Marco Kurz (born 16 May 1969) is a German football manager and former player who played as a defender. He last managed Australian side Melbourne Victory.

Marco Kurz
Kurz with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-05-16) 16 May 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Stuttgart, West Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
0000–1988 SV Sillenbuch
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 VfB Stuttgart 1 (0)
1990–1994 1. FC Nürnberg 108 (0)
1994–1995 Borussia Dortmund 4 (0)
1995–1998 Schalke 04 58 (0)
1998–2004 1860 Munich 129 (5)
2004–2005 SC Pfullendorf 12 (0)
Total 311 (5)
Managerial career
2005–2006 SC Pfullendorf
2006–2007 1860 Munich II
2007–2009 1860 Munich
2009–2012 1. FC Kaiserslautern
2013 TSG Hoffenheim
2013 Ingolstadt 04
2015–2016 Fortuna Düsseldorf
2017–2019 Adelaide United
2019–2020 Melbourne Victory
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Kurz, who played as a defender, started playing football at SV Sillenbuch, a small club in his native Stuttgart, and then for VfL Sindelfingen. At age 20, he had his breakthrough into professional football, when he signed a contract for his local Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 1989. After one year, where he—with the exception of one cap—only played for VfB's second team, he was transferred to 1. FC Nürnberg in 1990; there he was more successful, earning 108 caps in four seasons. When the team was relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after the 1993–94 season, Kurz took up an offer by Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund won the title of German champion in the following season, with Kurz playing four times.

At rival club Schalke 04, where Kurz subsequently played from 1995 to 1998, he earned 58 caps. With Schalke he won his biggest title, the 1996–97 UEFA Cup, under coach Huub Stevens. In 1998, he transferred to the south of Germany again, joining 1860 Munich. He played 128 times for 1860 Munich until 2004, when the club was relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

2004–05 was Kurz's last season as a player. He spent it at SC Pfullendorf, a Regionalliga Süd (then third division) team (11 caps). Shortly after joining Pfullendorf, he was promoted to player-coach; in 2005, he retired as a player, but stayed at Pfullendorf as head coach.

Managerial career

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Kurz with TSV 1860 Munich in 2007

After managing SC Pfullendorf, Kurz returned to 1860 Munich as a manager for the second team (Regionalliga Süd).[1] In March 2007, he was promoted to head coach of the first team.[2] 1860 Munich sacked Kurz in February 2009.[3]

Kurz joined 1. FC Kaiserslautern in June 2009.[4] He won promotion to the Bundesliga for the club in 2010. The subsequent 2010–11 season was changeable and most of the time, FCK was threatened by relegation, but eventually they finished a sensational seventh in the German top flight—their best finish in the bundesliga since 1998–99, when they finished fifth. 2011–12 was much worse, with Kaiserslautern occupying a relegation berth virtually all season. As a result, Kaiserslautern parted ways with coach Kurz on 20 March 2012.[5]

On 18 December 2012, it was announced by Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim that Kurz would be the new head coach for the second half of the 2012–13 season, when Hoffenheim faced the threat of relegation.[6] Hoffenheim were not able to emerge from the drop zone and decided to fire Kurz on 2 April 2013.[7] Then, Kurz was manager of Ingolstadt 04 between 9 June 2013[8] and 30 September 2013.[9]

 
Kurz coaching Ingolstadt in 2013

He was named the head coach of Fortuna Düsseldorf on 23 December 2015.[10] After scoring four points in seven games, Kurz was sacked on 13 March 2016.[11]

On 16 June 2017, Kurz was appointed head coach of A-League club Adelaide United.[12] He won his first competitive match as manager for Adelaide United on 9 August 2017 in the round of 32 of the FFA Cup defeating the Newcastle Jets 1–0.[13] He made his A-League managerial debut on 8 October 2017 against Wellington Phoenix with the result being a draw at 1–1.[14] Kurz helped Adelaide reach the final of the 2017 FFA Cup against Sydney FC on 21 November 2017 after defeating Western Sydney Wanderers 2–1 in the semi-finals;[15] they went on to lose 1–2 after extra time.[16] In 2018, Kurz led Adelaide United to their second FFA Cup triumph, defeating Sydney FC 2–1.[17]

