Moritz Volz

Early career

Volz was born in Siegen, and started his career in his native Germany at FC Schalke 04 before being spotted by Arsenal while playing for the German Youth team. He was offered a contract and joined the Gunners in the summer of 1999. Volz played twice for Arsenal, his debut coming in a League Cup defeat to Ipswich Town in 2000. His other appearance came in another League Cup defeat to Sunderland two years later. In February 2003, he was loaned out to Wimbledon, where he impressed by scoring on his debut against Brighton and going on to make nine further appearances for the Dons. He returned from loan in the summer of the same year before joining Fulham, again on loan, in August 2003. The move was made permanent in January 2004.

Fulham

Volz attained cult-figure status with Fulham fans, in part due to his commitment and passion and to his community involvement, but also because it was revealed that he rides his bicycle to home games. His terrace nicknames include '220 Volz', 'The Electrician', 'Mr Resistor' and 'The Lightbulb', although by far the most common with Fulham fans is the rather simple 'Volzy'. He is also nicknamed 'The Hoff' due to German stereotype he often refers to on his website. For the match against Aston Villa on Saturday 21 October 2006, he had 'The Hoff's name written on his boots for good luck, and promptly scored his first goal in three years.

On 20 December 2006, he scored the 15,000th goal in Premier League history for Fulham against Chelsea. Inevitably, this gave birth to the new nickname '15,000 Volz'. By scoring the goal, Volz was able to donate £15,000 to a charity of his choice. He donated the money in three equal parts to Kick 4 Life, The Prince's Trust and Fulham Football Club's Community charity. Prior scoring the 15,000th goal in Premier League, Volz signed a contract extension, which kept him at the club until 2009. In July 2008, Volz was awarded PPF Community Champion Award, which associated with The Observer newspaper.

On 28 August 2008, he signed for Ipswich Town on a season-long loan deal. He hoped to help Ipswich get promoted to the Premier League.

On 1 July 2009, he was released from Fulham at the end of his contract and was praised by the club for his loyal service both on and off the pitch. Volz would send a farewell message to Fulham supporters on the club's website. He remained at training with the club to regain fitness while he hunted for a new team, and also did media work for ITV and papers, while studying.

On 2 January 2010, Volz got a trial with former club FC Schalke 04. He joined the team at Chiclana de la Frontera for a training camp.

FC St. Pauli

Volz joined FC St. Pauli on 15 June 2010, and signed a contract for two years. He made his debut on 5 November 2010 against Schalke.

TSV 1860 München

Volz joined TSV 1860 München on 5 June 2012, and signed a contract for three years

International career

Although Volz was not part of the German team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup on home soil in 2006, he was an ever-present force in Dieter Eilts' successful under-21 side. He helped the team qualify for the European Championships in summer 2006. Volz was included in the senior squad for the 17 November 2004 game in Leipzig against Cameroon but did not appear on the field.

Broadcasting

Volz worked as a pundit on Setanta Sports, ESPN and ITV, while playing in the UK.

Honours