In comeback after cruciate ligament rupture
Felix Brych becomes Bundesliga record referee
14.09.2024, 16:05
A special honor for Felix Brych: After a long injury break, the Munich native has become the referee with the most Bundesliga matches. He overtakes his predecessor Wolfgang Stark in his first match after tearing a cruciate ligament.
As of this afternoon, referee Felix Brych is the sole record holder in the Bundesliga with 345 appearances. The 49-year-old from Munich was back on the field in the top flight in the match between Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart 294 days after tearing his cruciate ligament. He had previously shared the record with Wolfgang Stark, who set it in May 2017.
“I didn’t come back for the record,” Brych recently told SID before his comeback. The joint record with Stark “would have been enough” for him, he stressed: “My goal was simply to come back again. I didn’t want to stop like that.”
“Working hard day in, day out for the last few months”
He had already celebrated his return in the first round of the cup in the match between VfR Aalen and Schalke 04 (0:2). “He is fit. He has passed his performance test. He will be used on the first match days. We can count ourselves lucky about that,” the new head referee Knut Kircher recently said about the former World Cup and European Championship referee. Since there is no longer an age limit, the appointment was now possible.
The Bavarian Football Association (BFV) congratulated Brych. “This comeback after such a serious injury says everything about Felix, who has worked hard day in day out over the last few months to get fit again,” said BFV President Christoph Kern: “Driven by the goal of getting back on the pitch, he has done so in an impressive way – many would understandably have hung up their whistles in his situation.”
Brych suffered his serious injury in his first record-breaking game. After the match between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart (1:2) on November 25, 2023, he had to undergo surgery. Brych has been a referee for the DFB since 1999 and has received the Referee of the Year award five times. He ended his international career at the end of 2021.