Back
1.02.2025Bayer 04

Birthday boy of the month 2: Sven Demandt turns 60

Sven Demandt was born in Cologne on 13 February 1965. In his youth he played for the Cologne side TuS Höhenhaus. In 1984 he joined the reserves at Fortuna Düsseldorf, made his first appearance in the Bundesliga on Matchday 3 in the 1984/85 season at the Betzenberg when he comes on as a substitute on 74 minutes, and in 1986 he signs his first professional contract at Fortuna.

Display videos

Yes, I'd like to see videos dispalyed.

In the following 1986/87 season he is mainly a regular starter but Fortuna end the campaign in a relegation spot. The first year in Bundesliga 2 ends in a fifth-place finish but Fortuna Düsseldorf are promoted back to the Bundesliga in 1988/89 also thanks to 35 goals scored by Sven. The Bundesliga 2 goalscorer signs a contract with the Bayer 04 long before the end of the season and moves under the Bayer Cross in the summer of 1989.

He is a first choice in the first half of the season and forms a dangerous striking duo with Marek Lesniak. He is a regular in the Hinrunde but from January 1990 he is primarily on the bench as Andreas Thom moves to the Bundesliga as the first East Germany international. And he is a tad better than Sven with his pace and goal threat. When it became clear that another striker in the shape Ulf Kirsten is coming to Leverkusen in the summer, Sven decides to return to Düsseldorf. After two more years at Fortuna, he moves on to the capital to play for Hertha Berlin for two years.

Sven Demandt

He leaves Hertha Berlin to join Mainz 05 in 1994 where he achieves cult status over the next seven years. The Hessen fans love their striker because of his apparently clumsy and stumbling way of playing football. But above all because he scores lots of goals despite his supposed limited technical ability. The left footer is given the nickname of ‘Kühlschrank’ (fridge) because the 1.90 metre tall and very broad striker mostly scores his goals clinically and is rather reserved in his celebrations. He scored 55 goals for Mainz and is in second place behind Simon Terodde in the Bundesliga 2 goalscorers list with 121 goals.

earns coaching badge

Sven ended his professional playing career at the age of 36 and moved on to his birthplace as a player/assistant coach for a year at Viktoria Köln. In 2003, he takes over Union Solingen for three years and then moves on to the Rot-Weiß Essen U19 team where he gets his coaching badge and from 2008 he coaches the U19 and U 23 teams at Borussia Mönchengladbach. After six years as a coach of men's teams at SV Wehen Wiesbaden, Rot-Weiß Essen and Frechen 20 Sven starts his job as a full-time scout at Holstein Kiel on 1 July 2021. In April 2024 he again answers the call from the Lower Rhine. Today he works for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the academy on squad planning and scouting for the U19 and U 23 teams.

Dear Sven, I wish you many happy returns on your 60th. Stay fit and healthy and enjoy your birthday!

 

Related News

Minas Hantzidis wird 60 | Geburtstagskind des Monats Juli
Bayer 04 - 01.07.2026

Birthday Boy of the Month 1: Minas Hantzidis turns 60

Minas Hantzidis was born on 4 July 1966 in Kettwig, near Essen, and he grew up in Germany. He developed a passion for football at a young age and, whilst still a youth player, moved from Wuppertaler SV to Bayer 04. The attacking and goal-scoring midfielder then made a name for himself in his first senior season at Bayer 04. In the reserve team, he scored goal after goal in the first half of the season, soon began training with the first team and was brought on as a substitute for the first time by manager Erich Ribbeck on 22 November 1985 in a home match against Bayern Munich.

Show more
Sascha Dum wird 40 | Geburtstagskind des Monats Juli
Bayer 04 - 01.07.2026

Birthday Boy of the Month 2: Sascha Dum turns 40

Sascha was born on 3 July 1986 in Leverkusen. He is the son of former Bundesliga 2 player Manfred Dum, who mainly scored goals for Union Solingen but also played for FC Saarbrücken, SC Freiburg and Wuppertaler SV. Sascha started playing for the youth teams at HSV Langenfeld at an early age. There, he caught the eye of scouts from Bayer 04 and joined the club at a young age. Following a growth spurt in the U15 team, which forced him to take a nine-month break, the left-footed player finally had the ideal conditions to establish himself in the Bayer 04 youth ranks. Even as an U17 player, he made the leap into the U19 team. Blessed with immense pace, Sascha primarily played in attacking midfield. Not the most technically gifted, but possessing a powerful shot, he found himself training with the first team in the summer of 2005 alongside Gonzalo Castro, while he was still a U19 player.

Show more
crop_19760723_B04_KSC_001.jpg
Bayer 04 - 01.07.2026

From the archives: 50 years ago – A pre-season debacle

The Werkself could not have hoped for a better start to the Bundesliga 2 North season in 1976/77. At the end of a week-long training camp in Quickborn, Schleswig-Holstein, coach Willibert Kremer’s side secured two convincing victories over BSC Brunsbüttel (5–0) and TuS Holstein Quickborn (6–0). Following this flying start, Bayer 04 faced a considerably tougher challenge on 23 July 1976 at 19:30 CEST at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC.

Show more
Vor 25 Jahren – Die Vize-Triple-Saison 2001/02 | Geschichte des Monats Juli
Bayer 04 - 01.07.2026

History: 25 years ago – The 2001/02 treble runners-up season (July)

On 27 June 2001, new head coach Klaus Toppmöller and his assistant Peter Hermann led the Werkself out of the changing rooms for their first training session. Joining them as they stepped onto the pitch at training ground 1 were the four new signings: Hans Jörg Butt, Yildiray Bastürk (with special permission from VfL Bochum, as Bayer 04 and VfL had not yet agreed on a transfer fee), Zoltan Sebescen and Michael Zepek, the record holder for appearances for the youth national team.

Show more
Hans Sarpei wird 50 | Geburtstagskind des Monats Juni
Bayer 04 - 01.06.2026

Birthday boy of the month: Hans Sarpei turns 50

Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.

Show more