Andre Hofschneider's long-term connection to 1. FC Union Berlin will continue with the 48-year-old taking up the role of head coach of the club's youth academy.

This new position, which will replace the sports manager of the academy, will allow Hofschneider to pass on his extensive knowledge and experience as a player and coach to Union's top footballing talent, as well as, the coaching staff. He will take up the position from October 1.

"Andre Hofschneider is an outstanding candidate for the position of head coach at the youth academy. Andre was himself as a sports student, a youth national team player, mastering the transition from youth to first team with his first competitive game coming at 18 years old. He knows the demands made on professional players and for the coaches. Together with Janek Kampa, the head of the academy, he will bring the necessary push for the transition between youth players and the first team. I'm glad that his wealth of experience will continue to be available to us in the future," said Lutz Munack, managing director for youth and amateur football.

"I have always followed the development of our youth teams closely and I know exactly what it means for the club but also for the young players to play top-level football at our stadium. There's hardly anything better than developing players from your own ranks. The way is there, but it's anything but easy. It requires targeted and individually-tailored assistance to overcome these hurdles," added Hofschneider. "From my point of view, it's also part of the sport to pass on the club's values and to set an example of how to identify with the club. I can myself look back on 30 years with Union and I'm convinced that this is exactly what I want to share."

From 1988 to 1994, Hofschneider made 160 appearances in the first-team of 1. FC Union Berlin. Following several spells as a player, he returned as a coach in 2007. He was responsible for the transition to the first team until 2014, where he helped bring players such as Christoph Menz, Christopher Quiring, Steven Skrzybski, Bjorn Jopek and Eroll Zejnuhallu into the first-team fold.