Born: Siegen, Germany, 21 January 1983
Position: Right back
Signed: 8 August 2003 from Arsenal (loan); 16 January 2004 (£1m).
Debut: Fulham 3-2 Middlesbrough, 16 August 2003
Appearances: 144
Goals: 4
Sold: Released, 1 July 2009.
The very definition of a cult hero, Moritz Volz became popular with the Fulham faithful not just for his whole-hearted performances but for travelling to training by bike or on the tube, happily chatting with fans and keeping us all updated on his tales from the training ground – as well as his London life – on his own website. A right back, the gregarious and likeable German showed his versatility by featuring in central midfield to great effect during an injury crisis under Chris Coleman and memorably scored the 15,000th Premier League goal in a 2-2 at Chelsea in December 2006.
The greatest tribute anyone can pay Volz was that he slotted so seamlessly into the right back position after arriving from Arsenal on loan in August 2003 that nobody missed Steve Finnan all that much. He starred in his first season with the club, also Coleman’s first full campaign in management, as the Whites finished ninth in the table – defying the pre-season relegation predictions – and became a regular at right back. His nicknames became the stuff of legend. He had one of his favourites ‘The Hoff’ (in honour of his hero David Hasselhoff) inscribed on his boots in October 2006 and promptly scored his first goal in three years.
Injuries and a loss of form meant he hardly featured in the Great Escape under Roy Hodgson and, after a loan spell with Ipswich, he was released in July 2009. Volz returned to Germany and played for St. Pauli and 1860 Munich before calling time on his playing career. He was Arsenal’s chief German scout before moving into coaching. After attaining his UEFA A License, Volz became assistant manager at Red Bull Leipzig in 2019 and is currently number two at Turkish team Galatasaray.
