Thomas Hitzlsperger

He scored a crucial equaliser in the 27th minute of Stuttgart's final match of the season against Energie Cottbus – had Stuttgart lost that match, Schalke 04 would have won the title.

In the end, a 63rd-minute goal by Sami Khedira secured the title for Stuttgart.

Thomas Hitzlsperger (born 5 April 1982) is a German director of football and former footballer who played as a midfielder.

After joining the VfB Forstinning youth team in 1988, Hitzlsperger signed to the Bayern Munich Junior Team, but agreed to leave at the end of the 1999–2000 season.

After a short trial with Celtic in August 2000, Hitzlsperger joined Aston Villa on a free youth transfer from Bayern Munich.

He made his Aston Villa debut in a 3–0 home defeat to Liverpool on 13 January 2001 as an 84th-minute substitute for Jlloyd Samuel; it was his only appearance during his first season in England.

Whilst at Aston Villa, Hitzlsperger was briefly loaned out to Second Division club Chesterfield during the 2001–02 season, making his debut in a 1–0 home win against Kidderminster Harriers in the Football League Trophy second round.

On 21 November, his link was extended for another month.

In all he made six appearances for the Spireites, five of which were in the league.

He was recalled by Aston Villa during the second month of the loan spell however, as the Birmingham club had several players injured or suspended.

On 20 April 2002, away to already relegated Leicester City, he hit the post after five minutes, from which Peter Crouch opened the scoring from the rebound; Hitzlsperger later scored his first senior goal in the 2–2 draw, from a solo run.

Hitzlsperger moved into the Aston Villa first team following the arrival of new manager Graham Taylor.

On 14 December 2002, his last-minute 30-yard strike past Russell Hoult sealed a 2–1 win over rivals West Bromwich Albion.

He later played a significant part in the Aston Villa side that finished sixth under David O'Leary, before falling out of favour the following season.

Hitzlsperger left Aston Villa as a fan favourite, and stated that he might return to the club when the opportunity comes.

He gained the nickname Der Hammer (The Hammer) during his time at Villa Park, due to his powerful left-foot shot from long-range.

A fluent speaker of English, he acquired an unusual Brummie-German hybrid accent during his spell at Villa.

Hitzlsperger signed for VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2005, having left Aston Villa on a Bosman free transfer.

He became a regular for Stuttgart, particularly in his second season in which the team won the Bundesliga title.

Hitzlsperger made a large contribution to their success, playing in 30 of the team's 34 league matches and scoring seven times.

Hitzlsperger also represented the Germany national team, earning 52 caps and being selected for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.

As a player he spent the early part of his career playing for Aston Villa in England (accompanied by a short loan spell at Chesterfield), before returning to Germany to play for Stuttgart, where he was a member of the team which won the Bundesliga in 2007.

On 14 August 2007, Hitzlsperger extended his contract until the summer of 2010.

On 22 July 2008, he was appointed the new captain by manager Armin Veh following the departure of Fernando Meira.

On 1 December 2009, he was deposed as team captain by Stuttgart's new manager Markus Babbel.

In 2010, he signed for Italian side Lazio, before moving back to England to join West Ham United later that year.

He then had brief spells with Wolfsburg and Everton.

On 31 January 2010, Hitzlsperger moved to Lazio on six-month contract, for around €550,000.

He scored his only goal for Lazio on 15 May in a 3–1 win against Udinese.

Hitzlsperger signed a three-year deal with Premier League club West Ham United in June 2010, but due to an injury did not make his debut for the Hammers until an FA Cup fifth round match against Burnley on 21 February 2011, a game in which he scored in the 23rd minute of a 5–1 win with a "trademark thunderbolt" from 25 yards.

Hitzlsperger made his league debut for the East London club six days later in a 3–1 win against Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground.

He scored his first league goal for West Ham in the 3–0 home win against Stoke City on 5 March.

At the end of the season West Ham were relegated to the Football League Championship and Hitzlsperger's contract was terminated.

On 17 August 2011, Hitzlsperger signed for Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on a three-year deal, after being released by West Ham three months earlier.

His contract was terminated at the end of the season.

He played for Stuttgart and Wolfsburg 131 matches in the Bundesliga and scored 20 goals in the German top flight.

Following a series of injuries, he retired from football in September 2013.

After his retirement, he came out as gay, the highest-profile male footballer in the world to do so.

In February 2019, he was appointed Head of Sport of VfB Stuttgart and was subsequently promoted to CEO.

In March 2022, he stepped down from this position.