On 28 June 2019, Kurz was appointed manager of A-League side Melbourne Victory on a two-year deal, after their previous manager, Kevin Muscat, stepped down.[18]

In January 2020, after six months in the role, Kurz was dismissed by Melbourne Victory; this was the third-fastest coaching dismissal in A-League history.[19] Kurz left having managed the Victory for just 13 matches, for four wins, three draws and six losses; the six defeats were the most losses the Victory had suffered after 13 games of a season.[20] At the time of his dismissal, Victory were sixth in the league with 15 points, their equal-lowest points tally after 13 games alongside the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons.[21] He was replaced by Victory assistant coach Carlos Pérez Salvachúa.[22]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 5 January 2020
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
SC Pfullendorf 20 April 2005[1] 30 June 2006[1] 43 14 11 18 38 46 −8 032.56
1860 Munich II 1 July 2006[1] 19 March 2007[2] 24 5 13 6 31 32 −1 020.83
1860 Munich 19 March 2007[2] 24 February 2009[3] 74 25 21 28 94 96 −2 033.78
1. FC Kaiserslautern 18 June 2009[4] 20 March 2012[5] 100 42 26 32 137 119 +18 042.00
TSG Hoffenheim 18 December 2012[6] 2 April 2013[7] 10 2 2 6 7 11 −4 020.00
Ingolstadt 04 10 June 2013[8] 30 September 2013[9] 11 3 1 7 14 19 −5 027.27
Fortuna Düsseldorf 23 December 2015[10] 13 March 2016[11] 7 1 1 5 6 11 −5 014.29
Adelaide United 16 June 2017[23] 10 May 2019 67 33 14 20 98 79 +19 049.25
Melbourne Victory 28 June 2019 14 January 2020 15 4 3 8 17 18 −1 026.67
Total 351 129 92 130 442 431 +11 036.75

Honours

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Player

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Borussia Dortmund

Schalke 04

Manager

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1. FC Kaiserslautern

Adelaide United

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Marco Kurz" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Frischer Wind mit Kurz". kicker (in German). 22 March 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Aus für "Löwen"-Dompteur Kurz". kicker (in German). 24 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Kurz sagt Ja zum FCK". kicker (in German). 18 June 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Kaiserslautern part company with Marco Kurz". goal.com. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Kurz soll Hoffenheim aus der Krise führen". Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ a b "Andreas Müller und Marco Kurz: Hoffenheim feuert Trainer". Frankfurter Rundschau. 2 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Kurz wird neuer Trainer in Ingolstadt". kicker (in German). 9 June 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Ingolstadt setzt Kurz vor die Tür". kicker (in German). 30 September 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Kurz übernimmt Traineramt in Düsseldorf". dfb.de (in German). Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Nach 81 Tagen: Kurz fliegt bei der Fortuna". kicker.de (in German). kicker. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  12. ^ Migliaccio, Val (16 June 2017). "Adelaide United has signed German Marco Kurz as new head coach". The Advertiser.
  13. ^ "Reds down Jets to advance in FFA Cup". Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  14. ^ "New-look Reds' potential on display in draw". Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Smash-and-grab raid puts Reds into FFA Cup final". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Sydney FC VS Adelaide United - FFA Cup Match Centre". Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Goodwin's brilliant brace fires Adelaide United to breathless FFA Cup Final 2018 triumph". FFA Cup. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  18. ^ "A-League news: Marco Kurz appointed Melbourne Victory coach, Kevin Muscat replacement". Fox Sports. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  19. ^ Lynch, Joey. "OLA TOIVONEN TO SIGN WITH MALMÖ FF - REPORTS". Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  20. ^ Rayson, Zac. "Melbourne Victory sacks Marco Kurz after just 13 games in charge". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  21. ^ Kemp, Emma. "Melbourne Victory's decision to sack Kurz a mystery as much as it was obvious". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Salvachua appointed Victory Head Coach". Melbourne Victory FC. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Adelaide United signs German Marco Kurz to two-year contract as Adelaide United head coach". Fox Sports. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  24. ^ "Deutscher Supercup, 1995, Finale". dfb.de. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
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