An in-depth look at the career of our new head coach, Tim Walter…
Born in Bruchsal, West Germany, on 8 November 1975, Tim Laszlo Walter played as an attacking midfielder for SG Dielheim, ASV Durlach and FC Heidelsheim in his homeland.
Ahead of the 2006/07 season, Walter was given his first major coaching opportunity when appointed assistant manager of Karlsruher SC Under-19s. Overseeing their youth teams after one campaign, he became manager of the Under-17s for the 2013/14 season.
Going unbeaten in the first five games of the B-Juniors Bundesliga South/Southwest division, Walter’s team won 13 of 26 league fixtures, scoring 61 goals and accumulating 45 points, finishing fifth.
Walter was promoted to Under-19s manager for the 2014/15 season and began the campaign with a 5-0 win over Nürnberg in the A-Juniors Bundesliga South/Southwest. KSC finished runners-up with 51 points, winning 16 fixtures and netting 61 goals. By finishing second, the club progressed to the national finals of the A-Junioren Bundesliga Endrunde, where KSC were defeated in the two-legged semi-finals by eventual winners Schalke 04, 3-2 on aggregate.
His impressive results at Karlsruher earned him a switch to German giants Bayern Munich ahead of the 2015/16 campaign, becoming the manager of their Under-17 side. Winning his first eight games, Bayern finished runners-up in his debut campaign in the B-Juniors Bundesliga South/Southwest division on 59 points.
Walter’s second season with Bayern’s Under-17s saw a return to silverware for the German giants. Finishing top of the regular division with 55 points, Bayern recorded a number of emphatic victories, including a 6-0 win over St Kickers and a 7-1 thrashing of Sandhausen. Defeating Schalke 3-1 on aggregate over two legs in the national semi-final, Walter led the side to the B-Junioren Bundesliga Endrunde title with a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen.
In total, Walter managed 55 league games for Bayern Munich’s Under-17s, winning 39 of 55 games, securing 120 points and scoring an impressive 148 goals. The 48-year-old was promoted to manage Bayern Munich II for 2017/18, winning the first game of the new season 5-0 over Ingolstadt II. In his singular campaign with Bayern’s B-team, they finished runners-up in the Regionalliga Bayern division with 74 points, winning 22 of 36 games, posting a win percentage of 61.11%.
In May 2018, Walter made the switch to 2. Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel. Unbeaten in his first five games, gaining eight points in the league and progressing to the second round of the DFB-Pokal, he took charge of 37 games for Die Störche (The Storks), winning 15, accumulating 55 points and scoring 65 goals.
In June 2019, Walter became the new head coach of fellow 2. Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart and avoided defeat in his first nine games in all competitions, securing seven victories. Walter led Stuttgart to the third round of the DFB-Pokal but left the club in December 2019 despite winning 11 of his 20 games, a 55% win rate, with the team scoring 33 goals during his tenure.
Walter’s next job came with 2. Bundesliga side Hamburger SV in June 2021. Defeating FC Schalke 04 away 3-1 on his Hamburg managerial bow, Walter only lost one of his first 17 games. In his first campaign, he took HSV to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, losing to runners-up SC Freiburg, before narrowly missing out on promotion in the Bundesliga play-offs after a 2-1 aggregate defeat to top-tier Hertha BSC.
Walter guided Hamburg to the Bundesliga play-offs again in his second season, which featured several impressive victories, including a 6-1 thrashing of Hannover 96. However, Hamburg missed out on promotion to Germany’s top flight after losing in the play-offs to his former side VfB Stuttgart.
In his third season, Hamburg progressed to the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal, but Walter left his position in February 2024. Overall, he managed 104 games for Hamburg, winning 51, drawing 28 and losing just 25. His overall goal difference was an impressive +61 with 202 goals scored to 141 conceded, leaving with a win percentage of 49.04%.
Holding a UEFA Pro Licence, Walter’s preferred formation is an attacking variation of the 4-3-3 system.
