 Helmer in 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1965-04-21)21 April 1965 (age 60) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Herford,West Germany | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back,sweeper | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| –1984 | SC Bad Salzuflen | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1986 | Arminia Bielefeld | 39 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1992 | Borussia Dortmund | 190 | (16) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1999 | Bayern Munich | 191 | (24) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Sunderland | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | →Hertha BSC (loan) | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 427 | (46) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1998 | Germany | 68 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Helmer (born 21 April 1965) is a German formerfootballer. His preferred playing position wassweeper, but he was primarily deployed as acentre-back.[1]
Helmer spent most of his club career withBorussia Dortmund andBayern Munich – appearing in nearly 400Bundesliga games in 15 seasons – and won theEuropean Championship in1996.
Born inHerford,West Germany, Helmer began his professional career withArminia Bielefeld, playing four games late in1984–85, in a season that ended in relegation. In the following season, he netted five goals in 35second division matches, prompting interest fromBorussia Dortmund, which signed him in 1986. A key element from the start, Helmer also scored 16 goals during his six-season stint.[2]
In 1992, he joinedFC Bayern Munich in controversial circumstances. Dortmund did not wish to sell Helmer, one of its best players, to a rival Bundesliga team, and sent him to France'sOlympique Lyonnais instead. However, only three months later, Lyon sold Helmer to Bayern Munich for 7.5 millionmarks, at the time a record transfer fee paid by theBavarian club. The resulting furore became so heated that theGermany national side coachBerti Vogts threatened to drop Helmer from theUEFA Euro 92 squad because of the distraction the affair was causing.[1]
Helmer was also an integral part (scoring seven goals inhis debut season) and, eventually,captain of an ascendant Bayern Munich team of the late-1990s, winning three league titles, onecup and threeLeague cups), adding the1995–96 UEFA Cup, where he scored once (againstFC Girondins de Bordeaux inthe final's first leg) in 12 games. Defensively, the team would also include, during Helmer's stay, internationalsOlaf Thon,Lothar Matthäus andMarkus Babbel.
Upon leaving Bayern in 1999, Helmer opted to move to thePremier League. He was offered a contract byLiverpool, but chose instead to join newly promotedSunderland on afree transfer.[3] Sunderland managerPeter Reid hardly used him, however, making just two league appearances against Leeds United andArsenal[4] and he returned to Germany on loan withHertha BSC. Although he had appeared in theUEFA Champions League for Hertha, upon his return to Sunderland, Reid judged that "his legs had gone", and the club bought-out his contract,[5] with the player retiring immediately afterwards.
Helmer made his full international debut for Germany on 10 October 1990, a 3–1 win in afriendly match withSweden inStockholm.[6] He enjoyed great success in theUEFA European Football Championships, starting in consecutive finals. In1992, Germany lost surprisingly toDenmark, which had been called at the last hour, butfour years later went one better, defeating theCzech Republic inextra-time atWembley.
Helmer also appeared in twoFIFA World Cups, bowing out of international football in the second round clash of the1998 edition againstMexico, when he was replaced beforehalf-time byChristian Ziege.[7]He was known for trippingJosip Weber during the 1994 world cup in the penalty area butKurt Röthlisberger, the referee, did not make a call.[8][9]
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After retiring, Helmer worked as asports journalist and television presenter withDSF. Additionally, he served as Germany's ambassador to children's charity "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages", first undertaking it in 1997.[10]
Helmer was a member of theSupervisory board of Arminia Bielefeld from 19 July 2011 to 15 December 2015.[11][12][13]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 21 June 1995 | Letzigrund,Zürich |  Italy | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 8 October 1995 | Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion,Leverkusen |  Moldova | 2–0 | 6–1 | Euro 1996 qualifier |
| 3. | 11 October 1997 | AWD-Arena,Hanover |  Albania | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1998 World Cup qualifier |
| 4. | 22 February 1998 | King Fahd International Stadium,Riyadh |  Saudi Arabia | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 5. | 5 June 1998 | Carl-Benz-Stadion,Mannheim |  Luxembourg | 3–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
Borussia Dortmund
Bayern Munich
Germany
Germany squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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