Died from fracture at the age of 84
Gladbach mourns the loss of the club legend
May 28, 2026 – 5:34 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the 1980s, Gerd vom Bruch became Borussia Mönchengladbach’s first “firefighter”. Now the club is mourning the loss of its former coach.
Borussia Mönchengladbach mourns Gerd vom Bruch. The former coach of the “Fohlen” died last Friday at the age of 84, as the club announced.
Vom Bruch initially worked as an assistant coach at VfL from 1987. In November 1989 he took over Borussia as head coach during a difficult phase. Wolf Werner had previously been fired – the first time a Gladbach coach had to vacate his post. As a result, Vom Bruch became the first “firefighter” in the club’s history.
At the end of the season he managed to stay in the league with Gladbach. However, 15th place was the club’s worst Bundesliga placement to date. The first relegation from the Bundesliga did not follow until 1999.
Gladbach remained connected to the break even after his departure
Gladbach finished the 1990/91 season in ninth place, and vom Bruch’s time as head coach ended a few months later. After a weak start to the 1991/92 season, he had to leave on matchday ten. He then worked at Wuppertaler SV, Alemannia Aachen and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, among others.
In 2000, vom Bruch took a different path and became a player agent. He founded the agency “Coaches and more”, which later merged with “Roof”. He temporarily ran the company together with his son René. His best-known clients included Marcell Jansen, Marc-André ter Stegen and Christoph Kramer.
Vom Bruch remained closely connected to Mönchengladbach even after his coaching career. He regularly followed Borussia games at Borussia Park from the stands. He kept saying: “We are at home in Gladbach. We are not only attached to the region, but also to Borussia.”
