non-playing staff