Klaus Linnenbruegger is a German former

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 coach who briefly played professionally in Germany and coached Canadian clubs.

Club career

Early career

Linnenbruegger began his professional career in his native city of

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

with VFB03 Bielefeld at the junior level and finally at the senior level.

Canada

In 1971, he emigrated to Canada and landed in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Ontario where he initially played in the local circuit known as the Ottawa and District Soccer Association's first division with Ottawa Centennials. He played in the inter-provincial Quebec National Soccer League in 1973 after signing with Ottawa St.Anthony Italia. Linnenbruegger re-signed with Ottawa for the 1974 season. In the 1975 season, he finished as Ottawa's top goalscorer and assisted the team in securing a playoff berth. In the opening round of the postseason, he contributed two goals against St. Viataeur which advanced the club to the next round. Ultimately, St. Anthony would secure the championship title after defeating Haitiana where Linnenbruegger scored a goal in a 4-2 victory. Ottawa would re-sign Linnenbruegger for the 1976 season. Throughout the season, he participated in the O' Keefe Cup which determined Quebec's entry in the national

Challenge Trophy The Challenge Trophy () is the trophy presented to Canada's men's amateur soccer champions as part of Canada Soccer's annual National Championships. The men's competition was created with the inauguration of the Dominion of Canada Football As ...

tournament. He played in the semifinal round of the tournament where he recorded a goal against Montreal Elio Blues where Ottawa advanced to the finals. St. Anthony would secure the title after defeating Montreal Lachine.

Maple Leaf Almrausch

After four seasons with Ottawa St. Anthony, he departed from the club in order to return to the Ottawa and District League to serve in the capacity of a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for Ottawa Maple Leaf Almrausch. In his debut season at the helm, he led the team to a city championship and the league cup. He returned for the 1978 season in the same role. In his second season with Ottawa, he successfully defended the league title and also added the Eastern Ontario Senior Challenge Cup. In 1979, during the winter season, he led the indoor team to the championship finals where they were defeated by Ottawa Royals. In 1980, Ottawa qualified for the

tournament where in the semifinal round, Linnenbruegger contributed a goal against Halifax City Privateers which helped the team advance to the finals. In the national tournament final, Ottawa was defeated by Saint John Drydock.

Managerial career

Linnenbruegger's first experience with coaching occurred in the Ottawa and District League with Maple Leaf Almrausch as a player-coach throughout the late 1970s.

Ottawa Wizards

He returned to managing in 2002 to become the head coach for the

Ottawa Wizards Ottawa Wizards was a Canadian soccer club that played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) from 2001 to 2003. The team's home stadium was the OZ Optics Stadium. Though the team had a relatively short tenure with the CPSL, the club do ...

in the inter-provincial Canadian Professional Soccer League. In his first tenure with Ottawa, he led the club to a league treble. In the Canada Cup tournament, the Wizards defeated

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

for the title. In the postseason he guided Ottawa to a championship title after defeating the

North York Astros The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Ca ...

. Linnenbruegger would be reinstated as head coach for Ottawa in early September of 2003 after the departure of Hubert Busby, Jr. The Wizards would clinch their division and secure a playoff berth.

Ottawa Fury

In 2011, he returned to the coaching scene as an assistant coach under head coach Steve Payne for the Ottawa Fury in the American-based

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. After the dismissal of Steve Payne midway through the season, he was named the interim head coach on June 17, 2011. Ultimately, the Fury failed to secure a playoff berth. After the conclusion of the season, he was succeeded by Stephen O' Kane.

Honors

Manager

Ottawa Wizards *

CPSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports lea ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional ...

* Canadian Professional Soccer League Eastern Conference:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linnenbruegger, Klaus Living people German men's footballers German football managers Canadian soccer coaches Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Footballers from Bielefeld Men's association football players not categorized by position Year of birth missing (living people)