M43 Tim Walter

Biography

German manager Tim Walter was appointed by club owner Acun Ilicali at the end of May 2024 after an intensive three week courtship that followed the dismissal of Tim’s predecessor, Liam Rosenior. He spent June 2024 plotting his approach to managing the Tigers, then when he officailly started in post at the start of July he drilled his diminished squad to play his fast-paced attacking style of football, while also assimilating a string of quality Championship signings. Walter’s side commenced the 2024/25 season in a rather under-cooked state and had to wait until mid-September 2024 for its first wins, on a Friday night at hapless Stoke City, on a sunny Saturday afternoon against Cardiff City and on a rainy Tuesday night at Queens Park Rangers. These victories were followed by nine winless matches, a slump in form that led to growing disquiet amongst the Tigers fanbase and Walter’s dismissal after a soul-crushing late November defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday, with owner Acun ilicali in attendance.

Tim Laszlo Walter was born in Bruchsal, a small city in the Rhine Valley in Western Germany twenty miles north of Karlsruhe, his family has Hungarian roots through his grandfather. He grew up in a Karlsruhe suburb and played regional league football for local sides SG Dielheim, ASV Durlach and FC Heidelsheim in his early 20s while studying a Sports Science degree, choosing that path instead of becoming a a professional footballer. In the summer of 2006 he was appointed to the coaching staff at Bundesliga.1 side Karlsruher SC and during the next nine years he progressed to become head coach of the Under-15, the Under-17 and – for the 2014/15 season – the Under-19 sides.

Having made a name for himself as a progressive and successful coach, in July 2015 Tim was appointed the Under-17 coach at German giants Bayern Munich. After his side won the Under-17s Bundesliga in his second season, in July 2017 Walter was elevated to become Head Coach of Bayern Munich II, the club’s second team that played in the Bavarian regional league, the fourth tier of German football. The side had a successful 2017/18 season under his tutelage, finishing second in the regional league table.

In July 2018 Walter was elevated to senior football management when he was appionted Head Coach at Bundesliga.2 side Holsten Kiel. The Storks finished sixth in Tim’s only season at the helm, leading the side for 37 matches and playing the brand of attacking and fast-flowing football that became his trademark. In July 2019 he was appointed Head Coach at freshly relegated Bundesliga.2 rivals VfB Stuttgart, one of Germany’s larger clubs, and began his tenure with six wins and two draws in his first eight League games. However a sticky patch of five defeats in seven matches during October and November 2019 spooked the hierarchy at Stuttgart and Walter was dismissed two days before Christmas 2019 after just 20 matches in charge.

Walter took a break from frontline management for eighteen months before accepting the job of Head Coach at Bundesliga.2 side Hamburger SV in June 2021 – rather like Stuttgart, one of the country’s largest clubs that had fallen into the relative doldrums of the second tier. Despite losing the third league game of his tenure to local rivals FC St Pauli, Walter continued to enhance his reputation as a manager who could successfully meld action-packed attacking football with positive results. His side ended the 2021/22 season in third place and qualified for the end of season promotion/relegation play-off, only to lose out to Bundesliga.1 side Hertha Berlin. Hamburg also reached the German Cup semi-finals in Tim’s first season, despatching 1FC Koln and his former club Karlsruher SC on the way to a semi-final defeat to SC Freiburg.

The 2022/23 season saw similar success with Hamburg competing at the upper end of the table only to finish third and qualify for the promotion/relegation play-off again – this time it was his former club VfB Stuttgart that prevailed in the two legged play-off and retained their Bundesliga.1 status. Further good results followed at the start of the 2023/24 season and Hamburg were second in the table by January 2024, however two messy 3-4 defeats in successive home games during late January and early February 2024 led to the Hamburg board taking action and dismissing Walter in February 2024 after 103 matches in charge, of which 55 ended in victory. He had been out of work for five months when he officially commenced duties at Hull City on 1 July 2024.

Details

Nationality: Germany
Date/Place of Birth: 8 November 1975, Bruchsal, Germany

Appointed by Hull City: 31 May 2024; 48 years, 205 days old
Left Hull City: 27 November 2024; 49 years, 19 days old
Tenure: 180 days

Clubs Managed

Bayern Munich II (2017-2018), Holsten Kiel (2018-2019), VfB Stuttgart (2019), Hamburger SV (2021-2024), Hull City (2024)

Hull City Record

Managerial Record: Played 18, Won 3, Drawn 6, Lost 9, Goals For 17, Goals Against 25

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