Thomas Schaaf

**Thomas Schaaf** (born 30 April 1961 in Mannheim) is a former German football player. Schaaf was a defender.

## Career

After the death of his father the Schaaf family went to Bremen. They lived near the Weser Stadion, and Thomas Schaaf came to SV Werder. He spent all his active and manager time with SV Werder. In 1972 he came to Werder Bremen's youth academy. In 1978 he turned professional. From 1978 to 1994 he played 281 matches for Werder Bremen. He was twice German champion with Bremen, in 1988 and 1993, and twice Cup winner (1991, 1994). He also won the UEFA Cup  in 1992. As player he played two times for the German U21 national team.

Schaaf began his coaching career during his active career. He was then coach of Werder's youth teams U17 (1987/88) and U19 (1988 - 1995). From 1993 to 1995 he was assistance coach in the first team. After four years as coach with the second team he became coach of the first team in 1999. He is still coach. As coach of the first team he won the German Bundesliga in 2004 and was three times Cup winner (1999, 2004, 2009). From 2004 his team qualified 5 times for the  UEFA Champions League.

Thomas Schaaf is married and has a daughter. He is also engaged in social issues. He is ambassador for the "Zentrum für trauernde Kinder und Jugendliche " (center for mourning children and youths).

### Club

|rowspan="2"|Club|rowspan="2"|Season|colspan="3"|League|colspan="2"|Cup|colspan="2"|Europe|colspan="2"|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="17"|Werder Bremen|1978–79|rowspan="2"|Bundesliga|1|0|0|0|—|1|0|
|1979–80|0|0|0|0|—|0|0|||||
|1980–81|2. Bundesliga|19|1|4|0|—|23|1||||
|1981–82|Bundesliga|1|0|0|0|—|1|0||||
|1982–83|21|1|1|1|5|0|27|2||||
|1983–84|29|1|5|0|4|0|38|1||||
|1984–85|32|1|4|0|2|0|38|1||||
|1985–86|30|3|2|0|2|0|34|3||||
|1986–87|29|4|2|0|2|0|33|4||||
|1987–88|29|1|4|1|9|1|42|3||||
|1988–89|23|2|5|0|4|1|32|3||||
|1989–90|19|0|2|0|5|0|26|0||||
|1990–91|13|0|1|0|—|14|0|||||
|1991–92|18|0|4|0|6|0|28|0||||
|1992–93|5|0|0|0|1|0|6|0||||
|1993–94|9|0|3|0|3|0|15|0||||
|1994–95|3|0|0|0|0|0|3|0||||

### Manager

|Team|From|To|Record|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Werder Bremen II|1 July 1995|9 May 1999||
|Werder Bremen|10 May 1999|18 May 2013||
|Eintracht Frankfurt|21 May 2014|26 May 2015||
|Hannover 96|28 December 2015|3 April 2016||
|Werder Bremen|16 May 2021|30 June 2021||

### Player

**Werder Bremen**
- Bundesliga: 1987–88, 1992–93
- DFB-Pokal: 1990–91, 1993–94; runner-up: 1988–89, 1989–90
- 2. Bundesliga: 1980–81
- DFL-Supercup: 1988, 1993, 1994; runner-up: 1991
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1991–92
- UEFA Super Cup runner-up: 1992

### Manager

**Werder Bremen**
- Bundesliga: 2003–04
- DFB-Pokal: 1998–99, 2003–04, 2008–09; runner-up: 1999–2000, 2009–10
- DFB-Ligapokal: 2006; runner-up: 1999, 2004
- DFL-Supercup: 2009
- UEFA Cup runner-up: 2008–09

**Individual**
- German Football Manager of the Year: 2004

## Other websites

- Fansite Thomas Schaaf (German)
- Profile Official Werder Homepage (German)

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Thomas Schaaf
- **image**: Thomas Schaaf - SV Werder Bremen (1).jpg
- **caption**: Schaaf with SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen in 2009
- **birth place**: Mannheim, West Germany
- **height**: 1.79 m
- **position**: Defender (association football), Defender
- **youthclubs1**: BBV Union Bremen
- **youthyears2**: 1972–1978
- **youthclubs2**: SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen
- **years1**: 1978–1980
- **clubs1**: SV Werder Bremen II, Werder Bremen II
- **caps1**: 59
- **goals1**: 0
- **years2**: 1978–1995
- **clubs2**: SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen
- **caps2**: 281
- **goals2**: 14
- **totalcaps**: 340
- **totalgoals**: 14
- **manageryears1**: 1995–1999
- **managerclubs1**: SV Werder Bremen II, Werder Bremen II
- **manageryears2**: 1999–2013
- **managerclubs2**: SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen
- **manageryears3**: 2014–2015
- **managerclubs3**: Eintracht Frankfurt
- **manageryears4**: 2015–2016
- **managerclubs4**: Hannover 96
- **manageryears5**: 2021
- **managerclubs5**: SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen (interim)