Top facts about Thorsten Fink, former Bayern Munich man

Thorsten Fink (born October 29, 1967) is a German football coach and former player who most recently served as the head coach of Vissel Kobe.

Thorsten Fink’s age

is 54. Here you can find out the most important facts about Thorsten Fink, the German experienced coach.

In 2006, he was forced to retire from the game due to cartilage injury in his knee. He graduated from Cologne Sport University in December 2005, while still playing for Bayern, after doing a coaching course.

Fink spent the best part of a decade at Bayern during his playing days, and has been in charge of a number of countries during a managerial career that has seen him work in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and, Japan.

He started coaching Red Bull Salzburg's reserve team on September 5, 2006. Following the resignation of

as head coach Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant, Fink moved in as the new assistant.

An important fact about Thorsten Fink is that he took over as the new manager of Vissel Kobe on June 8, 2019, after Juan Manuel Lillo stepped down. Fink won the Emperors Cup and the Japanese Super Cup for Vissel Kobe in 2020, giving the team its first two trophies.

Top facts about Thorsten Fink:

As a 21-year-old he signed with the second division club SG Wattenscheid 09. The defensive midfielder made his professional debut for the club on July 29, 1989 (1st matchday) in a 4-1 win at home against SpVgg Bayreuth.

Thorsten Fink early life

Thorsten Fink grew up as the son of a steel worker in Dortmund-Marten. Speaking about

Thorsten Fink’s childhood

, it should be mentioned that he started playing soccer at SV Roland Marten and moved to

in 1983 as a teenager.

For Borussia he was active in youth and in the amateur team until 1989. Unfortunately there is no more information regarding

Thorsten Fink’s parents

.

Thorsten Fink personal life

Thorsten Fink’s wife is Silke Fink. He has said about spending time in Covid pandemic, “In Munich, I'll recharge my batteries with my family. I read books and watch sports from all leagues. And I lift weights with my 14- and 15-year-old sons, who also attend online school on occasion.”

He has also said that the reason he left Japan was his family, “From February until October, I didn't see my family. You lose all of your enthusiasm at some point, and your head is no longer there. Success is also beneficial — we won the Japanese Cup – but then nothing.”

Thorsten Fink professional career

Thorsten Fink began his career with Borussia Dortmund’s reserve squad before moving to SG Wattenscheid 09, where he helped them gain promotion to the first division of German football, the 1. Bundesliga, in 1990.

Former Germany international midfielder stepped down from his role of

head coach in 2020. He decided to return to Germany to spend more time with his family, after overseeing a decline in form that saw Vissel fail to win any of their last seven league matches.

Thorsten had arrived at Vissel midway through the 2019 season, with the club struggling in the lower half of the J1 table. The German steadied the ship quite considerably that season and Vissel finished the season 8th.

Thorsten Fink club career

A notable fact about Thorsten Fink is that he started his career with Borussia Dortmund's reserve team before going to SG Wattenscheid 09, where he was instrumental in the club's promotion to Germany's top flight, the 1. Bundesliga, in 1990.

Karlsruher SC

He went to Karlsruher SC after the team's relegation in 1994, where he played three seasons as a regular and excelled enough to win a transfer to Germany's most successful club, Bayern Munich, in 1997.

Bayern Munich

An important fact about Thorsten Fink is that he spent the next seven seasons with Bayern, five of them as a regular, but he lost his starting spot in 2002 and was sent to the club's reserve side in the German third level, the Regionalliga, in February 2003, before returning to the Bundesliga in late April 2003.

In the 2003–04 season, he established himself as a regular in Bayern's reserve team, making just one Bundesliga game that season, a substitute appearance against VfL Wolfsburg in September 2003.

His contract with Bayern's Bundesliga team ended in June 2004, and he only played for the club's reserve squad for two more seasons until retiring at the conclusion of the 2005–06 season.

He was a member of Bayern's first team when they reached the 1999 Champions League final, when they were defeated 2–1 by

after surrendering two goals in injury time.

Fink came in as a late substitution, but his sliced clearance contributed to United's equalizer in the 91st minute, with the ball breaking to Ryan Giggs, whose shot was put into the goal by Teddy Sheringham.

