Marco Reich (born 30 December 1977) is a German former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or winger.

Club career

1. FC Kaiserslautern

Reich made his professional debut in October 1996 with

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

in the 2. Bundesliga and subsequently played five seasons for the club, four of them in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

after they were promoted there in 1997. He also won the Bundesliga champions title with Kaiserslautern in 1998.

1. FC Köln and Werder Bremen

In the summer of 2001, Reich moved to league rivals

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

for a transfer fee of €3 million. He spent one season with the club, making 24 Bundesliga appearances without scoring a goal. He then moved to another Bundesliga club,

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

, for a transfer fee of €250,000, subsequently spending one season and a half with the club, but only making 17 league appearances – 16 as a substitute – with no goals scored. He left the Werder Bremen in the 2003–04 winter transfer window while the club went on to win both the league and cup titles.

In England: Derby County and Crystal Palace

In January 2004, Reich moved to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

of then

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

after trialling with the club. On 1 May 2004, he helped secure the club's survival in the league with a free-kick goal. On 14 August 2004, he contributed a brace to Derby County's 3–2 defeat of

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

, their first win of the 2004–05 season. On 18 September, he scored once in 2–0 win away to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. Four days later, he netted again in a 3–1 loss away to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

. By mid-November, he had amassed five goals and eight assists in 16 matches and interest from

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

was reported. In early February 2005, the club's captain Ian Taylor mentioned Reich's signing as one of manager

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

's "really good foreign free transfers". On 3 May 2005, Reich scored an injury-time equaliser for 3–3 having been brought on late as a substitute in a league match against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. At the end of the 2004–05 season Derby County missed out on promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and Reich was one of four players to be released from work duties and declared free to join a club. In summer 2005, it was erroneously reported that Reich had joined

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

on a two-year contract. In September 2005, he joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. On 20 September, he scored the match's only goal in his club's 1–0 win against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. In early October, he scored a brace against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. Having initially signed on a short-term, three-month contract, Reich was later rewarded with a long-term contract for his performances. The highlight of his time at Palace was arguably when he scored the winning goal to reach the last 16 of the

2005–06 Football League Cup The 2005–06 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 46th staging of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The competition ...

at the expense of European champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Offenbach, Walsall, and Jagiellonia Białystok

In January 2007, Reich returned to Germany, signing a -year with 2. Bundesliga side

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left establis ...

on a free transfer. He was released by Offenbach following their relegation from the second tier of German football. He trialled with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

before joining on a free transfer in August 2008 signing a six-month contract. He scored the equalising goal in Walsall's 2–1 win against

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

on 16 August 2008. He was released in January 2009. On 2 May 2009, he signed a contract with

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

. He was later critical of the standard of football in the

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

, comparing it to the lower divisions of the German League, although he did speak favourably about teams like

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

and

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

In Austria: WAC St. Andrä and SK Austria Klagenfurt

In January 2010, Reich signed for Austrian club

WAC St. Andrä Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC ente ...

whom he helped to promotion to the second-tier

Austrian Football First League The Second League (), commonly known as Admiral 2. Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest professional division in Austrian football. The division currently contains 16 teams, and the champion of the league is promoted to the Austr ...

in his first half-season. In the 2010–11 season he scored ten goals and gave nine assists in 29 matches contributing to a fourth-place finish. Nevertheless, he was told by coach and former teammate at

Nenad Bjelica Nenad Bjelica (; born 20 August 1971) is a Croatian professional Association football, football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Croatian club GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb. Club career Born in Osijek, Bjelica st ...

to look for a new club with one year left on his contract. In the 2011–12 season he scored eight goals in 24 matches for SK Austria Klagenfurt, reaching sixth place in Austria's third tier. In summer 2012, he signed for Villacher SV.

International career

Having previously represented the Germany U-21 team, Reich made his debut for the senior side, playing 78 minutes in their 3–3 draw with

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in a friendly match played in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

on 9 February 1999. The match in the Southern United States remained his only cap for the full national team.

Honours

1. FC Kaiserslautern *

: 1997–98 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1995–96 Werder Bremen *

: 2003–04 Jagiellonia Białystok *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

: 2009–10

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reich, Marco 1977 births Living people People from Bad Kreuznach (district) German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Germany men's international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate English Football League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Ekstraklasa players 2. Liga (Austria) players Crystal Palace F.C. players Derby County F.C. players 1. FC Kaiserslautern II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players 1. FC Köln players SV Werder Bremen players Kickers Offenbach players Walsall F.C. players Jagiellonia Białystok players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England German expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland