 Diekmeier withHamburger SV in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1989-10-20)20 October 1989 (age 36) | ||
| Place of birth | Thedinghausen,West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | SV Sandhausen (interim manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–2001 | TSV Bierden | ||
| 2001–2003 | TSV Verden | ||
| 2003–2008 | Werder Bremen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008 | Werder Bremen II | 19 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 47 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Hamburger SV II | 4 | (1) |
| 2010–2018 | Hamburger SV | 173 | (0) |
| 2019–2024 | SV Sandhausen | 145 | (3) |
| Total | 388 | (4) | |
| International career | |||
| 2005–2007 | Germany U18 | 4 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | Germany U19 | 19 | (4) |
| 2008–2010 | Germany U20 | 3 | (0) |
| 2010 | Germany U21 | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2025– | SV Sandhausen (interim) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Dennis Diekmeier (born 20 October 1989) is a German professionalfootballmanager ofSV Sandhausen and former player.
Aright-back during his playing days, Diekmeier came through the ranks ofWerder Bremen before moving to1. FC Nürnberg in 2009. His form there led him to being named to one of the best full-backs in the league, after which he joinedHamburger SV in July 2010, where he enjoyed a successful eight-year spell. He left after the club suffered relegation in 2018. In January 2019, he signed withSV Sandhausen, helping them avoid relegation in his first season there. He retired from professional football in 2024 and was appointed assistant coach at SV Sandhausen.
Diekmeier has representedGermany, and was a part of theGermany under-19 team that won the2008 European U-19 Championship.
Diekmeier was born inThedinghausen,Lower Saxony, and grew up inAchim, where he attended school alongside fellow futureWerder Bremen playerFelix Wiedwald.[1] Diekmeier started playing football at TSV Bierden and later played at TSV Verden before moving to the youth department ofWerder Bremen in 2003.[2] For the2008–09 season, he was promoted to thesecond team of Werder Bremen, who competed in the3. Liga. At the same time, Diekmeier was also included in the first-team squad. He was mostly employed as amidfielder during his time at Werder.[3]
In January 2009, Diekmeier moved to2. Bundesliga side1. FC Nürnberg, where he appeared in all matches during the second half of the season as well as in both relegation play-off games.kicker subsequently placed him as the third bestfull-back of spring season in their post-season awards.[4] On the first matchday of the2009–10 Bundesliga, Diekmeier was voted into the "Starting XI of the Day" forkicker-magazine.[5] Eight rounds into the competition, Diekmeier was the only Nürnberg player who had played eight full games, alongside goalkeeperRaphael Schäfer. In the final training session before the ninth match-round, however, he suffered a severeallergic reaction and was treated after an emergency helicopter flew in.[6] Nevertheless, it was decided that Diekmeier was fit to play. However, two hours before the start of the game he was suspended due to one of his medications being on the doping list.[7] The allergic reaction was later diagnosed asallergic rhinitis caused by grass pollen.[8] During the winter break,VfL Wolfsburg offered an estimated€ 4 million for Diekmeier, which eventually did not amount to a transfer.[9]
Instead, Diekmeier ended up signing withHamburger SV in July 2010, whose home games he had attended as a child and whom he had supported since childhood.[10] Because of an injury, he made his first appearance for HSV on 19 March 2011 in a 6–2 home win over1. FC Köln. Head coachMichael Oenning had placed him in the starting lineup, before he was substituted forGuy Demel in the 55th minute.[11]
Diekmeier played for the club for eight years, during which he was mostly utilized as the mainright-back under various coaches. In February 2018, however, negotiations to extend his contract reached a deadlock, and it was decided that he would leave the club at the expiration of his deal.[12] Only at the end of the2017–18 season, Diekmeier made another appearance under new coachChristian Titz. At that point, HSV were threatened by relegation, and he would not make another appearance in the final eight matches of the season. After HSV eventually suffered the first relegation for theBundesliga in club history, Diekmeier left the club as his contract expired.[13] He did not immediately earn himself a contract at another club, instead keeping himself in shape with the aid of personal coach.[14]
In early January 2019, after being afree agent for six months, Diekmeier joined relegation threatened2. Bundesliga clubSV Sandhausen, where he signed a one-and-a-half-year contract.[15][16] He made 16 league appearances during the second half of the2018–19 season in which the club avoided relegation. Prior to the2019–20 season, Diekmeier signed a contract extension keeping him in Sandhausen until 2022,[17] and was also appointedvice-captain by head coachUwe Koschinat.[18] After regular club captainStefan Kulovits suffered an injury which kept him sidelined for the entire first half of the season, Diekmeier played 17 matches as captain for Sandhausen.
On 26 May 2020, Diekmeier finally scored his first ever professional goal at the age of 30 in Sandhausen's 1–0 away win overSV Wehen Wiesbaden,[19] a feat which the club celebrated by offering free printing of his name and number on their replica kits.[20] This goal proved momentous in marking the first of four consecutive victories for Sandhausen towards the end of the 2019–20 season, the points from which they secured to stay in the2. Bundesliga for another season with two games to spare, despite a 5–1 away defeat toVfB Stuttgart on the 32nd matchday.[21] On matchday 34, Diekmeier scored a goal capping off a 1–5 drubbing of Hamburger SV, his former club.[22] On 11 July 2020, Diekmeier capped off a strong 2019–20 campaign by being named in thekicker "Team of the Season" for the2. Bundesliga.[23]
Diekmeier was part of the Sandhausen team that suffered relegation to the3. Liga in the2022–23 season. On 29 April 2024, Diekmeier announced his retirement from professional football after the2023–24 season.[24][25]
He was part of theGermany team that won the2008 European U-19 Championship.
After retiring, Diekmeier was appointed assistant coach toSreto Ristić atSV Sandhausen on 25 June 2024.[26] In April 2025, he became the interim manager of Sandhausen.[27]
Diekmeier held the record of being theBundesliga player with the most appearances without ever scoring until finally scoring on 26 May 2020 in his 11th season in German professional football.[28]
| Club | Season | League | DFB-Pokal | Other1 | Total | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Werder Bremen II | 2007–08 | Regionalliga Nord | 4 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | [29] | ||
| 2008–09 | 3. Liga | 15 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | [3] | |||
| Totals | 19 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | — | ||||
| Nürnberg | 2008–09 | 2. Bundesliga | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | [3] |
| 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | [30] | ||
| Totals | 47 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 0 | — | ||
| Hamburger SV II | 2010–11 | Regionalliga Nord | 4 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 1 | [3] | ||
| Hamburger SV | 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | [3] | |
| 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | [31] | ||
| 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | [32] | ||
| 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | [3] | |
| 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | [3] | |
| 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | [33] | ||
| 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | |||
| Totals | 173 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 184 | 0 | — | ||
| SV Sandhausen | 2018–19 | 2. Bundesliga | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | [34] | |
| 2019–20 | 2. Bundesliga | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 2 | [35] | ||
| 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | [36] | ||
| 2021–22 | 2. Bundesliga | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 1 | [37] | ||
| 2022–23 | 2. Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | [38] | ||
| 2023–24 | 3. Liga | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | [39] | ||
| Totals | 145 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | 149 | 3 | — | |||
| Career totals | 388 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 407 | 4 | — | ||