Despite not playing in the match, Fink was awarded a Champions League winner's medal two years later, when Bayern overcame Valencia on penalties in the 2001 Champions League final. With the club, he also won four Bundesliga champions crowns and three German Cups. In 2006, he was forced to retire from the game due to cartilage injury in his knee.

Thorsten Fink coaching career

A notable

fact about Thorsten Fink

is that he graduated from Cologne Sport University in December 2005, while still playing for Bayern, after doing a coaching course.

He started coaching Red Bull Salzburg's reserve team on September 5, 2006. Following the resignation of Lothar Matthäus as head coach Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant, Fink moved in as the new assistant.

FC Ingolstadt 04

On January 4, 2008, Fink took over as head coach of FC Ingolstadt 04, succeeding Jürgen Press, who was fired on New Year's Day.

Heiko Vogel was named as his assistant. His debut was a 3–1 victory against VfB Stuttgart II. Ingolstadt finished second in the 2007–08 season. Ingolstadt began the 2008–09 season by losing in the first round of the German Cup against Hamburger SV.

An important fact about Thorsten Fink is that he was dismissed on April 22, 2009. He completed with a 16-win, 11-draw, and 17-loss record. His last match ended in a 3–2 defeat against SC Freiburg. When Fink was fired, Ingolstadt was in 17th position.

FC Basel

Fink was named manager of FC Basel on June 9, 2009, as a replacement for Christian Gross. Fink was accompanied by his helper Vogel.

On July 12, 2009, he played his debut match, a 2–0 defeat against FC St. Gallen. Basel swept the board in home affairs in 2009/10. Despite a slow start to the season, Finks' team won the 2010 Super League title on the last day of the season with an away victory over BSC Young Boys at the Stade de Suisse.

Basel won 2–0 on May 16 thanks to goals from young prospect Valentin Stocker and club great Scott Chipperfield. On May 9, FC Basel defeated FC Lausanne-Sport 6–0 to win the Swiss Cup Final 2010.

On July 20, Basel began the 2010–11 season with a match against FC Zürich. Basel also won the 2011 Super League and the 2011 Uhrencup with Fink.

In October of 2011, Fink announced his departure from the club. In the Swiss Cup, his final match was a 5–1 victory against FC Schötz.

After accusing club coach Thorsten Fink of making racial statements against him during a training session, Fwayo Tembo departed FC Basel. "Get the monkey down from the tree," Fink is said to have commanded a colleague.

SV Hamburger

A notable fact about Thorsten Fink is that he signed a deal with Hamburger SV on October 13, 2011, to lead the German Bundesliga team until 2014.

With the squad in danger of relegation after losing six of their first eight games. His debut ended in a 1–1 tie with VfL Wolfsburg. HSV went into the winter break in thirteenth position, having gone undefeated in their first nine games under Fink. The squad finished fifteenth, surviving relegation for the first time by five points.

HSV finished sixth in 2012–13, a significant improvement over the previous year.

During the season, however, Hamburg was defeated in the first round of the German Cup by Karlsruher SC. The squad lost 9–2 against

at the Allianz Arena, equaling the club's record Bundesliga loss.

An important fact about Thorsten Fink is that he was fired with immediate effect on September 16, 2013, after a string of poor results in which Hamburger SV picked up just four points in their first five league games of the 2013–14 Bundesliga season, leaving the club in 15th position in the league standings.

"We had lost faith in Thorsten Fink's ability to turn the squad around, which is why we made this choice" (to sack Fink).

He also seemed to have had 'outside problems,' which may have contributed to his poor performance. Borussia Dortmund defeated him 6–2 in his last encounter. In 68 games, he had a record of 23 wins, 18 draws, and 27 loses.

APOEL

On 10 January 2015, Fink signed a deal with the reigning Cypriot champions APOEL FC until the conclusion of the 2014–15 season, with the option of a second season, replacing Giorgos Donis, who was dismissed on 6 January 2015.

His debut ended in a 2–1 defeat against AEL Limassol. Fink was fired by APOEL on May 11, 2015, following a string of poor performances and one day after a dubious 1–0 defeat to Apollon Limassol, despite the fact that the club was two points ahead at the top of the league with just two games left.

Austria Wien

On May 28, 2015, Fink was appointed as Austria Wien's head coach. He was offered a two-year deal with a one-year option. The program began in the 2015–16 season.

