Thomas Hitzlsperger, popularly known as The Hammer, has 52 German caps in his arsenal. Having played for teams such as Aston Villa, Lazio Rom, VfL Wolfsburg, West Ham United and Everton FC, Thomas has been the CEO of VfB Stuttgart. Coming out as gay in his late 20s, Thomas has built up his courage to openly tell his story in the hopes that people can feel comfortable living their truth.
Thomas played for the Bayern Munich Academy for 11 years before leaving Germany at 18. As a player, Thomas was exemplary, his talent as an athlete was lauded during his tenures at teams like Aston Villa, VfB Stuttgart, West Ham United and Everton FC. Despite reaching the heights of success in his career, Thomas was battling inner turmoil whilst deciding if he should come out as gay or not. Feeling encouraged by other sports stars of the time who opened up, Thomas decided to come out to the public in 2014, shortly after his last game for Everton FC. Till today, he is the only Premier League footballer to identify as a gay man.
After making 117 Premier League appearances in his illustrious career, Thomas veered towards taking on leadership roles. After serving as the Academy Director for VfB Stuttgart, he assumed responsibility as CEO at VfB Stuttgart. In addition to being a Sports Pundit for channels such as Fox Sports, ESPN, Amazon, Sky & BBC, Thomas is also the Co-Owner of Aalborg BK, a Danish football club. In 2022, Thomas took an Executive Course from Harvard Business School, expanding his expertise as a business leader. He is the Recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the DJK Ethics Award and the Julius Hirsch Honorary Award.
Thomas is an advocate for diversity & inclusion in sports, often stating that there is no place for prejudice and outdated values in modern football. Telling his own story as a gay person in a “manly” sport, Thomas recently starred in TNT Sports’ documentary “Rylan: Homophobia, Football & Me”. Named a Global Ambassador at the 2023 Football Business Awards, Thomas is pioneering the off-field just as much as he did on-field. Thomas Hitzlsperger’s experiences, leadership and dedication to increase diversity & inclusion in sports, make him an inspirational LGBT speaker. Go ahead and hire him today!
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