As a player, he was a midfielder who played 104 matches for Bayern Munich and scored five goals between 1985 and 1990, where he won four Bundesliga titles as well as one DFB-Pokal title, and played in the 1987 European Cup Final. He later played 44 matches for Köln before retiring from professional football in 1993 due to injuries. His last spell as a footballer was with Victoria Bammental from 1994 until 2000.