Eugen Bopp

Eugen Bopp (born 5 September 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Ukraine, he represented the Germany national under-19 team.

Eugen Bopp

Bopp playing for York City in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Eugen Bopp[1]
Date of birth	(1983-09-05) 5 September 1983 (age 41)[1]
Place of birth	Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0000–2000	Bayern Munich
2000–2001	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2006	Nottingham Forest	77	(8)
2006–2007	Rotherham United	29	(5)
2007–2009	Crewe Alexandra	17	(2)
2010–2011	Carl Zeiss Jena	16	(0)
2012	York City	2	(0)
2015	Dunkirk	6	(0)
2015–2016	Basford United	19	(4)
International career
2001	Germany U19	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:24, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

Early life

Bopp was born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR to an ethnic German father and a Ukrainian mother.^[3] His brother Viktor Bopp is also a footballer.^{[citation needed]}

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Bopp played in the Bayern Munich youth system before joining the Academy of English club Nottingham Forest as a 16-year-old on 20 June 2000.^[3] He signed for Forest after Academy manager Paul Hart persuaded him, despite there being interest from other European clubs.^[4] He progressed through the ranks and signed his first professional contract with Forest on 11 September 2000.^[1] Bopp was an important member of the Forest under-19 side, playing alongside Jermaine Jenas, that comfortably won their league in the 2000–01 season.^[3]

He eventually played 77 games for the Forest first team, but only half of those were in the starting line-up. In his four years at the club he scored eight goals and despite some strong reserve performances, he struggled to ever truly establish himself in the first team. His best spell of form at the club was during the 2002–03 season, this was abruptly ended by a rash challenge from Derby County's Craig Burley from which he suffered a serious knee injury. Bopp never returned to those heady heights and was eventually released at the end of the 2005–06 season. He is probably best known during his time at Forest for his thrilling late equaliser against Gillingham on the last day of the 2004–05 season which ultimately relegated the opposition, dragging them down with Forest and Rotherham United.^[5]

Rotherham United

Following his release from Nottingham Forest, he was taken on trial by Rotherham United for the majority of the South Yorkshire club's pre-season. After an impressive trial spell he signed a short-term contract on 3 August 2006. As a result of his continued excellent performances on the pitch (and one spectacular goal against Scunthorpe United), Bopp was offered a contract extension until the end of the season. He played in 30 games for Rotherham and scored five goals.

Crewe Alexandra

Bopp was signed by Crewe Alexandra on 30 May 2007.^[6] He initially struggled to fit into the team, and was available for transfer during the January 2008 transfer window.^[7] However, he returned to the side for a match against Brighton, and did well enough to retain his place. Once again, speculation about Bopp's future arose as he struggled to maintain his place in the squad, and on 7 May Crewe announced that Bopp's contract had been terminated by mutual consent.^[8]

Trial at Portsmouth

Bopp was included in the Portsmouth squad for the first 2009–10 pre-season friendly away to Havant and Waterlooville. Bopp played the entire second half and scored both of Portsmouth's goals in a 2–2 draw.^[9] After an injury crisis, Portsmouth were eager to sign Bopp ahead of a Premier League match against Wigan Athletic on 31 October. However, the Premier League refused to register the player because of Portsmouth's debts and a transfer embargo was placed on the club.^[10] Bopp continued, however, to play games for the reserve team.

Carl Zeiss Jena

Bopp signed with German 3. Liga club Carl Zeiss Jena on 7 December 2010.^[11] Bopp played his debut for Carl Zeiss Jena in the match on 11 December against Dynamo Dresden.^[12] He made 16 appearances for the club before he was released in June 2011.^[13]

York City

Bopp returned to England after signing for Conference Premier club York City on a contact until the end of the 2011–12 season on 22 March 2012.^[14] His debut came as a 69th-minute substitute for Jon Challinor in a 2–1 victory away at Luton Town on 30 March 2012,^[15] before dislocating his shoulder on his full debut in his following appearance, a 1–0 defeat at home to Fleetwood Town on 7 April 2012.^[16] This ruled him out for the rest of the season,^[16] which York finished with promotion to League Two through the play-offs.^[17] Having made two appearances he was released by York on 3 July 2012.^[15][18]

Later career

In the summer of 2014, after two years of being unattached, Bopp went on trial at League Two side Hartlepool United.^[19] A year later he came out of retirement to sign for Midland League Premier Division club Dunkirk as a player-coach during June 2015.^[20] Bopp joined Basford United of the Northern Premier League Division One South in October 2015, as part of a swap deal with Dan Fletcher.^[21]

