Thomas Hitzlsperger was born in Munich, on April 5, 1982.
He started his football with local small club VfB Forstinning before joining Bayern Munich’s youth team in 1989. He only stayed a year and then moved to England, to Aston Villa's youth set up.
In January 2001 he made his first team debut for the Villains from Birmingham in a game against Liverpool. This would be his only appearance.
In 2001-02 he was loaned to Chesterfield in the third tier but after only two months and 5 league games he was called back to Aston Villa who had several players out injured.
At Villa the manager was John Gregory until January and then Graham Taylor. The Lions finished 8th.
In 2002-03, still under Taylor, Villa finished 16th.
In 2003-04 they had a new manager David O'Leary and finished 6th and also reached the League Cup semi-final.
In 2004-05 the Claret and Blue Army finished 10th.
In his five seasons with Villa, Hitzlsperger played 99 league games and scored 8 goals.
In 2005 he went back to Germany and signed for Stuttgart. He stayed five seasons. "Die Roten" (The Reds) finished 9th, 1st, 6th, 3rd and 6th. His managers were Giovanni Trapattoni and then Armin Veh in the first year, Veh in the second and third, Veh and then Markus Babbel in the fourth and Babbel and Christian Gross in his fifth which Hitzlsperger did not complete as he left in January.
He therefore won a historic 5th Bundesliga title for Stuttgart in 2007 (Hitzlsperger played 30 league games with 7 goals).
In his five years with "Die Schwaben" (The Swabians) he played 125 league games and scored 20 goals.
In January 2010 he arrived at Lazio but the Biancocelesti were struggling. They were 17
He moved to England and joined West Ham United. The manager was Avramov Grant and then Kevin Keegan for the last match. The hammers finished 20th and were relegated. Hitzlsperger played 11 league games and scored 2 goals.
In 2011 he returned to his homeland and signed for Wolfsburg. The manager was former Hamburger SV great, Felix Magath and "Die Wölfe" (The Wolves) finished 8th. Hitzlsperger played only 6 league games.
In 2012-13 he went back to England, specifically Merseyside and joined Everton. The Toffees had a good season under David Moyes and finished 6th. Hitzlsperger however did not play regularly, making 7 league appearances.
At this point at only 31 he retired.
He had a good international career. He played 21 games for Germany U21's with 3 goals and then 52 full German caps with 6 goals. He took part in the 2006 World Cup and in Euro 2008.
Hitzlsperger was a solid midfielder. At 1.83 and 75 kilos he was a physically strong and hardworking player. He was nicknamed "The Hammer" due to his powerful shot especially from long range. His best moments were with Aston Villa and especially with Stuttgart where he won a “Meistertitel".
At Lazio he arrived halfway through the season, when his career was taking a downward turn, and was not helped by Lazio being in the middle of a relegation battle.
Off the field he made the headlines in 2014 when he became one of the first German players to come out about his sexuality. A brave and much respected move and no doubt a lot more difficult than any football match he ever played.
Lazio Career
Season | Serie A appearances (goals) |
Jan-June 2010 | 6 (1) |
Sources
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