In addition, he was in talks with Hannover 96. On June 22, 2015, he had his first training. Austria won the Austrian Cup 3–0 on July 17, 2015, in his maiden match.

Austria beat Wolfsberg 2–0 away from home in his debut league encounter on July 26, 2015. Austria Wien beat SV Mattersburg 9–0 on April 23, 2016. He finished third in the 2015–16 season.

On 14 July 2016, Austria Wien began the 2016–17 season with a 1–0 victory against Kuksi in the Europa League. Fink was fired on February 25th due to poor performance and a seventh-place finish. On February 24, 2018, he lost 2–1 against Admira Wacker Mödling on his farewell match.

Grasshoppers

A notable

fact about Thorsten Fink

is that he took over as the Grasshoppers' manager on April 23, 2018. On April 28, 2018, he won his debut match, a 1–0 victory against FC Lausanne-Sport. The 2018–19 season began with a 2–0 defeat against BSC Young Boys.

Fink was fired on March 4, 2019, after a terrible run of just one point in his last eight matches in the Swiss Super League and a last-place finish. His most recent outing was a 1–3 defeat to FC Luzern on March 2, 2019.

Kobe Vissel

An important fact about Thorsten Fink is that he took over as the new manager of Vissel Kobe on June 8, 2019, after Juan Manuel Lillo stepped down.

Fink won the Emperors Cup and the Japanese Super Cup for Vissel Kobe in 2020, giving the team its first two trophies. Fink announced his resignation on September 22, 2020, in order to spend more time with his family.

Thorsten Fink quotes

Thorsten Fink remembers his time at Bayern as a player an exceptional time: “my time at Bayern Munich was an incredible experience for me since I was there for nine years, two with the under 23 squad and seven with the main team. It was an incredible experience since I both lost and won everything.”

“As a coach and a player, I believe it is critical to work as part of a team, and teamwork is the most essential aspect of football. That is a significant lesson I learnt throughout my playing career.”

“When I became a coach, I realized that not just football, but every organization has excellent employees and business people behind the scenes, and the most essential thing is unity.

Bayern Munich is like a giant family, and if you play for them, you must feel it, and only then can you connect with the club. You feel like you're a part of that family, and it's a unique sensation because Bayern Munich isn't a tiny club; they're a massive club, so it's a unique experience."

About replicating that vibe at the teams he manages like Basel, he has said in an interview, “Of course, from my tenure as manager of

, I have many fond recollections. Behind the scenes, I worked with some pretty wonderful individuals and managed a fantastic team with a good character.”

“I was called in to help the club develop a plan and get everyone on the same page. We built a fantastic family culture, and we had a good president in Bernhard Heusler, as well as a good Sporting Director in George Heitz, who now works for the Chicago Fire FC in the United States. We collaborated well and had a nice working relationship.”

FC Basel wanted to win everything, and if you're the club's second-best coach, you're not doing your job. Because my predecessor, Christian Gross, had been with the club for 10 years and had been quite successful, I was under a lot of pressure.”

“He was the winner of a slew of awards. I struggled with results at first, but I worked hard to instill my ideology in the players and use people management skills inside the football club, which was crucial. During my tenure at FC Basel, we also had a strong scouting network and a strong sense of community.”

"I've learned from my professional football experience that many individuals inside a club might work against you rather than for you."

Thorsten Fink has said about his tenure at Hamburger SV, “At Hamburger SV, I had an incredible experience. I learnt a lot at every club I managed, and you continue to learn every year you manage, so you can better in the future.”

“It's critical to desire to learn something new every year. FC Basel was a smaller club than Hamburger SV. They had 75,000 members, which was a large number for any club.

Each of those supporters were incredibly dedicated, and they wielded a great deal of influence inside the club. Hamburg's local press isn't always on your side, either. Hamburger SV is a big football club.”

He has said about the challenges and accomplishments he had at Hamburger SV, “I'm really delighted with the work we accomplished since we battled relegation in my first season and ended 7th in the Bundesliga in my second season, which was a tremendous result.”

“The second year, I suppose, was a fantastic season, but no one in the club understood it. "Oh, we have to finish 4th or 5th in the Bundesliga," everyone in the club remarked. Because of the expectations at the club, it was a challenging period for me."

