Date of birth: 30 April 1961
Nationality: German
Playing career: SV Werder Bremen
Coaching career: SV Werder Bremen

• A one-club man, Schaaf rose through the ranks of Bremen's youth department to play 262 Bundesliga games for the club between 1978 and 1995, mainly as a defender, scoring 13 times.

• As a player he won two German Cups (1991 and 1994) and two Bundesliga titles (1988 and 1993) as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992, coming on 34 minutes into the 2-0 final victory against AS Monaco FC.

• Having coached the club's youth and reserve teams, Schaaf and former team-mate Klaus Allofs were hired to lead the senior team in May 1999. In their first month in charge they steered Bremen away from relegation and won the German Cup, beating FC Bayern München on penalties in the final.

• Schaaf and general manager Allofs slowly rebuilt Werder as one of Germany's top teams over the following years; Bremen won the double in 2003/04 and secured a third German Cup under Schaaf in 2008/09.

• Under his guidance, Bremen qualified for the UEFA Champions League five times in a row and again in 2010/11. They were runners-up in the last UEFA Cup final, going down 2-1 to FC Shakhtar Donetsk after extra time in 2009.