Matthias Kleinsteiber

Matthias Kleinsteiber has been with Borussia Dortmund since 1992, with just a brief interruption. He first joined as goalkeeper in the youth team and the reserves, then as a goalkeeping coach in various functions. “Dortmund has become my home. I can’t imagine putting on another tracksuit,” said the Thuringian native.

Playing career

Matthias Kleinsteiber was 14 years young when he moved from Rot-Weiß Erfurt to Borussia Dortmund’s U17s in 1992. It was the year group immediately following Lars Ricken and Ibrahim Tanko. He graduated first to the U19s and then the U23s, playing in the Regionalliga Nord. In 2001, the 1.88-metre-tall goalkeeper briefly switched to Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in the second Bundesliga, returning to BVB after only four appearances in 2003. Until the end of his career on 4 June 2005, he stood between the posts in 144 games for Borussia Dortmund’s second team. He signed off in a real thriller: a 5-5 draw against Preußen Münster. Kleinsteiber sat on the bench in 21 first team matches in the Bundesliga, cup and UEFA Champions League, but only got on the pitch for the first team in friendly matches.

Coaching career

From 2006, Matthias Kleinsteiber took over as goalkeeping coach for the U19s and, until 2017, also ran the home for youth players with his wife, initially on Kreuzstraße, and then from 2014 on at the Hohenbuschei training ground in Brackel. The Kleinsteibers have been there to support many talented youngsters on their way with a high level of personal commitment, including Marcel Schmelzer, and Matthias was even Schmelzer’s best man. In July 2017, he succeeded Wolfgang "Teddy" de Beer as goalkeeping coach for the licensed players division. “I wouldn’t mind if I remained part of the BVB for as long as possible,” he said in an interview with Ruhr Nachrichten in late 2021.