Stefan Leitl (born 29 August 1977) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who is the current head coach of

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 ...

. He has managed FC Ingolstadt II, FC Ingolstadt and Greuther Fürth. He has played for Bayern Munich (A),

SV Lohhof SV Lohhof is a German association football club from the Lohhof district of Unterschleißheim, Bavaria, north of Munich. The footballers are part of a sports club that includes departments for athletics, badminton, gymnastics, martial arts, sw ...

, 1. FC Nürnberg,

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 ...

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

, and FC Ingolstadt.

Playing career

Leitl played as a youth for

FC Ismaning FC Ismaning is a German association football club based in Ismaning by Munich, Bavaria. History The 700 member club was founded in March 1921 and played in lower-tier competition until the mid-90s when the footballers advanced for the first ti ...

, before joining the youth setup 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, ...

in 1987. He left the club to join

, but returned, and began playing for the

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 1995. A year later he was promoted to the senior squad, but did not make any first-team appearances, continuing to play for the reserves in the Regionalliga Süd. In 1998, he left FC Bayern, joining local amateur side

, with whom he won the

Oberliga Bayern The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Obe ...

, securing promotion to the Regionalliga. He left, however, joining 1. FC Nürnberg, then of the 2. Bundesliga. After two years Nürnberg were promoted to 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 ...

as champions, where Leitl found his opportunities limited – after just five appearances he left the club half-way through the 2001–02 season, dropping back down a division to return to Unterhaching. He could not prevent them being relegated down to the Regionalliga, but played in 33 of 36 games the following season as they won the title, finishing ahead of Jahn Regensburg on goals scored. Leitl had now been a champion at the top four levels of

German football Association football, Football is the most popular sport in Germany with 57% of the population declaring interest in watching it. The German Football Association ( or ) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (ro ...

. The following season Leitl had lost his place, and only played 13 games, mostly as a substitute. He left the club in July 2004, joining Darmstadt, where he spent three seasons in the Regionalliga, leaving in 2007 after the club were relegated. He returned to

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

to sign for

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußballclub Ingolstadt 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolsta ...

, where he established himself as a key player, captaining the club to promotion as league runners-up. Ingolstadt were relegated after one season, but bounced back in 2010, beating

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from ...

in a playoff to return to the 2. Bundesliga. Leitl started the 2010–11 season with a goal in a

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 ...

match against

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

, the first goal at Ingolstadt's new

Audi Sportpark Audi-Sportpark ( is a 15,800-capacity stadium in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. It is primarily used for football and is the home of FC Ingolstadt 04. In European competitions, the stadium is known as FC Ingolstadt 04 Arena due to advertising ru ...

. He retired at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Managerial career

Leitl was manager of

FC Ingolstadt 04 II The FC Ingolstadt 04 II is a German association football club from the city of Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It is the reserve team of FC Ingolstadt. History FC Ingolstadt 04 was formed in 2004 through a merger of two local rivals, MTV Ingolstadt and ES ...

between 16 September 2014 and 21 August 2017. The first match for Leitl as manager of FC Ingolstadt 04 II was a 4–2 win against

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 ...

on 19 September 2014. FC Ingolstadt 04 II finished the 2014–15 season in fifth place. Ingolstadt II finished the following season in 11th place. Ingolstadt II finished the 2016–17 season in eighth place. His final match for Ingolstadt II was a 2–0 win against 1860 Rosenheim on 18 August 2017 because Leitl replaced Maik Walpurgis on 22 August 2017 as manager of the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

. He was sacked on 22 September 2018. He finished with a record of 14 wins, 11 draws, and 15 losses. On 5 February 2019, he was appointed as the new head coach of Greuther Fürth as a replacement for Damir Burić. Under his management, the club finished second in the 2020–21 season of the 2. Bundesliga, and Greuther Fürth gained promotion to the

for the second time in the club's history. On 27 April 2022, Leitl announced that he would leave Greuther Fürth at the end of the 2021–22 season. On 8 May 2022, he was announced as the new head coach for

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

starting with the 2022–23 season. He was sacked during the winter break in the 2024–25 season. In February 2025, he was signed by

Managerial record

Honours

: 1996–97 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

: 1997–98 *

: 1998–99 * 2. Bundesliga: 2000–01 * Regionalliga Süd: 2002–03

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leitl, Stefan 1977 births Living people German men's footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Bayern Munich II players FC Bayern Munich footballers 1. FC Nürnberg players SpVgg Unterhaching players SV Darmstadt 98 players FC Ingolstadt 04 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga managers 3. Liga players FC Ingolstadt 04 II managers FC Ingolstadt 04 managers SpVgg Greuther Fürth managers Hannover 96 managers Footballers from Munich German football managers Hertha BSC managers