Norwich City decided that German trialist Dirk Hebel was not the man to help plug the gaps in the injury-hit midfield at the beginning of the 1997/98 season. The 24 year old played in two Reserve games for the club but was largely anonymous in both and didn't show the sort of presence that the club were looking for. Hebel, who was with the Turkish club Bursapor in 1996/97, and was formerly with FC Cologne, would have been available on a free transfer had Norwich wanted his services. After leaving Carrow Road, Dirk went to Merseyside for a trial with Tranmere Rovers. They were more impressed with his abilities than Mike Walker and so signed him on a free transfer on 3rd September 1997.

Dirk failed to break into the Tranmere first team although he was a regular in their Reserves. After a short trial, Dirk signed for Brentford on 25th August 1998. Dirk was released by Brentford in the summer of 1999 after making 15 league appearances for them.

He has spent the last couple of years in non-league football in and around Cologne, Germany. He joined FC Junkersdorf, a local Cologne club, in 2002, both playing and peforming a "director of sport" type role. He was joined by another Canary triallist in the form of Marcus Kranz. When Junkersdorf failed to get promotion into the German regional fourth division (Oberliga), Hebel quit. He retired from playing and set himself up as a FIFA recognised Players Agent with his company called Fussballmarkt

During the 2003/4 season, he returned from his retirement to play for Sportfreunde Troisdorf who are based near Bonn. He helped them win promotion to the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein (regionalised fifth division).