Andreas Thom (born 7 September 1965) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...

Bayer 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 football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

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 played 51 times for

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

throughout the 1980s and played ten times for the unified Germany national team in the early 1990s. He is now retired from playing and works as a youth coach at

Club career

Andreas Thom was born in

Rüdersdorf Rüdersdorf is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany, near Berlin. It is served by the Schöneiche bei Berlin tramway which runs from Rüdersdorf through Schöneiche to Berlin-Friedr ...

and began playing football at an early age for TSG Herzfelde. Andreas Thom joined the youth department of

in 1974 and enrolled in the elite Children and Youth

Sports school A sports school () is a type of educational institution for children that originated in the Soviet Union. Sports schools were the basis of the powerful system of physical culture (fitness) and sports education in the USSR and the Eastern Bloc, pa ...

(KJS) "Werner Seelenbinder" in

Alt-Hohenschönhausen Alt-Hohenschönhausen (, ) is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg, Berlin. Known also as Hohenschönhausen it was, until 2001, the main and the eponymous locality of the former Hohenschönhausen borough. In 2008 t ...

in Berlin. He began a sports teacher degree at the German University of Physical Culture () (DHfK) in Leipzig in 1987. Andreas Thom was one of the greatest talents in East German football, according to former BFC Dynamo coach Jürgen Bogs. Bogs claims that Thom "had everything". He brought him up to train with the first team of BFC Dynamo every now and then. At 18-years old, Thom made his professional debut for BFC Dynamo in the

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the Allied-occupied G ...

, as a substitute for

Bernd Schulz Bernd Schulz (born 12 February 1960) is a German former professional association football, footballer. Schulz joined the Youth system, youth academy of BFC Dynamo in 1975 and made his professional debut for BFC in the 1979–80 DDR-Oberliga, 19 ...

in the match against

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena () is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Founded in 1903, it was initially associated with the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. From the 1960s to the 1980s it was one of the top-ranked clubs in East Germany, won ...

on 22 October 1983. He then made his international debut for BFC Dynamo against FK Partizan Belgrade in the 1983-84 European Cup on 2 November 1983. During his time at BFC Dynamo, he won the

in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, and the

FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football af ...

in 1988 and 1989. He scored the only goal of the game in the 1989 FDGB-Pokal final. Thom was the top scorer in the 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga. He became the player of the week six times during the league season. Thom was then also voted the

East German Footballer of the Year The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in West Germany from 1960 to 1990 and Germany since 1991. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title W ...

in 1988. On 16 December 1989, Thom became the first East German to sign for a

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 ...

club when he joined West German side

for a transfer fee of 2.5 million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

(approx £900,000). The transfer also placed Thom amongst the highest earners in the Bundesliga and made him the highest paid player at Bayer Leverkusen. Thom made his historic debut for his new club on 17 February 1990, and scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win over

FC Homburg Fußball-Club 08 Homburg or simply FC Homburg is a German association football club based in Homburg, Saarland, that competes in the Regionalliga Südwest. History The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as ''Fussball Club Homburg'' by a group o ...

. Thom spent over five years at Bayer Leverkusen, and picked up a winner's medal on 12 June 1993 win they defeated

Hertha BSC II Hertha BSC II is the reserve team of Hertha BSC that is based in Berlin, Germany. Historically, during the time the senior team played in professional football the team has played as Hertha BSC Amateure. Since 2005 it has played under its current ...

1–0 in the final 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 ...

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

has said that he thought Andreas Thom was the most complete player he had ever seen. Thom signed for

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

club

in July 1995 for a then club record fee of £2.2million. On 30 November 1997, Thom picked up another winner's medal when he played in the Celtic side that defeated

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

3–0 in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

Final. Thom moved back to Germany in January 1998 to sign for

, although his 15 league appearances for Celtic earlier that season saw him pick up a Scottish League championship medal when Celtic clinched the league title in May 1998. Thom spent four years at Hertha BSC before retiring from playing. Thom made his last appearance on 7 March 2001, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win over

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 the 2000–01 season he foremost played in Hertha's reserve team.

