Horst Steffen: Promotion coach moves to Werder Bremen!

Horst Steffen: Promotion coach moves to Werder Bremen!

Coach Horst Steffen will now be in charge at SV Werder Bremen. He confirmed this himself at a press conference on June 2, 2025 in Bremen, where he explained that the change represented a great opportunity for him. Steffen, who has coached SV Elversberg since 2018 and led the club to great heights in the 2nd Bundesliga, expressed his wish to move to Werder Bremen even if Elversberger were promoted to the Bundesliga. While this might seem a strange decision to some observers, Steffen emphasized that if Bremen had made an offer for him, there would not have been much consideration, as sol.de reports.

After a disappointing relegation second leg against 1. FC Heidenheim, in which Elversberg missed out on promotion, Steffen will now take over the position of head coach at Werder Bremen. This commitment not only marks his first promotion to the Bundesliga as head coach, but also a further step in his coaching career, which began in 2003 and took him through the leagues, including the U17 and U19 Bundesliga. During his time at Elversberg, he developed many young talents, which made him a sought-after coach.

The path to change

Steffen, who previously made over 200 appearances in the Bundesliga as a player, explained that he had received offers from the Bundesliga in the past but felt comfortable and enjoyed working with Elversberg. He sees the move to Werder Bremen as an opportunity to expand his horizons. “The Bundesliga is new territory for me,” he said, “and I’m looking forward to my own potential for improvement.” As weser-kurier.de reports, Steffen is aware of the increased publicity and pressure that comes with the head coach position in Germany's highest football league is connected.

There have been no official statements about the transfer modalities, but media reports state that Bremen will pay between 300,000 and 350,000 euros to Elversberg. He is also said to have signed a contract until 2028. Steffen succeeds Ole Werner, who announced after the season that he did not want to extend his contract beyond 2026. There were already disagreements between Werner and the sporting leadership regarding the composition of the squad.

New challenges in the Bundesliga

A time full of new challenges now begins for Steffen. He expects the pace and athleticism in the Bundesliga to increase and that the attention on his work will be significantly greater. The future coach of Werder Bremen is also aware of the need to work very precisely in order to be successful in a competition in which the best coaches in Germany are represented.

With this move, Horst Steffen becomes part of a big new beginning for Werder Bremen, and his experience from the 2nd Bundesliga could be crucial to how the club performs in the Bundesliga next season.