My Story | Timothy Tillman

I was the first LAFC player to bleach my hair blonde this past offseason. I need to get that out of the way first. It wasn’t Denis [Bouanga], it wasn’t Mati [Bogusz]. It was me.

I knew my hair would grow back so I just said, “Let's try it, let’s switch things up.” The other two guys won’t admit it, but they followed my lead and obviously couldn't keep pace. The playoffs are here, and I'm the only one still wearing what I call my black and gold hair. It goes well with the kit and the colors.

How does a kid from a small town in Germany end up in California bleaching his hair?

I guess it started in kindergarten. No one introduced me to soccer. It’s such a big thing in Germany, it’s just there. My first soccer memories are playing with friends at the kindergarten I went to in Zirndorf, in the German state of Bavaria. The biggest neighboring town is Fürth, where I would later begin my professional career.

Zirndorf is small and simple. Supermarkets, doctors, schools. Everything is walkable. I rode my bike everywhere. Our school had a ball, two goals, and kids, and that’s all we needed. So we played.

The other kids had a head start because their families had been into the game for generations. Our mom Anja raised me and my brother Malik, and she wasn’t particularly into football at the time. Neither was our dad, who was around until I was about four or five years old. He was in the U.S. Army and traveled a lot. So, he wasn't at home much.

Malik, who is three years younger than I am (and has played for the U.S. Men’s National Team and currently plays for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven), we grew up speaking German while learning English in school. In Germany, you start to learn a second language in fifth grade. Unlike football, I had a little advantage over the other kids in English because of our dad. I studied English from fifth grade until 12th grade, by which point I had chosen soccer as my career. So I began speaking English with the non-German guys I played with – players from England and other nearby countries.

Football helped me get more fluent with my English, for sure. It's one of the many things football has given me. Youth football in Germany gave me a chance to develop. Kids in Germany have so many teams and clubs and different choices for their football improvement, compared to the U.S. If you’re a German kid who loves the game but you’re not good enough to play for an academy, can you just join your hometown team and play with your friends and compete against other teams at that level, where there’s no pressure to be the best on the field. That helps build the confidence of every kid, and it helps build friendships. That’s the biggest difference between the German youth system and the U.S.: the opportunities. Your so-called quality doesn’t matter so much; there's always a level that's made for you where you can just do your thing and have fun.

One thing I’d like to express to any young athletes reading this is: take care of your education as well as your athletics. Not everyone can make it. It's nothing bad if you don't make it, but you always want to have a Plan B. Until you find that Plan B, it should be your education. My mother really stressed that to Malik and me and I’m a better person because of it.

It was always my dream to play football professionally. There were a couple of people along the way who told me I had a chance to become a pro footballer, but I didn't care about their words too much because my mom always told Malik and me to keep our feet on the ground and stay humble and just focus on having fun.

When I joined my first proper club, Greuther Fürth, near my hometown, I played as a wing, like one of my favorite players, Nani. Then I was moved to the 10 position [attacking midfielder]. Then I was moved out to the wing again. I was playing wing when I moved to FC Bayern Munich and made my pro debut with Bayern’s second team in 2017.

I did a lot of switching between the wing and the 10 positions until shortly before I came here, when I started playing a more of a box-to-box midfield position, like Paul Pogba, another favorite. That position became my home on the field. It’s still my home here at LAFC.

I first heard of this club when I was in Germany and Gareth Bale joined LAFC [in 2022]. Or rather, that’s when I was reminded of LAFC. I always knew about it because I played FIFA. I saw LAFC on there, especially Carlos [Vela]. Some Americans don’t realize this, but Carlos is recognizable everywhere—in England, in Mexico, in Spain, in New York, and even to a little a kid in Germany like me, playing a video game. I didn't know how big of a club LAFC was until I got here though.

The first time I realized it was when I played in front of our fans. To be honest, I didn't expect our fans to be anything special. Coming from Germany, we've got a big supporter culture over there, so I didn't expect LAFC to have such passionate support in our city. I can’t express how much I enjoy playing at home in our stadium. I genuinely think LAFC fans are better than some supporter sections in the top levels of Germany. The atmosphere is nicer, too. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like there's more love and support for the team as opposed to hate or fans actually opposing their own teams. That's something I really appreciate.

I have been here for two full seasons now, and I can vividly remember my first goal in front of the fans - against New England [March 12, 2023]. My mom had traveled here from Germany for that game, so it was a powerful moment.

I enjoy every moment I spend here in LA, if I’m honest. I like going to— I can't even call it work. Whether I’m going in for training or playing in front of our fans, I just enjoy every second of LA and being part of this club.

When I drive to the PC [the LAFC Performance Center], I am usually on the phone with one of my friends in Germany. Because of the time difference, they are usually finishing work when I am going to work. It's the only time of the day we can talk.

When I describe LA to my friends back home, I tell them it’s not what I expected it to be. I expected LA to be very shiny, very bougie, and that's not what it is like at all. I describe LA to them as a nice place where – as soon as you discover where to go and what to do and the right people to do it with – you can’t have anything but a good time.

More than anything, I tell them how happy I am I made the decision to come here and paint my heart, and hair, black and gold.