 Meier in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1983-01-17)17 January 1983 (age 42) | ||
| Place of birth | Buchholz,West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder,forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1988–1989 | JSG Rosengarten | ||
| 1989–1990 | TuS Nenndorf | ||
| 1990–1995 | TSV Buchholz 08 | ||
| 1995–1998 | Hamburger SV | ||
| 1998–1999 | MSV Hamburg | ||
| 1999–2001 | Hamburger SV | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2003 | FC St. Pauli | 25 | (7) |
| 2003–2004 | Hamburger SV | 4 | (0) |
| 2004 | Hamburger SV II | 6 | (0) |
| 2004–2018 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 336 | (119) |
| 2019 | FC St. Pauli | 16 | (6) |
| 2019–2020 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 12 | (1) |
| Total | 399 | (133) | |
| International career | |||
| 2006 | Germany U21 | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alexander Meier (born 17 January 1983) is a German former professionalfootballer who played as anattacking midfielder orforward. He was the2014–15 Bundesliga top scorer with 19 goals in 26 games.
Meier began his professional career withFC St. Pauli in 2002. In the2001–02 season, Meier appeared on matchdays 32 and 33.[1] In the2002–03 season, he became a regular fixture appearing in 23 league matches (scoring seven goals)[2] and two cup matches.[3] He signed his first professional contract on 10 April 2003.[4] He moved to local rivalsHamburger SV in 2003; signing a three–year contract.[5]Borussia Mönchengladbach also inquired about Meier.[4] In his only season, he made four league appearances for the first team and six appearances for thereserve team.[6]
Meier signed forEintracht Frankfurt on 1 July 2004,[7] and made his debut for the club in a2. Bundesliga match againstAlemannia Aachen,[8] which finished in a 1–1 draw[8] with him scoring the goal for Frankfurt.[8] He then played in the next four matches without scoring.[9] He then scored in two consecutive matchdays when Frankfurt defeatedRot-Weiß Oberhausen 6–2 and drewRot-Weiss Essen 4–4.[9] In between matchdays, he scored againstGreuther Fürth in theDFB-Pokal.[10] He would not score again until matchday 21 when he scored from the penalty spot againstLR Ahlen.[9] He scored three goals againstEnergie Cottbus on matchday 33 on 15 May 2005.[11] He scored nine goals in 34 league matches and one goal in three cup matches.[9]
He made his season debut on matchday one in a 4–1 loss toBayer Leverkusen[12] on 4 August 2005.[13] His first goal of the season came on 14 October 2005 againstMSV Duisburg in a 1–0 win.[14] He then scored the following week on 21 October 2015 in a 6–3 win against1. FC Köln.[15] He then scored two goals againstSchalke 04 in a 6–0 cup win on 25 October 2005.[16] The scoring streak stopped on matchday 10 againstWerder Bremen.[12] The following week, Meier scored two goals againstArminia Bielefeld.[12] He scored against Hamburger SV andBayern Munich in back–to–back matchdays.[12] however, Frankfurt lost to Hamburg 2–1[17] and Bayern Munich 5–2.[18] Meier started, and played 90 minutes, in thecup final.[19] Meier scored seven goals in 33 league matches and three goals in five cup matches.[12]
Meier made his season debut in a 1–1 draw against Schalke on matchday one.[20] He also made his European debut on matchday one of theUEFA Cup group stage in a 2–1 loss toPalermo.[20] On 23 September 2006, in a 1–1 draw againstVfB Stuttgart,[21] Meier scored his first goal of the season.[20] He also scored a goal in each of the following two weeks against Hamburg andHannover 96.[20] On 2 November 2006, in the UEFA Cup group stage, Meier was sent–off for a second bookable offence in a 1–1 draw againstCelta de Vigo.[22] He scored six goals in 29 league matches and one goal in four cup matches.[20] He failed to score in any of his three UEFA Cup matches.[20]
On 5 August 2007, Meier made his season debut in a 4–1 cup win againstUnion Berlin.[23] He scored three goals in the match.[23] He made his league debut on 11 August 2007 againstHertha BSC.[24] He scored a goal each on matchdays two and three and two on matchday five.[25] Meier came up with a knee injury againstBorussia Dortmund in a cup match.[26] Then on 4 March 2008, it was announced that Meier would have knee surgery.[27] He had not played since October 2007[27] and finished the season with four goals in 11 league matches and three goals in two cup matches.[25]
