Thilo Wilke (born 20 June 1991) is a German

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 most recently 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 ...

for Norwegian club

Alta IF Alta Idrettsforening is a sports club from the town of Alta in Alta Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The club is most known for its association football department, which played in the 1. divisjon until 2014. Alta currently plays in 2. d ...

Career

Wilke began playing football at age 5, and in his youth played for 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 and Würzburger FV. Wilke started his club career playing for FV Karlstadt, and in 2011 transferred to FT Schweinfurt for two seasons. From 2013 to 2015, he played for TSV Karlburg. In 2015, he then signed for TSV Aubstadt in the 5th division. Wilke then signed for TSV Abtswind. Wilke continued his career abroad in America's college system, joining NCAA Division II NCAA soccer team,

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In the 2018 season, Wilke scored 17 goals and 4 assists. His statistics earned a national ranking in the division with 1.21 goals per game. During the 2018 season, Wilke was selected for Men’s Soccer First Team All-Atlantic Region. He was also chosen for the first all-state team by the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA). During his collegiate career in the

, Wilke also played for two NPSL teams: Med City FC in the 2017 season, and Palm Beach United in the 2018 season. In 2019, Wilke signed for semi-professional clubs Adelaide Raiders and later for the Para Hills Knights in the

National Premier League The Jamaica Premier League (formerly the National Premier League), commonly abbreviated as JPL and officially known as the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia. On 26 September 2019,

Para Hills Knights SC Para Hills Knights Soccer Club is a semi-professional sports, semi-professional association football, soccer club based in Para Hills West, South Australia, Para Hills West, a northern suburb of Adelaide. The club was founded on 24 March 1964, j ...

confirmed, that Wilke had been appointed technical director for the club's U15-U17 teams. In October, he signed for Hamilton Wanderers in the ISPS Handa Premiership, which was at this time the 1st tier in New Zealand Football. During his time with the Wanderers, he scored one goal, was part of the round 5 team of the week, and started six out of the seven games until the December break. He then returned to his former club, Para Hills Knights SC, for the 2020 season. In July 2020, Wilke signed for the German fourth-tier club FC Memmingen. Because Corona pandemic regulations stopped the Regionalliga Bayern season in November 2020, he only played two league games.

Other

In Germany, Wilke has attracted media attention for taking his football career international. In addition to journalist interviews and newspaper articles following Wilke's career,

Bayerisches Fernsehen (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

aired a television story about him and the

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

interviewed him twice for a Radio Show.

Managerial career

In 2022, he was named the

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for FC Kempten.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilke, Thilo Living people 1991 births German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Regionalliga players New Zealand Football Championship players Norwegian Second Division players 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 players TSV Aubstadt players FC Memmingen players Alta IF players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States German expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia German expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand German expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Norway 21st-century German sportsmen National Premier Leagues players