Gert Engels

Football manager infobox
playername = Gert Engels


fullname = Gert Josef Arthur Engels
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1957|4|26
cityofbirth = Düren
countryofbirth = Germany
position = Coach
managerclubs = Yokohama Flugels
JEF United Ichihara
Kyoto Purple Sanga
Urawa Red Diamonds
manageryears = 1998
1999
2000-2003
2008-present

Gert Engels (born 26 April 1957) is a former German football (soccer)player who works these days as manager in Japan.

He commenced his professional playing career with lowly SG Düren 99 and later joined Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Niederau. In Mönchengladbach he was part of the team that won the German Championships of 1976 and 1977, but Engels was not used in any league matches.

In 1990 he moved to Japan to work as a coach. His first stop was in Ibaraki with Prima Aseno FC, the club that later became Mito HollyHock. He also coached at Takigawa Dai Ni High School in Kobe before he joined the Yokohama Flügels as acoaching staff in 1993.

Shortly before the Flugels folded and were transformed into today's Yokohama F. Marinos he was made manager there for a brief period. He held that position also briefly with JEF United Ichihara Chiba before taking over the reins at Kyoto Purple Sanga.

In Kyoto he returned the club, that was relegated after the previous season, into the J-League and even led it to a win in the Japanese cup competition, the Emperor's Cup in 2002, defeating the fancied Kashima Antlers 2-1 in extra time. After three years there he was fired when the club started poorly into the new season.

Beginning with 2004 he was assistant coach with Urawa Red Diamonds, initially under Guido Buchwald and later Holger Osieck, winning the AFC Champions League in 2007. When Osieck was sacked after only two matches of the new J-League season on the March 16, 2008, Engels was appointed his successor.

Being in Japan so long, he is currently the only foreign coach who does not make use of a translator, able to communicate in almost smooth Japanese

Honors

*Emperor's Cup Winner - 1998, 2002