Fredi Bobic

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Fredi Bobic

Bobic in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Fredi Bobic
Date of birth	(1971-10-30) 30 October 1971 (age 49)
Place of birth	Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Hertha BSC (sporting director)
Youth career
1979–1980	VfR Bad Cannstatt
1980–1986	VfB Stuttgart II
1986–1990	Stuttgarter Kickers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1992	TSF Ditzingen	62	(32)
1992–1994	Stuttgarter Kickers	62	(26)
1994–1999	VfB Stuttgart	148	(69)
1999–2002	Borussia Dortmund	56	(17)
2002	→ Bolton Wanderers (loan)	16	(4)
2002–2003	Hannover 96	27	(14)
2003–2005	Hertha BSC	54	(8)
2006	Rijeka	8	(2)
Total		433	(172)
National team
1994–2004	Germany	37	(10)
Teams managed
2009–2010	Chernomorets Burgas (managing director)
2010–2014	VfB Stuttgart (sporting director)
2016–2021	Eintracht Frankfurt (sporting director)
2021–	Hertha BSC (sporting director)
show Honours VfB Stuttgart Winner DFB-Pokal 1997 Runner-up DFB Liga-Pokal 1997 Runner-up UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1998 Runner-up DFB Liga-Pokal 1998 NK Rijeka Winner Croatian Cup 2006  Germany Winner European Championship 1996
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Fredi Bobic (born 30 October 1971) is a German football executive and former player who played as a striker. He is the sporting director of Bundesliga club Hertha BSC.

Club career[]

Bobic was born in Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia, to a Slovene father and a Croatian mother. A few months after his birth, his parents emigrated with him to Germany and settled down first in Ditzingen, then in Stuttgart. There, he started playing football at VfR Bad Cannstatt but soon switched to the youth team of VfB Stuttgart. While in Stuttgart, he also acquired German citizenship.

Bobic reached his prime in the mid-1990s at VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. In his first Bundesliga season (1994–95), he scored a goal in each of his first five games, so he became a candidate for the German national team after only a few appearances in the first German league. In 1996, he was the Bundesliga's top scorer with 17 goals.^[1] At Stuttgart, he formed part of a successful attacking line-up, along with strike partner Giovane Élber and attacking midfielder Krasimir Balakov, known as the "magic triangle".

After four years in Stuttgart, in 1999 he signed with Borussia Dortmund and was the club's top scorer in both 1999–2000 and 2000–01. However, after the signings of Jan Koller and Márcio Amoroso in the summer of 2001, he soon fell out of favor and played only three games in the first half of 2001–02 season.

Subsequently, Bobic was loaned to the Premier League side Bolton Wanderers, where he had a successful spell, playing a key role in keeping Bolton in the Premiership. His hat-trick in the 4–1 win against Ipswich at the Reebok Stadium^[2] ensured Bolton stayed up, and remained the last Bolton hat-trick in a competitive game until Joe Mason in the 2014–15 season. He scored once more for Bolton, in a 3–2 victory over Aston Villa.^[3]

After returning from England, Bobic was signed by newly promoted Bundesliga side Hannover 96 where he reestablished himself as one of the league's top scorers, netting 14 times in 27 games.

In 2003, he was signed by Hertha BSC, where he played for two seasons, scoring 8 goals in 54 games.

He last played for Croatian outfit NK Rijeka before retiring in June 2006, at the end of the 2005–06 season.

International career[]

Bobic won 37 caps (10 goals)^[4] for the German national team and was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 winning squad. He also played at UEFA Euro 2004, having returned to the national team in 2002 after a four-year absence.

Managing career[]

Bobic signed a contract as a managing director of Bulgarian club Chernomorets Burgas on 25 March 2009 and worked in the club with his former teammate Krasimir Balakov.

On 27 July 2010, Bobic became new director of sport of VfB Stuttgart.^[5] On 20 January 2012, he extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2016.^[6] He took on the role as board representative for sport of the club on 10 April 2013.^[7] Bobic was sacked on 24 September 2014.

On 1 June 2016, Bobic became sporting director of Eintracht Frankfurt.^[8] During his term the club won the DFB-Pokal after beating Bayern Munich in the final (3-1).

On 14 April 2021, Hertha BSC announced its decision to hire Bobic as their new managing director for sport starting 1 July 2021.^[9]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1990–91	TSF Ditzingen	Verbandsliga Württemberg	28	13	-		-		-		28	13
1991–92		Oberliga Baden-Württemberg	34	19	-		-		-		34	19
1992–93	Stuttgarter Kickers	2. Bundesliga	30	10	1	0	-		-		31	10
1993–94			32	16	1	0	-		-		33	16
1994–95	VfB Stuttgart	Bundesliga	32	12	3	2	-		-		35	14
1995–96			26	17	1	1	-		-		27	18
1996–97			33	19	5	2	-		-		38	21
1997–98			29	13	5	4	2	0	8	6	44	23
1998–99			28	8	3	0	3	1	4	3	38	12
1999–2000	Borussia Dortmund		29	7	1	0	2	1	4	2	36	10
2000–01			24	10	1	0	-		-		25	10
2001–02			3	0	1	0	1	1	7	0	12	1
2001–02	Bolton Wanderers (loan)	Premier League	16	4	0	0	-		-		16	4
2002–03	Hannover 96	Bundesliga	27	14	0	0	-		-		27	14
2003–04	Hertha BSC		32	7	2	0	1	1	2	0	37	8
2004–05			22	1	2	0	-		-		24	1
2005–06	NK Rijeka	Prva HNL	8	2	2	1	-		-		10	3
Total			433	172	28	10	9	4	25	11	495	197

International goals[]

show#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	23 August 1995	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2.	9 October 1996	Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	4–0	5–1	1998 World Cup qualifying
3.	20 November 2002	Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany	Netherlands	1–1	1–3	Friendly
4.	12 February 2003	Estadio Son Moix, Mallorca, Spain	Spain	1–1	1–3	Friendly
5.	1 June 2003	Volkswagen-Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany	Canada	3–1	4–1	Friendly
6.	7 June 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
7.	11 June 2003	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
8.	10 September 2003	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany	Scotland	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
9.	11 October 2003	Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany	Iceland	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
10.	27 May 2004	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany	Malta	7–0	7–0	Friendly

Honours[]

Club[]

VfB Stuttgart

• DFB-Pokal: 1996–97
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: runner-up: 1997–98

Borussia Dortmund

• Bundesliga: 2001–02

NK Rijeka

• Croatian Cup: 2005–06

International[]

Germany

• UEFA European Championship: 1996

Individual[]

• Bundesliga top scorer: 1995–96
• kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1995–96^[10]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Fredi Bobic at Soccerbase
• Fredi Bobic at fussballdaten.de (in German)