Funkel’s successor
1. FC Kaiserslautern starts everything from scratch
29.05.2024, 11:09 a.m.
1. FC Kaiserslautern will be going into the upcoming second division season with Markus Anfang. The coach once caused a stir nationwide with a vaccination scandal. He succeeds Friedhelm Funkel at the Red Devils. Anfang has a past as a player at 1. FCK.
1. FC Kaiserslautern has hired Markus Anfang as coach. The 49-year-old succeeds Friedhelm Funkel, as the second division football club and DFB Cup finalist announced. “Markus Anfang fits the profile we were looking for: He has gained a lot of experience in both the youth and men’s divisions in various leagues, which will certainly help him a lot in his job here at FCK,” said boss Thomas Hengen.
Anfang had most recently coached third division club Dynamo Dresden. In April, the Saxons parted ways with him after Dynamo lost sight of its goal of promotion due to a weak second half of the season. “Due to my Lautern past, I know exactly how important FCK is, not just in the region, but in football in Germany as a whole,” said Anfang, who played for FCK from 2002 to 2004 and now brings Florian Jung with him as assistant coach. “The great atmosphere at Betzenberg and the outstanding support of the fans were also a very important factor in my considerations,” said the ex-professional.
The Cologne native caused a stir nationwide with a vaccination scandal during the corona pandemic. The Bremen District Court sentenced him to a fine of 36,000 euros for a fake vaccination certificate, and the German Football Association’s sports court also banned him from practicing his profession.
Anfang is now following in big footsteps. With Funkel, 1. FC Kaiserslautern managed to stay in the 2. Bundesliga and reached the final of the DFB Cup. The Red Devils lost this on Saturday in Berlin against champions Bayer Leverkusen 0-1. Funkel and the Palatinate team had agreed that the 70-year-old’s expiring contract would not be extended. The veteran coach came in as an emergency helper in February and is the third head coach at FCK in the 2023/2024 season after Dirk Schuster and Dimitrios Grammozis.