Christian Ilzer

Christian Ilzer (born 21 October 1977) is an Austrian professional football coach who is the manager of Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim.

Coaching career Early career As a teenager, three cruciate ligament injuries stopped his career and at the age of only 17, where became coach of USK Raiffeisen Puch's U17 squad. In addition to his job as an electronics technician, he started a second education as a trainer. From 2006 to 2007, he was in charge of the first team of USK Raiffeisen Puch as a playing manager. From July 2007 to July 2011, he was assistant manager under manager Bruno Friesenbichler at TSV Hartberg. In the 2017–18 season, he guided the club to finish second in the second division, securing promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time in their history.

Wolfsberger In May 2018, it was announced that Ilzer would rejoin Wolfsberger as head coach for the 2018–19 season. He led the club to qualify to the Europa League group stage for first time in their history, after finishing third in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Austria Wien On 29 May 2019, Ilzer was appointed manager of Austria Wien for the 2019–20 season. After a seventh-place finish in the league, his team lost the Europa League play-offs 3–2 on aggregate against his former club TSV Hartberg.

Sturm Graz On 17 July 2020, he was hired as manager of Sturm Graz. He guided the club to a runner-up finish in both 2021–22 and 2022–23, where he achieved the VdF-Fußballerwahl Coach of the Season award for the latter. He won his first title at the club by clinching the 2022–23 Austrian Cup after a 2–0 win against Rapid Wien in the final.

In the 2023–24 season, he led the club to their fourth league title in history after a 2–0 win over Austria Klagenfurt on the final matchday, ending Red Bull Salzburg's decade-long dominance, in addition to securing a UEFA Champions League group stage berth for the first time since 2000–01. Furthermore, he succeeded in steering the club to their first domestic double since the 1998–99 season, having achieved the 2023–24 Austrian Cup following a 2–1 victory over Rapid Wien in the final.

TSG Hoffenheim He was appointed by TSG Hoffenheim in November 2024.

Managerial statistics

Honours Sturm Graz Austrian Bundesliga: 2023–24 Austrian Cup: 2022–23, 2023–24

Individual VdF-Fußballerwahl Coach of the Season: 2023