Werner Lorant

Werner Lorant

Personal information
Full name	Werner Heinz Erich Lorant
Date of birth	(1948-11-21) 21 November 1948
Place of birth	Welver, Germany
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Defender, defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1973	Borussia Dortmund	23	(0)
1973–1977	Rot-Weiss Essen	116	(16)
1977–1978	1. FC Saarbrücken	34	(9)
1978–1982	Eintracht Frankfurt	137	(21)
1982–1983	Schalke 04	18	(0)
1983–1984	Hannover 96	33	(8)
Total		361	(54)
Managerial career
1986–1990	1. FC Schweinfurt 05
1990–1992	Viktoria Aschaffenburg
1992–2001	1860 Munich
2002	Fenerbahçe
2002–2003	LR Ahlen
2003–2004	Incheon United
2005	APOEL
2005–2006	Sivasspor
2006	Saipa Karaj
2006–2007	Kayseri Erciyesspor
2007	SpVgg Unterhaching
2007	Kasımpaşa
2008	Liaoning
2008	SV ATA Spor München
2008–2009	DAC Dunajská Streda
2012	DAC Dunajská Streda
2015	TSV Waging
2017	ÖTSU Hallein
2019	FC Hallein 04
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Werner Heinz Erich Lorant (born 21 November 1948) is a German former football player who played as a defender or as a defensive midfielder. He later became a manager, notably managing TSV 1860 Munich for nine years between 1992 and 2001.

Playing career

Born in Welver, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lorant commenced his professional career 1970 in the second division with Westfalia Herne. 1971 he moved to Borussia Dortmund. There he was part of a side that lost 1–11 against Bayern Munich and was relegated in 1972. He stuck with the club in its first second division club, but the joined in 1973 Rot-Weiss Essen, a side that just won promotion to the Bundesliga. He stayed with the struggling club around their star Willi Lippens and players like Manfred Burgsmüller and Horst Hrubesch until relegation in 1977. Then he joined 1. FC Saarbrücken for a season, experiencing his third relegation.

The next four-and-a-half years he spent with Eintracht Frankfurt. With this club he won the UEFA Cup 1980, prevailing in the finals against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In 1981, he helped win the German Cup with a 3–1 victory in the final against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. With Eintracht Lorant played amongst others alongside the World Cup winners of 1974 Jürgen Grabowski and Bernd Hölzenbein. Other notable players were Norbert Nachtweih, Bernd Nickel and the Austrian international Bruno Pezzey.

He left Eintracht mid-season 1982–83 for just promoted FC Schalke 04. By the end of the season he had to face the fourth relegation of his career. He then quickly moved on to second division side Hannover 96, where he ended his time as a professional player after one season.

Coaching career

After a brief stint as part-time coach of an amateur side in 1982 he commenced a full-time coaching career as player manager of SV Heidingsfeld in the Bavarian town of Würzburg from 1984 to 86 and 1986 to 90 with 1. FC Schweinfurt 05, with which he achieved the then amateur third division championship and promotion. From 1990 to 1992 he coached Viktoria Aschaffenburg, also in the third division, where he won the championship in 1992.

After this he was hired by TSV 1860 Munich, a team that then had been dwelling for some years in the third division. He took the club inside two years to the first division and in 1997 qualified for the UEFA Cup, where 1860 was ousted in the first round by Austrian side Rapid Wien. In 2000, he led 1860 into the qualification for the Champions League, where the team lost against Leeds United with 1–2 and 0–1. In the ensuing UEFA Cup campaign 1860 was stopped by Italian club AC Parma: after a respectable 2–2 draw away, 1860 lost the home leg 0–2. In the season a sweltering conflict with club president Wildmoser came to a head after the team lost in the derby against Bayern Munich 1–5 and Lorant was let go.

Notable players during his tenure with 1860 were the German internationals Thomas Häßler and Martin Max who played there from 1999 in the autumn of their careers. Max became twice top scorer of the Bundesliga in this phase. German international Jens Jeremies was discovered at the club during Lorant's tenure. Foreign internationals were amongst others Abédi Pelé from Ghana, Harald Cerny from Austria, Miroslav Stevic from Serbia as well as the Australians Paul Agostino and Ned Zelic. Horst Heldt, Olaf Bodden, Manfred Schwabl and Bernd Trares were further players of note in this era.

In the ensuing years Lorant coached SpVgg Unterhaching and LR Ahlen in Germany, Fenerbahçe, Sivasspor, Kayseri Erciyesspor and Kasımpaşa S.K. in Turkey, APOEL in Cyprus, Saipa Teheran in Iran, Incheon United in South Korea, Liaoning Hongyun in China and DAC Dunajská Streda in Slovakia. Most of these engagements ended up being very short term and the sides were often struggling to retain the class. With Apoel in Cyprus, where Lorant spent two months in 2005, he became runner-up in the championship, however, the club hoped that he would take them to the title.

In March 2010, he was appointed sports manager of fourth division side Tennis Borussia Berlin, however, the club folded in May.

In April 2015, Lorant was appointed as manager of TSV Waging until the end of the season. In January 2017, he took charge of ÖTSU Hallein.

In April 2019, he took charge of FC Hallein 04 until the end of the season.