The Regionalliga West has existed in its existing form since 2012. These players have been top scorers so far and this is what they are doing today.

Finally, some variety in the race for the goal-scoring crown in the Regionalliga West. At the winter break, Gerrit Wegkamp (Münster) and Sven Kreyer (RWO) lead the rankings with twelve goals each. But the field of pursuers is contested and wide.

It was different in the past years: For four seasons, there was no way around Simon Engelmann. First he secured the imaginary title twice in the jersey of SV Rödinghausen, in the last two seasons Engelmann achieved this feat at Rot-Weiss Essen.

This overview shows which other players have won the title since the league reform in 2012/13 and what became of them.

Sven Michel (2012/13, SF Siegen & Borussia M’gladbach II, 20 goals): The then 22-year-old caused a stir with his goals for SF Siegen in the first half of the season and moved to Gladbach in the winter. There, Michel continued his performances. However, it was not enough for him to make the jump to the pros. Almost a decade later, however, the native of Freudenberg fulfilled his dream of playing in the Bundesliga: Michel moved from SC Paderborn to Union Berlin a year ago. At the Eisernen, he comes more from the bench, but has already played in the Europa League and scored a solid eight times in 30 appearances.

Aziz Bouhaddouz (2013/14, Bayer Leverkusen II, 24 goals): His goals for Leverkusen enabled the Moroccan to make the leap to the 2nd division. Bouhaddouz played for SV Sandhausen, FC St. Pauli and in Saudi Arabia. Since 2020, the 35-year-old has been scoring his goals for MSV Duisburg – even though he has had charging problems this season. Bouhaddouz’s career highlight was probably his participation in the 2018 World Cup with Morocco.

Jesse Weißenfels (2014/15, SF Lotte, 20 goals): The now 30-year-old has been playing in the Oberliga Niederrhein for two and a half years. First for SSVg Velbert, since summer for VfB Homberg. After Weißenfels became top scorer, he first moved to Preußen Münster in the 3rd division. He then played for Stuttgarter Kickers and Waldhof Mannheim. With SV, he celebrated promotion to the 3rd Liga in 2019. Weißenfels was unable to break his 20-goal mark, however.

Marlon Ritter (2015/16, Borussia M’gladbach II, 24 goals): His goals for Gladbach II opened the door to official professional football for Ritter. As the newly crowned top scorer, he went to Fortuna Düsseldorf. Later, the 28-year-old made the breakthrough from the 3rd league to the Bundesliga with SC Paderborn. After relegation, he moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He celebrated promotion to the second division with the Palatinate club in the summer. Ritter is a fixture in the lower league. In the meantime, he has become less offensive in central midfield.

Mike Wunderlich (2016/17, Viktoria Köln, 29 goals): Wunderlich still holds the record for the most goals in a season together with Engelmann. Despite this strong record, the offensive man had to be patient until 2019 before promotion to the 3. Liga was finally achieved. In 2021, the Cologne native moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern and celebrated promotion together with Ritter. Recently, Wunderlich made a splash: He decided to return to Viktoria for the second half of the season. At his hometown club, the record player and goal scorer of Cologne wants to finish his career at a high level.

Marius Bülter (2017/18, SV Rödinghausen, 20 goals): His strong record was the starting signal for a steep rise at the age of 25 already. Bülter moved to 1. FC Magdeburg and from there to Union Berlin – within a year, the Ibbenbürer went from the regional to the Bundesliga. In 2021, Bülter moved to relegated Schalke. He was instrumental in the Revierklub’s resurgence and is also a key player in S04’s weak season so far.

Christopher Kramer (2017/18, Wuppertaler SV, 20 goals): The now 33-year-old has played in three of four Regionalliga seasons. He scored his goals everywhere. Kramer scored 42 goals in just 60 games for WSV. His path led him via TSV Steinbach to SC Weiche. This season, he is back in the running for the goalscoring crown with the fourth-division club from the north, and has been successful eleven times so far.

Simon Engelmann (2018/19, SV Rödinghausen, 19 goals; 2019/20, SV Rödinghausen, 26 goals; 2020/21, RWE, 29 goals; 2021/22, RWE, 24 goals): In the still young history of the Regionalliga West, “Engel” is a legend. He was only recently replaced as the record player. But his record of 166 goals will probably remain for a few more years. Engelmann had shot Rödinghausen to the title in 2020, but the club refrained from promotion. It was not until two years later that the 35-year-old was able to fulfil his dream of the 3rd Division with RWE. Here, too, Engelmann proved to be accurate with four goals in eleven appearances before an injury slowed him down in the autumn.