Meier made his season debut on matchday one on 17 August 2008 in a 2–0 loss to Hertha BSC,[28] his second match on 20 September 2008 in a 1–0 loss to Schalke,[29] and his third match on 23 September 2008 in a 2–1 cup loss toHansa Rostock.[30] He didn't play again until a 2–1 loss to Hertha BSC on matchday 18.[31] He finished the season with three goals in 19 league matches.[31] He didn't score in his only cup match.[31]
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Meier finished the2014–15 season with 19 goals in 26 games[32] despite his campaign being cut short by injury with seven games remaining. This made him the league's top scorer, with two more than Bayern Munich pairArjen Robben andRobert Lewandowski.[33]
In the2015–16 season, Meier scored 12 goals in 19 games.[34] In February 2016, Meier suffered a knee injury which caused him to pause until the end of the season.
On 14 July 2016, Eintracht Frankfurt confirmed that Meier has extended his contract until 30 June 2018.[35] He finished the2016–17 season with five goals in 25 appearances.[36]
His only appearance during the2017–18 season was on matchday 33 against Hamburger SV.[37] He scored a goal in the match.[37]
On 28 May 2018, Eintracht Frankfurt announced that the expiring contract of Alexander Meier would not be extended.[38]
In January 2019, Meier returned to former club FC St. Pauli having agreed a contract until the end of the season.[39] On 23 May 2019, the club announced that he would leave at the end of the season.[40]
On 20 September 2019,Western Sydney Wanderers signed Meier as amarquee player.[41] After 12 matches, on 17 January 2020, he left the club by mutual termination. Meier was having a poor season that was compounded by off-field problems including his family not being given visas to join him in Australia.[42]
On 28 January, 11 days after leaving Western Sydney Wanderers, Meier announced his retirement as a player.[43]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC St. Pauli | 2001–02[1] | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03[3] | 2. Bundesliga | 23 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 7 | |||
| Total | 25 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 7 | ||||
| Hamburger SV | 2003–04[6] | Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| Hamburger SV II | 2003–04[6] | Regionalliga Nord | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 2004–05[9] | 2. Bundesliga | 34 | 9 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 37 | 10 | ||
| 2005–06[12] | Bundesliga | 33 | 7 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 38 | 10 | |||
| 2006–07[20] | Bundesliga | 29 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3[a] | 0 | — | 36 | 7 | ||
| 2007–08[25] | Bundesliga | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3 | — | — | 13 | 7 | |||
| 2008–09[31] | Bundesliga | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 3 | |||
| 2009–10[44] | Bundesliga | 34 | 10 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 12 | |||
| 2010–11[45] | Bundesliga | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 2 | |||
| 2011–12[46] | 2. Bundesliga | 32 | 17 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 17 | |||
| 2012–13[47] | Bundesliga | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 16 | |||
| 2013–14[48] | Bundesliga | 22 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6[b] | 7 | — | 30 | 15 | ||
| 2014–15[32] | Bundesliga | 26 | 19 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 20 | |||
| 2015–16[34] | Bundesliga | 19 | 12 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | 22 | 12 | ||
| 2016–17[36] | Bundesliga | 21 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 5 | |||
| 2017–18[37] | Bundesliga | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 336 | 119 | 32 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 379 | 137 | ||
| FC St. Pauli | 2018–19[49] | 2. Bundesliga | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 6 | ||
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2019–20[50] | A-League | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 399 | 133 | 34 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 444 | 151 | ||
Eintracht Frankfurt
Individual
