Torsten Lieberknecht

Torsten Lieberknecht (born 1 August 1973) is a German former football player and manager who is the head coach 2. Bundesliga club of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.^[2]

Torsten Lieberknecht

Lieberknecht with Eintracht Braunschweig in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1973-08-01) 1 August 1973 (age 52)
Place of birth	Bad Dürkheim, West Germany
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	1. FC Kaiserslautern (head coach)
Youth career
	FV Haßloch
	1. FC 08 Haßloch
0000–1990	VfL Neustadt/Weinstraße
1990–1992	1. FC Kaiserslautern
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1994	1. FC Kaiserslautern	13	(1)
1994–1995	Waldhof Mannheim	22	(0)
1995–2002	Mainz 05	89	(3)
2002–2003	1. FC Saarbrücken	7	(0)
2003–2007	Eintracht Braunschweig	82	(2)
Total		213	(6)
International career
	Germany U-19	3	(0)
1994–1995	Germany U-21	9	(0)
Managerial career
2008–2018	Eintracht Braunschweig
2018–2020	MSV Duisburg
2021–2024	Darmstadt 98
2025–	1. FC Kaiserslautern
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Lieberknecht began his senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he made his Bundesliga debut on 26 August 1992 in a game against SG Wattenscheid 09.^[3] He left Kaiserslautern after the 1993–1994 season to join SV Waldhof Mannheim and went on to play a total of ten seasons in the 2. Bundesliga for Mannheim, 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Braunschweig before retiring as a player in 2007.

Lieberknecht also represented Germany nine times at the U-21 level and was part of the German squad for the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia.^[4]

Managing career

After retiring as a player, Lieberknecht became a youth coach at his last club, Eintracht Braunschweig. At the end of the 2007–08 Regionalliga season the club was in serious danger of missing out on qualification for Germany's new nationwide third-tier league 3. Liga, which would have meant Braunschweig's first ever relegation to the fourth level of Germany's football league system. When Benno Möhlmann, at the time the manager of Eintracht Braunschweig's first team, stepped down in May 2008, Lieberknecht was named his successor.^[5] Under him the club not only secured 3. Liga qualification on the last match day of the season, but since then has started a steady climb back up the ladder of German football. In 2010–11 Lieberknecht and his team were promoted back into the 2. Bundesliga, and quickly established themselves at this level. After having finished the previous season comfortably midtable, the club was even more successful during the 2012–13 season and in the end won promotion to the Bundesliga. This marked Eintracht Braunschweig's return into Germany's top-flight after a 28-year absence.^[6] Lieberknecht was widely recognized in the media both in Germany and abroad as one of the key figures in the club's resurgence after years in the second and third tier.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]} After ten years, his spell at Braunschweig ended in 2018.^[13] He finished with a record of 151 wins, 99 draws, and 120 losses.^[14]

On 1 October 2018, he was appointed by MSV Duisburg as the new head coach.^[15] He was sacked on 10 November 2020.^[16] He moved to Darmstadt 98 in June 2021.^[17] In September 2024, he resigned.^[18]

On 22 April 2025, he was appointed as head coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.^[19]

Managerial statistics

As of 31 August 2025

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %	Ref.
Eintracht Braunschweig	12 May 2008[5]	14 May 2018[13]	371	151	99	121	040.70	[14]
MSV Duisburg	1 October 2018[15]	10 November 2020	77	27	21	29	035.06	[15]
Darmstadt 98	1 July 2021	1 September 2024	112	44	22	46	039.29
1. FC Kaiserslautern	22 April 2025	Present	9	5	1	3	055.56
Total			567	227	141	199	040.04	—