Florian Grillitsch (born 7 August 1995) is an Austrian 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for German side

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

and the Austria national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Neunkirchen, Austria Neunkirchen () is the capital of the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. As of 2020 it has a population of 12,721. Geography Neunkirchen is situated in the Steinfeld region of the Vienna Basin, part of Industrievie ...

on 7 August 1995, Grillitsch played for SVSF Pottschach and St. Pölten in his youth football career.

Werder Bremen

2013–15

Grillitsch joined

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 ...

on 1 July 2013. He split the 2013–14 season between the Werder Bremen U19 team and

Werder Bremen II SV Werder Bremen II is the reserve team of SV Werder Bremen. It plays in the Bremenliga, the fifth level of the German football league system, and has qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal on nineteen occasions. It also has won the Germ ...

. He made 15 appearances in the A-Junioren-Bundesliga Nord/Nordost scoring 11 goals and made five appearances in the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...

for Werder Bremen II. In the 2014–15 season, Grillitsch made 26 appearances scoring nine goals for Werder's reserve team.

2015–16 season

Grillitsch made his first team debut during the 2015–16 season. He played the full 120 minutes including extra-time in the 2–0 win against

Würzburger Kickers Bukettraube (''/bu-ket-trau-be/''), also called Bouquet Blanc, Bouquettraube, Sylvaner Musqué or Bukettrebe, is a variety of white grape of German origin. Sebastian Englerth is supposed to have created it in Randersacker in the 19th century, ...

in the first round of the

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 ...

on 8 August 2015, notably assisting

Anthony Ujah Anthony Ujah (born 14 October 1990) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Nigeria national team. Early life Ujah grew up in the little town of Ugbokolo in Nigeria's Benue State. Club career Ujah began his caree ...

for 1–0. His first

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 ...

match was a 3–0 loss to

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 ...

on matchday one on 15 August 2015. He replaced the veteran

Clemens Fritz Clemens Fritz (born 7 December 1980) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back and as a defensive midfielder. He is mostly known for his 11-year spell at Werder Bremen. Having begun his career at Rot-Weiß Erfurt an ...

after 70 minutes at 2–0. He also played for Werder Bremen II during the 2015–16 season. Grillitsch achieved his first assist in the

as Werder beat Mainz 3–1 on 24 October 2015 setting up

Fin Bartels Fin Bartels (born 7 February 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played either as midfielder or as a striker. Club career Early career Bartels began his career at TSV Russee and later played for SpVgg Eidertal Molfsee before ...

for the third goal. He played the full 90 minutes. Four days later, Grillitsch prominently featured in Werder's 1–0 second-round DFB-Pokal victory over 1. FC Köln, providing a major goal-scoring chance for Ujah, playing multiple through-balls and almost scoring. Afterwards, he was voted "Man of the match" by the club's fans.

2016–17 season

On 18 March 2017, Grillitsch scored his second goal of the 2016–17 season in a 3–0 win against

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, a match that saw all three of Werder Bremen's Austrian players score in the club's highest win of the season.

1899 Hoffenheim

Grillitsch with Hoffenheim in May 2019 On 16 January 2017, Grillitsch signed a contract with

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern for ...

until 2021, starting from the 2017–18 season. He made his debut for the club in the league match against

Bayer 04 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 association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

(1–1 draw) on August 26, 2017. Grillitsch scored his first goal for 1899 Hoffenheim on 2 November that year in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

against

Istanbul Başakşehir Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in the ...

. However, Hoffenheim finished last in the group behind Istanbul Başakşehir,

SC Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

and PFK Ludogorets. Things went better in the

, with a fourth-place finish in 2017–18, and a group stage spot in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. The following seasons, Grillitsch finished eighth, seventh, eleventh and eighth again with Hoffenheim, in his five seasons at the club, where he clocked up 151 appearances with eight goals and eleven assists. Grillitsch was a starter in the vast majority of those matches. But in the summer of 2022, Grillitsch let his contract expire with the club.

Ajax and Hoffenheim again

After moving to then Dutch champions

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

in September 2022, Grillitsch returned to Hoffenheim after a year on a free transfer, signing a contract until 2026.

Loan to Valladolid

On 3 February 2025, Grillitsch was loaned to Spanish side

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

for the remainder of the 2024–25 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Grillitsch goal.''

References

External links

Profile
at the AFC Ajax website {{DEFAULTSORT:Grillitsch, Florian Living people 1995 births Men's association football midfielders Austrian men's footballers Austria men's international footballers Austria men's youth international footballers Austria men's under-21 international footballers Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Eredivisie players La Liga players SV Werder Bremen players SV Werder Bremen II players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players AFC Ajax players Real Valladolid players UEFA Euro 2020 players Austrian expatriate men's footballers Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands People from Neunkirchen District, Austria Footballers from Lower Austria Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Austrian sportsmen Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain