New career start
Ex-goalkeeper is training to become an educator
12/26/2025 – 9:29 a.mReading time: 2 min.
Gunnar Grundmann was in the squad of a traditional club for many years, left early – and is now daring to make a new start in a completely different area.
Career reorientation – and at the age of over 50: Gunnar Grundmann, once a goalkeeper for Dynamo Dresden and VfB Leipzig, is training to become an educator. This is reported by the “Bild” newspaper.
The now 52-year-old began part-time training with the Child Protection Association in Dresden-Plauen in the summer of 2023. There he looks after children between the ages of three and six in a daycare center.
After his active football career ended early in 2005, Grundmann originally worked as a goalkeeping coach and in sporting goods sales, but without much financial success. “You can say it honestly: it was too little to live and too much to die,” the “Bild” quoted the former activist as saying.
The corona pandemic also caused him to change his thinking and he decided to follow the example of his partner, who had retrained to become a teacher. What’s more: “In my goalkeeping school, which I was still running at the time, I had a lot of contact with young people. And I realized that I actually liked dealing with them,” Grundmann continued in the report.
The training will therefore last until 2027 and will involve a lot of work. Grundmann temporarily paused his goalkeeping school to concentrate on his new task. After completing his training, he will be recognized as a “Bachelor Professional in Social Work”. What happens next? “That is still completely open. The range of tasks ranges from zero to 27 years,” Grundmann is quoted as saying.
Grundmann began his football career in 1988 with the Dynamo Dresden youth team and was promoted to the professional squad at the age of 17. During his time there, however, he did not play in the Bundesliga. In 1995 he moved to VfB Leipzig, where he played seven second division games.