Thorsten Fink said in an interview that he is proud of the stint he had with Asutria Wien, and that he had built a squad with great unity and passion there, “I had a really good stint with FK Austria Wien, where we finished third in my first season and second the following season, as well as reaching the Europa League group stage twice.

Even though FK Austria Wien is a large club with a lot of history in the nation, we had to go through the qualifications just to get there, so it wasn't easy for an Austrian team named Salzburg.”

“We had a large following, and they had a long history of winning Austrian trophies. You can't defeat

, however, since the club has a lot of money and a franchised company culture.

We couldn't defeat them because they had so many clubs in so many countries, all of which have the same coaching philosophy, as well as the greatest physicians and facilities.”

“During our tenure in Europe, we also participated in the Europa League with the second-youngest squad, second only to Ajax Amsterdam.”

“At FK Austria Wien, I had a terrific experience working with young players. I like working with young kids and developing them into first-team players. When a big club sells a lot of successful and experienced players, the club and the fans don't always understand that working only with young players isn't always successful.”

He said about selling great players at Austria Wien, “That was the problem we had in my last season at FK Austria Wien, where we sold a lot of successful and experienced players and then worked only with our young players.

Our league position was not fantastic, but I believe that success will come if major clubs can wait longer to create equilibrium. Nobody nowadays in football has the patience to work and wait for the next step, which is a major issue in the game".

Thorsten has talked about how he felt to be immersed in a completely different culture and collaborate with World Cup champions like Andrés Iniesta, David Villa, and Lukas Podolski, "My time in Japan was particularly memorable because I was immersed in a totally different culture, and we were joined by famous names like Andrés Iniesta, David Villa, Lukas Podolski, and Thomas Vermaelen. As you said, they are all fantastic players who have won several awards, including the World Cup in the case of Germany and Spain.”

“It's a unique experience to play football in a different culture with five interpreters on the field. Off the field, for example, the Japanese like to eat at 6 p.m., while the Spaniards like to dine at 10 p.m., and you must deal with this circumstance.

It's not an easy task. In football, putting everything together in a different culture, with interpreters, and with the best players in the world is really tough. But it was a fantastic experience and a tremendous challenge for me.”

I recall Andrés Iniesta telling my employer that he was thrilled to be working at the club since winning so many titles with FC Barcelona was expected. But now he'd won a championship with Vissel Kobe, which meant a lot to him since Vissel Kobe had never won anything before.”

“I brought in young players and saw them develop; this is my main drive to continue working in sport. During my stay in Japan, I met a lot of good individuals who were really honest and courteous, and the Vissel Kobe supporters were also fantastic. The stadiums in Japan are stunning, and I had a wonderful experience living there.”

He has said about his future in football, “We'll have to wait and see what the future holds. I've worked in Austria, Switzerland, Japan, and Germany, and I'm well-versed in the market, having worked with both big names and up-and-comers. I suppose I am now of the age to run a large club.

I am 53 years old, neither too old nor too young. I've gained a lot of experience and I'm still passionate about what I do; now I'm looking for the appropriate club".

Some quick facts about Thorsten Fink:

A notable

fact about Thorsten Fink

is that he scored his first goal with the opening for the 3-0 away win at Hannover 96 on August 16, 1989 (4th matchday). From 1990 - the SG was promoted to the Bundesliga - until 1994he completed 125 games (25 goals) for SG Wattenscheid in the Bundesliga, which is a club record to this day.

After relegation in 1994 he moved to league rivals Karlsruher SC, and in 1997 he signed a contract with Bayern Munich. Despite great competition, Fink prevailed in Munich and achieved his greatest sporting success when he won the Champions League under Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

With the club he was also four times German champion, three times cup winner and won the 2001 World Cup in the final against the Boca Juniors. Over time, Fink became more and more of a supplementary player, but accepted this role without complaint and was valued for his loyalty.

An important fact about Thorsten Fink is that he had played a total of 150 Bundesliga games for Bayern Munich before he played for the second team of Munich in the then Regionalliga Süd from 2003; in the 2003/04 season he was a standby player in the professional squad.

There he was team captain until a cartilage damage in his knee forced him to end his career. He played his last game on April 2, 2006. Fink scored 40 goals in 367 first division games, one goal in 37 second division games and six goals in 86 third division games.

He played his only international match for the U21 national team in a 1-1 draw in Yaoundé against Cameroon's senior national team.

