Moritz Volz

Fulham FC and Germany defender, David Hasselhoff fan, and facial hair enthusiast Moritz Volz, pictured here impersonating the Hoff - is a genuinely refreshing figure in modern sports.

Have you read his columns in The Times Of London? You haven't? What is wrong with you? Do you realize what you've been missing? Some of the funniest, sharpest sports writing you will ever read in your life. Articles like "How To Bluff Your Way To The Top Of The Game", and "If Sepp Blatter Had His Way I’d Be Working In a German Restaurant".

And then there's this amazing instant classic, "Stumped By Stubble, The Beard Is Back". Volz ponders why there is less facial hair in modern football (soccer, calcio, etc.) and then gives his list of the best and worst beards in the history of the sport. Along the way he makes this very astute observation regarding the outlandish beard once sported by former American defender Alexi Lalas, "that was a bit ill-advised — when you’re a ginge (red head) you should be limiting your hair growth as much as possible, not exaggerating it".

Moritz Volz - inaugural member of the HTADB Hall of Fame.