Early career During his youth years, Weidenfeller played for
Sportfreunde Eisbachtal. He then made his professional debut in 1997, after his performances at the
1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship.
1. FC Kaiserslautern In 1998, Weidenfeller transferred to the
1. FC Kaiserslautern youth team and later was used in the second team. For the
2000–01 season he was promoted to the first team but made only six league appearances in two years.
Borussia Dortmund Weidenfeller moved to
German champions Borussia Dortmund in 2002 on a
free transfer as a possible replacement for
Jens Lehmann, who had moved to
Arsenal in 2003. Weidenfeller had reportedly been unhappy at Kaiserslautern, where he was used mainly as a backup to
Georg Koch. His debut for Dortmund came on 17 December 2003 against his former club, Kaiserslautern, in a 1–0 loss. In 2005, Weidenfeller underwent surgery following a
meniscus tear in his left knee during training. Early in the
2007–08 season, Weidenfeller was given a three-match ban and fined €10,000 for racist insults leveled against
Schalke 04 striker
Gerald Asamoah. Asamoah originally reported Weidenfeller after a match on 18 August 2007 between the two clubs, where the incident occurred after a clash between the two in the 51st minute. Weidenfeller offered an apology to Asamoah following the news reports but denied making the statement. On 27 July 2013, Weidenfeller won the
2013 DFL-Supercup with Dortmund 4–2 against rivals
Bayern Munich. However, with manager
Jürgen Klopp leaving at the end of the
2014–15 season, the replacement manager
Thomas Tuchel chose new signing
Roman Bürki as his first-choice goalkeeper as Dortmund began the season in excellent form, winning their first eleven games under Tuchel. Weidenfeller continued to play in the club's European matches. On 5 February 2016, Weidenfeller signed a new one-year deal with Dortmund, keeping him at the club until 2017. On 9 May 2017, he extended his contract until 2018. At the end of the
2017–18 season, he retired after making his final appearance as a substitute for Bürki, but announced that he would continue to work for Dortmund in another capacity. His farewell match took place on 7 September 2018 in the
Signal Iduna Park where Roman & Friends won against the BVB All Stars and Weidenfeller scored two goals. Following Weidenfeller's retirement, he remained at Borussia Dortmund as an international ambassador. ==International career==