Martin Max (born 7 August 1968) 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 striker. One of the oldest winners of 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 ...

's top scorer crown, at the age of 32 and 34, he represented four teams in his country of adoption.

Club career

Born in

Tarnowskie Góry Tarnowskie Góry (; ; ) is a city in Silesia, southern Poland, located in the Silesian Highlands near Katowice and seat city of Tarnowskie Góry County Located in the north of the Metropolis GZM, a megalopolis (city type), megalopolis, the great ...

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

, Max started to play football in the youth of Rodło Górniki Bytom, and in 1982, he emigrated with his parents as

ethnic Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

(''Aussiedler'') from Poland and went to Germany, where the family settled in

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; ) is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghaus ...

in the

Ruhr region The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populatio ...

(''Ruhrgebiet''). In Recklinghausen, he joined the youth team of Blau-Weiß Post Recklinghausen, and in 1985, he transferred to the offspring of the 1. FC Recklinghausen. At Schalke, Max revived his career, netting 23 goals in his first two seasons combined, adding three in the victorious UEFA Cup campaign, and his

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

attempt in the final against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

He joined

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

in 1999, and was crowned league topscorer in his first season, with 19. In 2001–02, he added 18 for a second individual accolade, tied with

Márcio Amoroso Márcio Amoroso dos Santos (born 5 July 1974) is a Brazilian football pundit and former professional player who mainly played as a forward. He played for several teams in his home country as well as in Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain and Greece w ...

. Already at 35, Max moved to

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from ...

, and contributed massively to the former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

side's comfortable league position, as he netted 20 goals and ranked third in the goal charts. He retired at the end of the season with a total of 396 matches, with 126 first division goals. After retiring, Max began running a soccer camp for youths.

International career

Courtesy of his stellar TSV performances, Max earned his only cap for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, on 17 April 2002, coming on as a substitute during the 84th minute in a 1–0 loss in a friendly in the

Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion Neckarstadion, officially known as MHPArena for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and home to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. It hosted football matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Euro ...

(today

MHPArena Neckarstadion, officially known as MHPArena for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and home to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. It hosted football matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Euro ...

) in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. He was subsequently named on stand-by for that summer's

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Personal life

His son,

Philipp Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (18 ...

, is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Honours

Borussia Mönchengladbach *

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 ...

: 1994–95 Schalke 04 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1996–97 Individual *

top goalscorer: 1999–2000, 2001–02

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Max, Martin 1968 births Living people Footballers from Tarnowskie Góry German people of Polish descent Polish people of German descent Polish emigrants to West Germany German men's footballers Men's association football forwards Germany men's international footballers Bundesliga players Borussia Mönchengladbach players FC Schalke 04 players TSV 1860 Munich players FC Hansa Rostock players Kicker-Torjägerkanone Award winners UEFA Europa League–winning players West German men's footballers Footballers from Recklinghausen