Thorsten Fink supported the regional league team under Hermann Gerland after his active time in the first team of FC Bayern Munich and at the same time completed an apprenticeship as a football teacher at the Cologne Sports University by the end of 2005.

From September 5, 2006 to June 16, 2007 Thorsten Fink coached the amateur team of the Austrian soccer club FC Red Bull Salzburg. With this he became champion of the Regionalliga West and rose to the first league (second highest league in Austria).

He then trained as an assistant to Giovanni Trapattoni for the first division club Red Bull Salzburg. On January 5, 2008 Fink signed a contract as head coach with the German regional league club FC Ingolstadt 04, with whom he was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga on May 31, 2008.

As twelfth in the first half of the table, the FCI fell back to a relegation place after eleven games without a win in the second half of the season, and Fink was given leave of absence on April 21, 2009. 16 days earlier, Fink had been assured of a job guarantee by the club until the end of the season.

In an interview on April 17, supervisory board member Andreas Schleef had emphasized that "a change of coach no longer makes sense at this point."

In an interview on May 10, 2009, the chairman of the supervisory board represented Peter Jackwerth said that Thorsten Fink should have been parted with at a much earlier point in time.

On June 9, 2009, Fink succeeded Christian Gross as coach of FC Basel. Equipped with a three-year contract He won despite a rather poor start in his first season his first title as a coach, the Swiss Cup and a week later the championship.

The team set a new goal record for

with 90 goals in 36 league games. On August 24, 2010, FC Basel moved into the group stage of the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League.

On October 30, 2010, the contract with Thorsten Fink was extended to June 2013 without an exit clause. In May 2011 he won the 14th Swiss championship with Basel, which entitled him to participate in the Champions League again.

On 17 October 2011 Fink became coach of Bundesliga team, Hamburger SV as the successor to Michael Oenning, who was released on 19 September 2011. His contract with FC Basel had previously been dissolved by HSV against payment of a transfer fee. Fink took over the team after the 9th matchday in the last place in the table.

During the rest of the first half of the season he managed to stabilize the team and lead it to 13th place. After a weaker second half of the season, HSV got back into the relegation battle, but ended the season in 15th place in the table.

In the 2012/13 season, HSV under his leadership just barely missed qualifying for an international competition after a false start at the beginning of the season with seventh place on the last match day.

The low point this season was the 2: 9 away defeat against FC Bayern Munich, although HSV beat the reigning champions and cup winners Borussia Dortmund twice (3: 2 in the Volksparkstadion and 4: 1 in the Westfalenstadion). After a bad start to the 2013/14 season, Fink was given a leave of absence on September 17, 2013 after a 2: 6 against Borussia Dortmund.

In January 2015, Fink signed a six- month contract with the Cypriot record champions APOEL Nicosia with an option for a further year. After a defeat at second-placed Apollon Limassol, which thus came within two points of APOEL, Fink separated before the season end on 11 May 2015. Without Fink, the club soon after became double winners.

For the 2015/16 season Fink was head coach at FK Austria Wien. He signed a two-year contract with an option for an additional year. His first season with Austria, he finished as third in the table, the second as runner-up. In February 2018 he was released from his duties; at that time

was in 7th place in the table.

Before his release, Fink was under discussion as coach of the Austrian national team, but it was decided to go with his compatriot Franco Foda.

On April 23, 2018, he became the new trainer of the Grasshopper Club Zurich. The dismissal followed an unsuccessful tenure on March 4, 2019 at that time, GCZ was on the 10th and thus last place in the standings.

In June 2019 he became the coach of the Japanese first division team Kobe and won the Kaiser Cup on January 1, 2020 in the first game in which a video assistant was used, with players

and

. In September 2020 Fink announced his resignation as manager of Kobe.

Thorsten Fink social media

Regarding

Thorsten Fink social media

, it should be mentioned that he has an Instagram page (

) with more than 4k followers. In the page we can see various pictures of him with the fans and his family.

Thorsten Fink body measurements

Speaking about

Thorsten Fink body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the German coach is 181 cm and 80 kg.

Thorsten Fink net worth and salary

Thorsten Fink's net worth

is estimated to be between $9 million and $10 million dollars. From his primary career as a soccer player and coach, he has amassed a substantial fortune.

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