GREAT PLAYERS

Steffan Freund

INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME

Steffen Freund became cult hero with fans with his all-action, hearty displays in midfield between 1999-2003.

A classic 'holding midfielder', Steffen loved his role as the destroyer, covering every blade of grass, flying into tackles to win back possession.

But that shouldn't take away from his ability on the ball where he kept things simple in the central areas, rarely giving away possession.

This was, after all, a player who represented Germany in Euro 96 - he suffered a cruciate injury in the famous semi-final against England at Wembley - and after helping Borussia Dortmund to win the Champions League in 1997, was part of Germany's World Cup squad in 1998.

Snapped up by then boss George Graham in January, 1999, Steffen was soon into the action, making his debut at Sheffield Wednesday.

He then faced Wimbledon numerous times as we fought our way to Wembley for the League Cup Final in 1999 - he was part of the winning team against Leicester City, playing a key role after Justin Edinburgh was sent off.

Steffen later had to recover from another serious knee injury before departing for Kaiserslautern in 2003.

He made 131 appearances for us in all competitions and, of course, never scored!

Steffen later returned to the Premier League for a brief spell at Leicester City and took up the Under-16 coaching role at the German FA in 2009.