Volker Zerbe
POSITION: Right back
NATIONAL TEAM: Germany
CLUB CAREER:
TBV Lemgo (1986-2006)
HONOURS:
Olympic Games, silver (2004)
World Championship, silver (2003)
EHF EURO, gold (2004), silver (2002)
EHF Cup (2006)
EHF Cup Winners’ Cup (1996)
POSITION: Right back
NATIONAL TEAM: Germany
CLUB CAREER:
TBV Lemgo (1986-2006)
HONOURS:
Olympic Games, silver (2004)
World Championship, silver (2003)
EHF EURO, gold (2004), silver (2002)
EHF Cup (2006)
EHF Cup Winners’ Cup (1996)
The embodiment of a local hero, Volker Zerbe was born and raised in the German city of Lemgo, before playing his whole professional club career with his hometown club.
The left-hander made his debut for TBV Lemgo in 1986 and remained a German Bundesliga player there for the next two decades, retiring in 2006.
His first decade at the club concluded with Lemgo winning the EHF Cup Winners’ Cup, beating CB Santander in the final, and being named club captain. 10 years on, he won his second European trophy, the EHF Cup, defeating Ferencváros in the 2006 final before hanging up his shoes shortly before turning 38.
He made 586 appearances in the German top flight, the second most of all-time, and despite being one of the best defenders in history, contributed 1,977 goals at the other end, the seventh most in the league’s history.
Zerbe made his national team debut in 1987 and his longevity was rewarded with a flurry of medals towards the end of his career. He was part of the Germany squads which took silver medals at the Men’s EHF EURO 2002, the 2003 World Championship and the 2004 Olympic Games.
However, he and his teammates were not always the bridesmaids – in 2004 Zerbe won gold at EHF EURO 2004, beating host nation Slovenia in the final.
His national career totalled 284 appearances, in which he scored 777 times.
After retiring, Zerbe had a brief spell as Lemgo interim coach in 2007, while his club’s home arena was renamed Volker-Zerbe-Halle in his honour. He was the club’s sporting director until 2012, before becoming sports coordinator at Füchse Berlin in 2013. He even found time to turn out for the Füchse second team in the 2013/14 season.
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