Team
09.08.19
Matti Steinmann signs for Wellington Phoenix
The 24-year-old midfielder joins the A-League club, initially with a one-year contract.
One of our own leaves HSV: Matti Steinmann has signed for New Zealand side Wellington Phoenix, joining the A-League side initially for a year. The Wellington side are New Zealand’s only representatives in the Australian A-League, which includes eleven teams in all. The Phoenix, founded in 2007, will be looking to better last season’s 6th-place finish, when the new campaign gets underway on the 13th October.
Ville Matti Steinmann joined HSV more than 10 years ago, playing for the club for the first time in July 2009. The German-born midfielder, who also holds Finnish nationality, grew up in the Hamburg area, playing for TSV Bargteheide and Preußen Reinfeld before joining the Rothosen. The blonde-headed youngster worked his way up through the club’s academy, making his debut for the club’s second team on 18th August 2012 as a 17-year-old in a 2-2 draw at VfB Oldenburg in the Regionalliga. Just over two years later, Steinmann’s rise to the top was complete, as he made his full debut for the first team on the 20th September 2014, against none other than record German champions Bayern Munich, a game that ended 0-0. 12 appearances for the first team and 77 games for the club’s reserves followed in the intervening years, including seven goals and six assists in the Regionalliga. Looking to develop himself as a player and make the breakthrough at his boyhood club, Steinmann went on loan to Chemnitz (2015-16), FSV Mainz 05 (2016-17) and Danish Superliga club Vendsyssel FF (Jan – Jun 2019) to gain some more game time.
“I want to take on a new challenge”
Hamburg always remained home for Steinmann though. With his courteous and likeable manner, he was a valued member of the club, adored by teammates, employees and fans alike. The Hamburg lad identified from the beginning what it meant to be a HSV player and could always be relied upon as a teammate, and was willing in any situation to sacrifice himself for the good of the team.
Steinmann himself found it hard to make the decision to leave Hamburg for pastures new: “Hamburg and HSV are my home, from that point of view it was difficult to leave both my home town and club. I learned to love the club and the city in all of the years that I was there, and my friends and family all live there. As soon as I received the offer from Wellington Phoenix, I knew that I wanted to take on this new challenge. Therefore I am very happy, that the transfer has now gone through.”
HSV would like to thanks Matti Steinmann for his services to the club and wishes him all the best for his new life in New Zealand, on and off the pitch.