International career

Thom played for the East Germany national team between 1984 and 1990, making 51 appearances and scoring 16 goals. He made his debut in a friendly against Algeria on 10 October 1984. He scored the first of his 16 international goals on 6 February 1985 in another friendly, a 3–2 win over Ecuador. Thom played in six of East Germany's qualifiers for the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, and scored his first two competitive goals for his country on 28 September 1985 in a 2–1 win over

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. East Germany, however, failed to qualify for the World Cup, finishing third in

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element Group 4 is the second group of transition metals in the periodic table. It contains only the four elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), and rutherfordium (Rf). The group is also called the t ...

behind

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He was now a regular in the East German international side, and played in all eight of his nations qualifying ties for Euro 1988. He scored five goals over the campaign, including a hat-trick in a 6–0 away win over

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in June 1987. East Germany, however, again failed to qualify; finishing second in the group behind the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1988, Thom took over from goalkeeper René Müller as captain of the national side for six matches, including their first two qualifying games for

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

against Iceland and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He scored in both of these World Cup qualifiers, both goals in East Germany's 2–0 win over Iceland and their solitary goal in a 3–1 defeat against Turkey in

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

. Thom scored his last goal for East Germany on 8 October 1989 as his side came from a goal down to defeat the Soviet Union 2–1. That left the East Germans needing only a draw away against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

to qualify for the World Cup. However, they were beaten 3–0 in that game and finished fourth in the qualifying group. After the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

, Thom made his debut for the unified team on 19 December 1990, the first match featuring players from the former East Germany: In a 4–0 win over

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, he came on as a substitute for

Matthias Sammer Matthias Sammer (; born 5 September 1967) is a German Association football, football official and former player and coach. He played as a defensive midfielder and later in his career as a Sweeper (association football), sweeper. With Borussia D ...

and scored within 30 seconds (Germany's third goal). He played in a further 9 matches and scored one more goal. He made his only appearance in the finals of a major international tournament in 1992 when he came on as a substitute for

Stefan Effenberg Stefan Effenberg (; born 2 August 1968) is a German former footballer who most recently acted as sporting director for KFC Uerdingen 05. A midfielder, he was known for his leadership skills, passing range, shooting ability, and physical strengt ...

in the final of

Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(Germany lost 2–0).

Coaching career

After the sacking of

Huub Stevens Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional Manager (association football), football manager and player. Playing career Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittar ...

as head coach at

in December 2003, Thom briefly took over for 3 games until Hans Meyer was appointed later that month. Thom became assistant coach at the club and held that position under Meyer's successor, Falko Götz. On 10 April 2007, Thom was sacked along with Götz due to the poor performance of Hertha BSC. On 15 December 2008, it was announced that Thom would become assistant coach at lower league

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

in January 2009. Under head coach Falko Götz, Thom helped Holstein Kiel win promotion from 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 ...

to the national third division in 2009. On 15 February 2010, Holstein Kiel sacked Andreas Thom. In the 2010–11 season, Thom was appointed to coach the U17 team of Hertha BSC. Thom led the Hertha BSC U17 team to the final round of the German U17 Championship three times, winning the German U17 Championship in 2012 and finishing runner-up in 2013. In 2015-16 season, Thom took over the Hertha BSC U19 team. In the summer of 2017, new head coach at Hertha BSC,

Pál Dárdai Pál Dárdai (born 16 March 1976) is a Hungarian retired footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of 2. Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. In a 20-year professional career, he played for over a deca ...

, brought Thom into a coaching role with the first team, specialising in coaching the strikers at the club. Thom then continued his career at Hertha BSC as youth coach. He works as an individual coach for the Hertha BSC U15 team, as of the 2023-24 season.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Berliner FC Dynamo *

: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 *

FDGB Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football aft ...

: 1988, 1989 *

DFV-Supercup The DFV-Supercup (also known as ''Pokal des Deutsches Sportecho, Deutschen Sportechos'') was the super cup of East German football, played between the winners of the DDR-Oberliga and the FDGB-Pokal. History It was originally planned to start in 1 ...

: 1989 Bayer Leverkusen *

: 1993 Celtic * Scottish League champion: 1998 *

: 1997 Germany *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

: Runner-up

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Individual *

: 1988

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thom, Andreas 1965 births Living people People from Märkisch-Oderland Footballers from Brandenburg Men's association football forwards German men's footballers East German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers Berliner FC Dynamo players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Hertha BSC players Celtic F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland UEFA Euro 1992 players Hertha BSC managers Bundesliga players Scottish Football League players East Germany men's international footballers East Germany men's under-21 international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) German expatriate men's footballers DDR-Oberliga players German football managers Sportspeople from Bezirk Frankfurt German expatriate sportspeople in Scotland