Learn more about the career of Huddersfield Town's new Head Coach
- Learn more about our new manager, André Breitenreiter
- He’s twice won promotion to the German Bundesliga
- He also won the Swiss Super League in 2022
New Huddersfield Town Manager André Breiternreiter arrives in England looking to replicate the success he’s enjoyed in the dugouts of Germany and Switzerland.
A forward, he was highly rated as a youngster, playing for Germany up to Under-21 level and earning the nickname ‘The Lightning Bomber’. At club level, he played for the likes of Holstein Kiel, SpVgg Unterhaching, Hannover 96, Hamburger SV, and several others.
He played nearly 150 Bundesliga games, as well as another century in the 2. Bundesliga and a handful of games in Europe, with a career highlight being a German Cup win in 1992.
André began his managerial career in January 2011, taking control at Regionalliga Nord side TSV Havelse. He quickly earned his first trophy, winning the Lower Saxony Cup just over a year later, and soon hit the headlines by achieving qualification for the DFB Cup competition, in which his team defeated Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg in the first round.
Having led Havelse to a second placed finish in the Regionalliga Nord in 2012/13, he was sought out by 2. Bundesliga club SC Paderborn 07 and took the top job there for the 2013/14 campaign.
Nobody predicted that Paderborn would pull up any trees that season, but André immediately galvanised the squad – which included future Town player Elias Kachunga – and led the side to the Bundesliga for the first time through promotion, sealed by a dramatic final day win.
His Paderborn side were known for a bold playing style, evidenced by 63 goals in 34 league games as they gained promotion to the top-flight. That reputation continued into the club’s first ever Bundesliga campaign and although it ultimately ended in relegation, the team’s performance earned André the chance to stay in the top division.
He became Head Coach of Schalke 04 in June 2015, and in his first season he led the side to a fifth placed finish in the Bundesliga. That earned the club a spot in the Europa League, but a change in Sporting Director led to Breitenreiter leaving Schalke at the conclusion of the season.
His next job came back in the 2. Bundesliga with Hannover 96, who he joined in March 2017. He made an immediate impact, with a record of six wins and three draws from nine games in charge earning him a second promotion to the Bundesliga.
Following a 13th placed finish in their first season back in the Bundesliga in 2017/18, André departed the club in January 2019. He took a short time out of football to care for his father, eventually returning to the game in the summer of 2021.
For the first time he chose to manage outside of Germany, taking the job at Swiss Super League side FC Zurich. The club had narrowly avoided relegation before Breitenreiter took charge, but he galvanised his squad again and led them to a first league championship since 2009 – winning 17 of their final 24 fixtures, scoring 78 goals in just 36 games and winning the title by a massive 14 points.
Previously Young Boys had won four straight titles, and FC Zurich’s title win under André’s is the only time that Young Boys haven’t been crowned champions in the last six seasons.
On the back of that achievement, Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim bought Breitenreiter out of his contract and brought him back to Germany for the 2022/23 campaign. He departed that club in February with the team placed 12th.
