Story
A Portrait of Pascal Groß: A Hero in England with "Signature Move"
On the evening of 9 August 2002, German Champions Borussia Dortmund opened the new Bundesliga season with a home game against Hertha BSC Berlin. Among the 68,000 spectators who watched the 2:2 draw was the 11-year-old Pascal Groß. "For some reason I can still remember that game, I don't know why", says Borussia's new recruit.
In his youth, BVB fan Groß enjoyed going to watch his favourite team play, and had also decorated his childhood bedroom with black and yellow fan memorabilia. He stills remembers one particular flag very well: "One day my parents wondered why it was suddenly so quiet in my room for a change. Well, I had grabbed some paint and just painted the black and yellow flag on the wallpaper. That bedroom still exists at my parents' house, and the flag is still there too." Since 1 August 2024, the now 33-year-old professional footballer has been a member of the club he loved as a child. A wonderful story, and a unique path.
Born in 1991 in Mannheim, his football journey began at the age of four at VfL Neckarau. Groß stayed with his first club until he reached the U17s, and then he joined the youth squad at TSG Hoffenheim. While he was in Neckarau, the right-footed Groß was also coached by his father Stephan Groß. With 113 Bundesliga games and 121 appearances in the second Bundesliga, Stephan Groß is recognised as a legend of Karlsruher SC. In this way, life as a professional footballer was more or less given to Groß Junior in the cradle. A lot of training and sharing of important values have made Daddy Groß the number one supporter of family man Pascal, who, as he once said himself, has "everything to thank" his father for.
In 2007, the central midfielder was crowned German Champion with the Hoffenheim U17s. The TSG youth squad won the final against Borussia Dortmund 6:4, thanks in part to a goal by Groß. His strong performances did not go unnoticed by Ralf Rangnick, who at the time was coaching the TSG first team. This meant that in May 2009, Pascal Groß was able to celebrate his Bundesliga debut with a brief appearance for VfL Wolfsburg (0:4).
After a spell at Karlsruher SC in the second league, Groß joined FC Ingolstadt, where he made his breakthrough as a professional footballer. During his five years at FCI, all his qualities became apparent: Groß can influence the direction of a game and shows strong ball control ability - he is a strategist who plays with great vision and understanding of the game, has brilliant shooting technique, and often shows his quality with a perfect final pass. A particular characteristic to look out for is his "signature move": faking a shot or a cross and then bringing the ball around the back of his standing leg to the left or the right. This allows Groß to create a vital half-meter for himself before he makes the decisive move.
It was with these qualities that he led the Ingolstadt Schanzers to their promotion to the top German league in the 2014/15 season. In addition to the seven goals he scored, he provided his teammates with 23 assists. In the following season, Ingolstadt managed to keep their place in the league, but were relegated to the second league again the year after.
After this, Groß decided to move to the Premier League and join newly promoted Brighton & Hove Albion. The boy from Mannheim would surely never have guessed at the time that he would stay there for seven years. At Brighton, Groß became the face of the club, and with 30 goals became the club record holder for the most goals scored in the Premier League. The "seagulls" went from being in danger of relegation to playing in the Europa League - set-piece specialist Groß played an important role in this. In total, he played in 261 competitive games for the English team, scoring 32 goals and assisting a further 52. In England, his right foot was feared by opponents and celebrated by his fans. After his transfer to BVB was announced, the club's YouTube channel paid tribute to Groß with a highlights video. The title: "Pascal Groß: A Brighton Legend."
His strong performances did not go unnoticed in Germany either: at the age of 32 years and 87 days, Groß made his debut for the German national team in September 2023 against Japan, after being substituted on in the 64th minute. To replace Emre Can, by the way. In summer 2024 he fulfilled a huge personal dream by playing in the EURO 2024 at home in Germany.
"I want people to judge me based on my performance as a footballer"
Anyone who wants to follow the Black & Yellow newcomer on social media will be disappointed, however, as the father of two has consciously decided against sharing his private life online. Groß spoke about this in an episode of the Sky series "My Story" last year: "I want people to judge me based on my performance as a footballer, and not on how often I post and how likeable I come across". Whether he likes it or not: Pascal Groß in a BVB shirt is already likeable.
And with all his experience and his fighter mentality, he will surely gain more likeability points among Borussians in future. A quick taster of what's to come? His best moment in the home country of football, on the penultimate day of his first season (2017/18) at Brighton, when he scored a header to seal a 1:0 victory against Manchester United, keeping Brighton in the Premier League - which had not been expected before the season started. And all that in the place that was his home for the past seven years - the Falmer Stadium in Brighton.
In future, Groß will be starting in a stadium that is no less impressive - SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. Where he cheered for the Black & Yellow first team when he was eleven years old.
Julian Bente