Martin Reim (born 14 May 1971) is an Estonian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former professional player. Reim played most of his professional career in Estonia as a

central 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 ...

, including two separate stints for

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

with which he won seven

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

titles. He is also the most capped

Estonia national football team The Estonia men's national football team () represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium ...

player of all time with 157 appearances, and was the most capped European international player from August 2007 until December 2009, when he was surpassed by

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Vitālijs Astafjevs Vitālijs Astafjevs (born 3 April 1971) is a Latvian professional association football, football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an assistant manager of Cypriot club Aris Limassol FC, Aris Limassol having previously hel ...

. Reim is also the most capped player never to have played in a major tournament. Reim was named Estonian Footballer of the Year in 1995 and won the Estonian Silverball award three times, in 1995, 1997, and 1999. In 2011, he received the

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star (; ) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonian citizens and foreigners to give recognition for services rendered to the Estonian state. Design Classes The Order of the White Star ...

for his services to Estonia. In 2007, Reim opened a football academy (''Martin Reimi Jalgpallikool''). In 2016, the academy team Viimsi MRJK merged with

Esiliiga B The Esiliiga B is the third division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga B is ranked below the Esiliiga and above the II liiga. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends in Nov ...

club HÜJK Emmaste, and became Viimsi JK.

Early life

Reim was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

and grew up in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. He graduated from the Tallinn Secondary School No. 49 in 1989, and from the

Tallinn University of Technology Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; ) is the only Institute of technology, technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administration a ...

in 2000.

Club career

Early career

Reim played for a local club Tallinna Lõvid (''Lions of Tallinn''), where he was coached by his father Olev Reim and Roman Ubakivi. In 1989, he joined

Soviet Second League The Soviet Second League (, Soviet football championship (Second League)) was the third highest division of Soviet Union, Soviet football (soccer), football, below the Soviet First League. The league was formed in 1971 in place of the Class A Se ...

club Sport Tallinn. Reim returned to the Estonian league after a season and joined

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

. He was the top goalscorer in the 1990 season with 18 goals.

Flora

In 1992, Reim joined

club

, the successor of the Lõvid team. He won seven trophies with the club, including four Meistriliiga titles, in 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98 and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, two Estonian Cups, in 1994–95 and 1997–98, and an Estonian Supercup in 1998.

KTP

In June 1999, Reim joined

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

club KTP on loan until the end of the season. The move was made permanent in December 1999, for a reported fee of 150,000 FIM (400,000 EEK).

Return to Flora

In 2001, Reim returned to Flora. During his second spell at Flora, he won three consecutive Meistriliiga titles, in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, another Estonian Cup in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, and three more Estonian Supercups, in 2002, 2003 and 2004. On 5 December 2008, Reim announced his retirement from professional football. He holds the club record for the most appearances in the Meistriliiga, with 385.

International career

Reim made his international debut for

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

on 3 June 1992, in a historic 1–1 draw against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in a friendly at

Kadriorg Stadium Kadriorg Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Opened in 1926, it is one of the oldest stadiums in Estonia. It is currently used mostly for track and field competitions, but also serves as a home ground for JK Tallinna Kalev. ...

. The match was Estonia's first official match since restoration of independence and Slovenia's first match ever. Reim scored his first international goal on 23 May 1994, in a 1–2 home loss to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in a friendly. He won the Estonian Silverball award for the best national team goal of the year three times, in 1995, 1997, 1999. On 2 June 2001, Reim made his 100th appearance for Estonia in a 2–4 home loss to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in a

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

match for the

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 ...

. He ended his international career with a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

on 6 June 2009, a 3–0 home win over

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

. With 157 appearances and 14 goals scored, he is Estonia's most capped player of all time.

Managerial career

Flora

On 3 December 2009, Flora announced that Reim would replace

Tarmo Rüütli Tarmo Rüütli (born 11 August 1954) is an Estonian football manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonp ...

as the new manager of the club. He led Flora to victory in the 2010 season, ending the reign of Levadia who had won the four previous Meistriliiga titles. Flora successfully defended their title in 2011 season and won the

2010–11 Estonian Cup 2010–11 Estonian Cup is the twenty-first season of the Estonian Football (soccer), football knockout tournament organized by the Estonian Football Association. On 10 May 2011, FC Flora Tallinn defeated JK Narva Trans in the final to win the cu ...

, defeating Narva Trans 2–0 in the final. On 14 October 2012, Reim resigned after poor results in the Meistriliiga, with Marko Lelov and Norbert Hurt taking over.

Estonia youth teams

In October 2012, Reim was named as manager of the Estonia under-18, under-21 and under-23 national sides. He led the under-21 team to win the 2014 Baltic Cup.

Estonia

On 14 September 2016, the

Estonian Football Association The Estonian Football Association (EJL; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football, beach soccer and futsal in Estonia. Established on 14 December 1921, it organizes the football league, including the championship which is called Mei ...

appointed Reim as manager of the Estonia national team until the end of the

tournament for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. On 17 June 2019, he and his coaching staff resigned from Estonia national team, six days after the 0–8 defeat to Germany in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Estonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Reim goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Individual *

Manager of the Month: May 2012, May 2020

References

External links

* *
Martin Reimi Jalgpallikool
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reim, Martin 1971 births Living people Footballers from Tartu Estonian men's footballers Soviet men's footballers Estonian football managers Men's association football midfielders Esiliiga players Pärnu JK Tervis players Meistriliiga players FC Norma Tallinn players FC Flora players Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat players Veikkausliiga players Estonia men's international footballers FIFA Men's Century Club FC Flora managers FCI Levadia Tallinn managers Estonia national football team managers Estonian expatriate men's footballers Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 5th Class SK Tallinna Sport players Jämsänkosken Ilves players

Early life

Club career

Early career

Flora

KTP

Return to Flora

International career

Managerial career

Flora

Estonia youth teams

Estonia

Career statistics

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

See also

References

External links