Mario Maek (born 14 November 1964) 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 ...

who played as a defender. Maek began playing football for the youth teams of

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...

. He made his professional debut for BFC Dynamo away against

BSG Stahl Riesa BSG Stahl Riesa is a German association football club from Riesa in Saxony. History The club was founded as ''SC Riesa'' in 1903 in the cellar of the local pub "Bodega" and was renamed ''Riesaer SV'' two years later. In 1917, they fused with ' ...

in the 17th matchday of the 1983-84 DDR-Oberliga on 10 March 1983. BFC Dynamo was dominating football in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

at the time. Maek then made his international debut BFC Dynamo against

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

in the quarter-finals of the 1983-84 European Cup at the

Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the western part of the locality of Prenzlauer Berg in the borough of Pankow in Berlin. The sports complex covers an area of approximately 22 hectares and compr ...

on 21 March 1984. Maek was used as a regular player during the remainder of the season. Maek was part of the first team of BFC Dynamo for four seasons and won the league title on each occasion. He made 37 appearances for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga. Maek was transferred to local rival 1. FC Union Berlin in 1987. He would spend seven and a half years at 1. FC Union Berlin, playing in the

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...

, the

DDR-Liga The DDR-Liga (English: GDR League or ''East German League'') was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany), bei ...

and the

NOFV-Oberliga The NOFV- Oberliga is a division at step 5 of the German football league system. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became the successor of the DDR-Oberliga, and functions today as a 5th division in the former territory of East Germany and the ...

. Maek saved 1. FC Union Berlin from relegation to the second tier

with a late 3-2 goal against FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in the last match day of the 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga on 28 May 1988. The goal was scored after a free kick from Olaf Hirsch and a header by

Olaf Seier Olaf Seier (born 25 November 1958) is a German retired football player who became famous as a midfielder for 1. FC Union Berlin during the 1980s. Career Olaf Seier, nicknamed "Leo" due to his long lion-like hair, started playing fotball with t ...

that had hit the post. All three were former players of local rival BFC Dynamo in 1. FC Union Berlin. His career in 1. Union Berlin came to an end in October 1994, when he received a six-year ban for violent conduct against a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

. After appeal this was commuted to just one month and Maek resumed his career with

SC Union 06 Berlin Sport-Club Union 06 Berlin e.V. is a German association football club based in central Berlin. Like namesake 1. FC Union Berlin, the club traces its origin back to the ''FC Olympia Oberschöneweide'', formed in 1906, but the current ''SC Unio ...

. Maek returned to BFC Dynamo, now named FC Berlin, in summer of 1995. He was one of the core players of the team in the Regionalliga Nordosr. Maek retired from the game after the 1999-2000 season. He continued at BFC Dynamo after his playing career. He took on various roles, including managing director and assistant coach. Maek was also served as interim coach from 2001 to 2002. Former long-time BFC Dynamo goalkeeper

Bodo Rudwaleit Bodo Rudwaleit (born 3 August 1957) is a German former football goalkeeper who played as goalkeeper for the record champion BFC Dynamo from 1976 to 1989. Career Early years Rudwaleit began playing football for enterprise sports community BSG ...

served as his assistant. His son,

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

, is also a footballer, who has also played for 1. FC Union Berlin.

References

External links

Union Berlin profile
* 1964 births Living people Men's association football defenders German men's footballers East German men's footballers East Germany men's under-21 international footballers Berliner FC Dynamo players 1. FC Union Berlin players German football managers Berliner FC Dynamo managers {{Germany-footy-defender-1960s-stub