Marcel Koller

Swiss footballer and coach

Marcel Koller (born 11 November 1960 in Zürich) is a former Swiss football (soccer) player. His playing position was defender. He is now head coach of the Austria national team.[1]

Marcel Koller
Personal information
Date of birth (1960-11-11) 11 November 1960 (age 63)
Place of birthZürich, Switzerland
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)Manager (former Defender)
Club information
Current team
Austria
Youth career
1972–1980Grasshopper-Club Zürich
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1980–1997Grasshopper-Club Zürich428(59)
National team
1982–1996Switzerland56(3)
Teams managed
1997–1998FC Wil
1999–2002FC St. Gallen
2002–2003Grasshopper-Club Zürich
2003–20041. FC Köln
2005–2009VfL Bochum
2011–Austria
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

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Player

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His entire professional player career was with the Grasshoppers Zürich in the Swiss league. In 24 years he won seven Swiss championships and five Swiss cups. He appeared 56 times for the Switzerland national football team. He made 3 goals and was in the team at the 1996 UEFA European Championship.

Coach

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Koller's career as coach began in the Swiss club FC Wil in the season 1997/98. In January 1999 he went to FC St. Gallen in the Swiss Super League. The next year the club consecutively won the championship for almost 100 years. In the UEFA Cup the Swiss team would eliminate English top club FC Chelsea. Koller was voted Swiss manager of the year in 2000. From 2002 till 2003 he managed his former club Grasshoppers Zürich. His first club abroad was in the German Bundesliga where he managed 1. FC Köln. Being unsuccessful he resigned after seven months. At this time Lukas Podolski made his first match in the Bundesliga.

From 2005 on he was coach of the VfL Bochum in the 2.Bundesliga. They promoted to the Bundesliga. The next year he planned to stay in the league. The club finished that year in 8th place, the third-best season ever for Bochum. After poor results at the start of the 2009/10 season, Koller was dismissed.

On 4 October 2011, Koller was announced as under contract as the new coach of the Austria national team (ÖFB) until December 2013. After his nomination, there was heavy criticism, he being from abroad. During the long history of the team, he is the third coach who was not from Austria. He took over on 1 November. His first match as new coach was an unsuccessful friendly match versus Ukraine.

Managerial record

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As of match updated 11 November 2023
TeamFromToRecord
GWDLGFGAGDWin %
FC Wil1 July 1997[2]30 June 1998[2]411516106349+14036.59
St. Gallen1 July 1998[3]8 January 2002[3]151664045261201+60043.71
Grasshoppers9 January 2002[4]2 October 2003[4]7040181216085+75057.14
1. FC Köln2 November 2003[5]16 June 2004[6]2445152440−16016.67
VfL Bochum23 May 2005[7]20 September 2009[8]152563858220220+0036.84
Austria1 November 2011[9]31 December 2017542513168058+22046.30
Basel2 August 201831 August 2020101611921214114+100060.40
Al Ahly9 September 2022Present735115713644+92069.86
Total6693151671871,148820+328047.09

Honours

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Player

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Grasshoppers

Manager

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St Gallen

Grasshoppers

Vfl Bochum

Basel

Al Ahly

References

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  1. "Marcel Koller - Manager profile". www.transfermarkt.com. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "FC Wil 1900 .:. Coaches from A-Z". World Football. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "FC St. Gallen .:. Coaches from A-Z". World Football. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Grasshoppers Zürich .:. Coaches from A-Z". World Football. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  5. "Funkel Nachfolger: 1.FC Köln verpflichtet Marcel Koller". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 3 November 2003.
  6. "Stevens beerbt Koller". kicker (in German). 14 June 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. "Marcel Koller übernimmt Bochum". kicker (in German). 23 May 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  8. "Schlechter Saisonstart: Bochum feuert Trainer Koller". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  9. "Karriere (Trainer)" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 26 March 2013.