Volker Finke (born 24 March 1948) is a German former football manager and a former player. He was the coach of SC Freiburg for 16 years.
Finke was a player–coach for TSV Stelingen from 1 July 1974 to 12 February 1986.[1] He was head coach of TSV Havelse from 13 February 1986 to 9 October 1990.[1] Finke was head coach of SC Norderstedt.[1]
Finke became head coach of SC Freiburg on 1 July 1991.[1] His first match as head coach of Freiburg was a 2–1 win against 1860 Munich.[2] Freiburg finished in third place 1991–92 2. Bundesliga season[3] and were knocked out of the 2nd round of the German Cup.[2] Freiburg started the 1992–93 season with a 2. Bundesliga match against VfB Oldenburg on 11 July 1992, which finished in a 2–2 draw.[4] Freiburg won the 2. Bundesliga in the 1992–93 season,[5] won promotion to the 1993–94 Bundesliga,[5] and were knocked out of the German Cup in the second round.[4] Freiburg started the 1993–94 season with a first round match in the German Cup, which they won 8–0.[6] They went all the way to the quarter–finals where they were knocked–out by Tennis Borussia Berlin.[6] Freiburg finished the 1993–94 Bundesliga in 15th place, one spot above the relegation zone.[7] The 1994–95 season started with a 3–1 loss to Stuttgarter Kickers in the first round of the German Cup.[8] Freiburg's 1994–95 Bundesliga season included a 5–1 win against Bayern Munich on 23 August 1994.[8] They wrapped up the 1994–95 season on 17 June 1995 with a 2–1 win against FC Schalke 04.[8] Freiburg finished in 3rd place in the Bundesliga and qualified for the UEFA Cup.[9] Finke finished with a record of 244 wins, 143 draws, and 220 losses.[10]
Finke was head coach of Urawa Red Diamonds between 1 January 2009 and 31 January 2011.[1] Finke's first match of the Urawa Red Diamonds was a 1–0 loss to the Yokohama F. Marinos.[11] Urawa Red Diamonds finished the 2008 season in seventh place.[12] They also got to the semi–finals of the AFC Champions League.[13] During the 2009 season, Urawa Red Diamonds finished in sixth place.[14] 2010 season marked Finke's final season as head coach of the Urawa Red Diamonds. His final match as head coach was a 4–0 loss to Vissel Kobe.[15] Urawa Red Diamonds finished the season in 10th place.[16]
On 18 December 2010, Finke was named as the new director of sport by 1. FC Köln effective on 1 February 2011.[17] Effective on 27 April 2011, Finke additionally became interim coach until the end of the season and won all three matches.[18] On 10 March 2012, Köln parted company with Finke by mutual consent after a 1–0 win over Hertha BSC.[19]
On 22 May 2013, he was named as head coach of Cameroon.[20] His first match was a 1–0 loss in a friendly match against Tanzania.[21] Cameroon lost all 3 matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[22] They lost 1–0 to Mexico, 4–0 to Croatia, and 4–1 to Brazil.[22] He was sacked on 30 October 2015, two weeks before the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification phase started.[23] His final match as Cameroon's coach was a 0–0 draw against Congo.[24]
SC Freiburg