Storm legend Säumel is 40
Born in 1984 in Friesach, Jürgen started at his hometown club TSV Neumarkt, but because of his talent he ended up at Sturm Graz in 1999 at the age of 15 in the then national youth center, where Alois Jarc, Hans Lang and Helmut Werner took him under their wing.
At just 18, in 2002, he joined the squad in the final phase of the Osim era and quickly became a regular under Osim’s successor Franco Foda. A highlight was his appearance in the 1-0 victory over Lazio in Rome in the UEFA Cup in December 2002.
Youngest Storm Captain
In 2004, at 20, he was the youngest Sturm captain under coach Mischa Petrovic and on August 17, 2005, he was called up by team manager Hans Krankl for the international match in Graz (!) against Scotland, which ended 2:2. Under Pepi Hickersberger, he was in the squad at Euro 2008 and was called up to the team 20 times. He had already been a regular player for Austria U17, U19 and U21. With the U19, Jürgen won the bronze medal at the U-19 European Championship in Liechtenstein.
After Euro 2008, Säumel moved to AC Torino, where he stayed for three years. Other foreign stints included Brescia Calcio and MSV Duisburg. In the summer of 2011, when Sturm had just won the championship, he returned home to Sturm for two years. Unfortunately, it was not the best time for Schwarzweiß in sporting terms. After stints at Wiener Neustadt and Wacker Innsbruck, his career ended in May 2018.
“Co” with team boss Foda
As a coach, Jürgen Säumel worked at TSV Neumarkt in the youth team, then was assistant coach to Markus Schopp at TSV Hartberg, and then, from May 2021 to March 2022, assistant to team manager Franco Foda. Before Jürgen became coach of Sturm II in December 2023, he managed the regional league team of Wolfsberger AC for a year.
The Sturm family wishes Jürgen Säumel, who was inducted into the Sportklub Sturm legends club in 2018, all the best for his 40th birthday and four successes with Sturm II.
