Michael Martin Hefele (; born 1 September 1990) 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 ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He is now an assistant manager at Al Riyadh SC.

Career

In Germany

Hefele made his debut for

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...

in 2010. He went on to play for

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following r ...

and was on loan at

Wacker Burghausen SV Wacker Burghausen is a German football club based in Burghausen, Bavaria and is part of one of the nation's largest sports clubs with some 6,000 members participating in two dozen different sports. History The club was founded on 13 Novemb ...

. He played two seasons for

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 ...

scoring ten times in 72 appearances in all competitions and became the club captain.

Huddersfield Town

In July 2016, Hefele joined

English Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divis ...

side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Hefele scored his first goal for Huddersfield in a 1–1 draw with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

on 16 August 2016, just 26 seconds after coming off the bench, a Huddersfield record for the quickest time scored by a debutante in the club's 108-year history. On 28 January 2017, in a game against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, Hefele was substituted on as a striker in the 46th minute, coming on for

Elias Kachunga Elias Kachunga (born 22 April 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Cambridge United. Born in Germany, Kachunga represents the DR Congo national team. Early and personal life Born in Haan, Germany, Kachunga has a C ...

. He then scored two goals as striker. Eight days later, on 5 February 2017, Hefele scored the winning goal in the 89th minute in a 2–1 victory against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Nottingham Forest

On 9 August 2018, Hefele joined English Championship side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for Forest on 14 August 2018 in the first round of the

2018–19 EFL Cup The 2018–19 EFL Cup was the 59th season of the EFL Cup. Also known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, the competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. The first round was playe ...

against Bury. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes with Forest going through to the second round 10–9 on penalties, one of which Hefele scored for Forest. Hefele was frozen out of the Forest first team squad, making his last appearance for the club on 1 January 2019. He saw out his contract and was officially released at the end of the 2020–21 season. On 25 July 2021, Hefele announced his retirement from playing professional football due to "medical reasons".

Post-retirement

On 26 July 2021, one day after announcing his retirement, he rejoined

in a newly created role combining coaching with hospitality and ambassadorial roles at the club. On 23 December 2022 he joined

Carlos Corberán Carlos Corberán Vallet (born 7 April 1983) is a Spanish Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who is currently head coach of La Liga club Valencia CF, Valencia. Previously ...

at West Bromwich Albion in a First Team Assistant Coach role under Corberán.

Career statistics

Honours

Huddersfield Town *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-o ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hefele, Michael 1990 births Living people German men's footballers Men's association football defenders SpVgg Unterhaching II players SpVgg Unterhaching players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players SV Wacker Burghausen players Dynamo Dresden players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players English Football League players Premier League players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England People from Pfaffenhofen (district) Footballers from Upper Bavaria 21st-century German sportsmen