International career

Bopp was capped twice by Germany at under-19 level,^[22] making his debut as a 65th minute substitute in a 4–0 victory over Sweden on 4 September 2001.^[23] His second and final cap came after starting a 2–2 draw with Turkey on 11 October 2001, in which he was substituted at half-time for Philipp Lahm.^[24]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nottingham Forest	2001–02[25]	First Division	19	1	0	0	2	0	—		21	1
	2002–03[26]	First Division	13	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	15	2
	2003–04[27]	First Division	15	1	1	0	2	2	—		18	3
	2004–05[28]	Championship	18	3	1	0	1	0	—		20	3
	2005–06[29]	League One	12	1	2	0	0	0	1[a]	1	15	2
	Total		77	8	4	0	7	2	1	1	89	11
Rotherham United	2006–07[30]	League One	29	5	1	0	1	0	0	0	31	5
Crewe Alexandra	2007–08[31]	League One	10	1	0	0	1	0	1[a]	0	12	1
	2008–09[32]	League One	7	1	0	0	0	0	2[a]	0	9	1
	Total		17	2	0	0	1	0	3	0	21	2
Carl Zeiss Jena	2010–11[13]	3. Liga	16	0	0	0	—		0	0	16	0
York City	2011–12[15]	Conference Premier	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	2	0
Dunkirk	2015–16[33][34]	Midland League Premier Division	6	0	2	1	—		0	0	8	1
Career total			147	15	7	1	9	2	4	1	167	19

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
2. "First Team". Crewe Alexandra F.C. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
3. "Eugen Bopp". The Bridport Red Archive. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
4. "Forest go Bopp". BBC Sport. 11 July 2000. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
5. "Nottm Forest 2-2 Gillingham". BBC. 8 May 2005. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
6. "Bopp departs Rotherham for Crewe". BBC Sport. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
7. "Crewe open way for Bopp to leave". BBC Sport. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
8. "Crewe Alex: Bopp is latest to leave Crewe". The Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
9. "Bopp aims for Portsmouth contract". BBC Sport. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
10. Austin, Simon (28 October 2009). "Portsmouth hit with transfer ban". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
11. "FCC holt Eugen Bopp". FC Carl Zeiss Jena. 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
12. "Jena verlässt die Abstiegsplätze – Dynamo verliert den Anschluss – Hähnge dämpft Dresdens Aufstiegshoffnung". Kicker Online. 11 December 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
13. "Bopp, Eugen". Kicker Online. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
14. "York City sign midfielder Eugen Bopp". BBC Sport. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
15. "Games played by Eugen Bopp in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
16. Flett, Dave (9 April 2012). "Gary Mills calling a halt to York City's hard luck stories". The Press. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
17. Maiden, Phil (20 May 2012). "Luton 1–2 York". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
18. Flett, Dave (3 July 2012). "Treble joy as Blanchett, Challinor and Doig sign up for York City". The Press. York. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
19. Mennear, Richard (22 July 2014). "Hartlepool United release trialists Eugen Bopp and Biko Bradnock-Brennan". Hartlepool Mail. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
20. "Wicked Whispers: Former Nottingham Forest manager Sean O'Driscoll set for Liverpool job". Nottingham Post. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
21. "Basford get Bopp in swap deal". Non League Pitchero. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. "Eugen Bopp". 11v11. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
23. "Schweden – Deutschland". German Football Association. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
24. "Türkei – Deutschland". German Football Association. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
25. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2002). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003. Queen Anne Press. p. 465. ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0.
26. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 482. ISBN 978-1-85291-651-0.
27. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2004). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 465. ISBN 978-1-85291-660-2.
28. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2005). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006. Queen Anne Press. p. 466. ISBN 978-1-85291-662-6.
29. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2006). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006–07. Mainstream Publishing. p. 464. ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4.
30. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2007). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007–08. Mainstream Publishing. p. 467. ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3.
31. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream Publishing. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
32. Hugman (ed.). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. p. 458.
33. "Eugen Bopp player stats | Midland Football League". fulltime.thefa.com. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
34. For cup matches:
    "Aug 29 2015: Dunkirk 4 Bottesford Town 1". fulltime.thefa.com. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
    "Sep 12 2015: Belper Town 1 Dunkirk 3". fulltime.thefa.com. Retrieved 27 September 2023.

External links

• Eugen Bopp at Soccerbase