Despite only being 19 years old, Tom Bischof has already gained plenty of experience in football. The TSG Hoffenheim player made his Bundesliga debut in March 2022 at the age of 16 and has been training with the Bundesliga team for three years. The midfielder, who has been at TSG since 2015, has now received his greatest individual honour: Bischof was awarded the Fritz Walter Gold Medal by the German Football Association for being the best young player born in 2005.
“Of course I was delighted and it means a lot to me. A personal award like this is something special. It’s the reward for all the hard work over the past few years. The medal is an incentive to achieve even more goals,” says Bischof. Bischof has already played 35 competitive matches for the TSG Hoffenheim first team and is currently a member of the German national under-20 squad.
“We are very happy for Tom. He is a prime example of TSG’s approach of identifying talent early and developing it carefully into the professional ranks. This path, which in Tom’s case led from our children’s perspective teams and the academy to the professionals, is a fundamental part of our DNA. We are sure that we will continue to enjoy him in the future,” says Frank Kramer, TSG’s sporting director.
Bischof is the seventh male TSG player to receive the award. He follows in the footsteps of Manuel Gulde (2008, U17, gold), Marco Terrazzino (2009, U18, gold), Kevin Akpoguma (2013, U18, gold) and Benedikt Gimber (2014, U17, gold), Philipp Ochs (2016, U19, silver) and Umut Tohumcu (2023, U19, bronze) were honoured.
Mara Alber (2022, U17, silver), Mathilde Janzen (2022, U17, bronze), Jule Brand (2021, U19, gold) and Vanessa Diehm (2021, U17, silver and 2023, U19, silver) have already been honoured for their achievements among the junior women.
