Torsten Ziegner (born 9 November 1977) 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Ziegner began his career with Carl Zeiss Jena, joining the club from amateur club BSG Mikroelektronik Neuhaus at aged 13. He was part of a successful Jena youth team alongside

Robert Enke Robert Enke (24 August 1977 – 10 November 2009) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Mönchengladbach, Benfica, and Barcelona, but made most of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 in his h ...

and Mario Kanopa and was capped by the Germany youth team. He made his first-team debut in September 1995 in a 2. Bundesliga match, and made a further twenty appearances over the following three seasons, leaving the club in 1998 after they'd been relegated to the

Regionalliga Nordost The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football league system, German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany ...

. Ziegner, along with Jena team-mates Heiko Cramer and Frank Nierlich, joined

FSV Zwickau FSV Zwickau is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Zwickau, Saxony. Today's club claims as part of its complex heritage sides that were East Germany's first champions: 1948 Ostzone winners SG Planitz and 1950 DDR-Ob ...

, who had been relegated to the same level. Zwickau finished in fourth place in Ziegner's first season, but started the following season badly: the Regionalliga was being restructured, and only the top seven teams would avoid relegation. Zwickau's poor start to the season made this almost impossible, and so there was a mass exodus of players during the season – Ziegner was one of the players to leave, returning to the 2. Bundesliga to sign for

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German footb ...

. Zwickau finished the season bottom of the table. Ziegner spent eighteen months at Kickers, the highlight being 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 ...

tie in which they took

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 ...

side

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 ...

to extra time, before losing 2–1. The following season ended in relegation, though, so in July 2001 Ziegner returned to his native

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, signing for Rot-Weiß Erfurt of the Regionalliga Süd. After two successful seasons with Erfurt, he signed for second division side FSV Mainz 05, but didn't make a first-team appearance in his year with the club, mainly playing for the reserve team. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he left Mainz to return to Carl Zeiss Jena, who were by now in the fourth-tier

NOFV-Oberliga Süd The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of the former East Germany. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony and southern Brandenburg. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

. Ziegner missed just one game in the 2004–05 season, scoring nine goals as Jena won the division, and beat MSV Neuruppin in the playoff to earn promotion to 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 ...

. Another promotion followed immediately: Ziegner scored eight goals in 31 appearances as Jena finished second, behind

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955. The latt ...

, returning to the 2. Bundesliga after an eight-year absence. An injury in an August match against

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

caused Ziegner to miss much of the 2006–07 season, and the following year his 24 appearances couldn't prevent the club being relegated back to the third tier, now in the form of a national

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

. He played a further three years for the club at this level, but was dropped from the team near the end of the 2010–11 season, and left the club in June 2011. He joined

for a second spell, helping them win the

title, and promotion to the revived Regionalliga Nordost. Ziegner retired his player career at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Coaching career

After retiring his player career, Ziegner was appointed as Zwickau's manager. He was sacked after coaching a total 213 games in six seasons on 25 April 2018. He signed for the 2018–19 with

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, formerly known as Hallescher FC Chemie, is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga, the fourth highest l ...

. On 24 February 2020, he was sacked. On 24 May 2021, he was named head coach of

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, ...

, starting with the 2021–22 season. He was sacked after just four months, on 4 October 2021. In May 2022, with two matches to go, he took over the reign of

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

. He was sakced in September 2023.

Ban

Ziegner was given a five-match ban in October 2008 for racially abusing Nigerian player Kingsley Onuegbu during a match against

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. They compete in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier o ...

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegner, Torsten 1977 births Living people People from Neuhaus am Rennweg German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers German football managers FC Carl Zeiss Jena players FSV Zwickau players 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players SpVgg Unterhaching players FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt players Stuttgarter Kickers players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players 3. Liga managers Footballers from Thuringia FSV Zwickau managers Hallescher FC managers FC Würzburger Kickers managers MSV Duisburg managers Men's association football midfielders