Stefan Maierhofer (born 16 August 1982) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He last played for Würzburger Kickers.[1] Between 2008 and 2011, he made 19 appearances for the Austria national team, scoring one goal.

Stefan Maierhofer
Maierhofer in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1982-08-16) 16 August 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth Gablitz, Austria
Height 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1996–1999 FC Tulln
1999–2001 SV Gablitz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 First Vienna 18 (2)
2003–2005 SV Langenrohr 53 (26)
2005–2006 Bayern Munich II 42 (21)
2006 Bayern Munich 2 (0)
2007 TuS Koblenz 14 (3)
2007 Greuther Fürth 10 (2)
2008Rapid Wien (loan) 11 (7)
2008–2009 Rapid Wien 38 (24)
2009–2011 Wolverhampton Wanderers 9 (1)
2010Bristol City (loan) 3 (0)
2010–2011MSV Duisburg (loan) 27 (8)
2011–2012 Red Bull Salzburg 39 (15)
2013 1. FC Köln 14 (1)
2014 Millwall 11 (2)
2014–2015 SC Wiener Neustadt 4 (1)
2015 Millwall 10 (1)
2016 AS Trenčín 10 (2)
2017–2018 SV Mattersburg 37 (7)
2018–2019 FC Aarau 40 (13)
2020 WSG Swarovski Tirol 13 (2)
2020 Admira Wacker 7 (0)
2021 Würzburger Kickers 7 (0)
International career
2008–2011 Austria 19 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:40, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Maierhofer failed to make the grade with German giants Bayern Munich, making just two first team appearances. After spells with second division teams TuS Koblenz and Greuther Fürth he returned to his homeland with Rapid Wien. He enjoyed the best goalscoring form of his career here, which earned him a move to English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2009, where he made just ten appearances before returning to Austria.

Club career

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Maierhofer was initially trained as a restaurant specialist/cook. The tall striker joined Bayern Munich's reserve team from Austrian side SV Langenrohr in July 2005, and signed a professional contract with the club one year later, eventually making two Bundesliga appearances as a late substitute, during 2006–07. In two seasons with Bayern Munich's reserve team, he scored 21 goals in 42 Regionalliga appearances and was the team's top goalscorer in both seasons.

In January 2007, Maierhofer moved to 2. Bundesliga side TuS Koblenz until the end of the season, scoring three goals in 14 league appearances. In July 2007, he signed a two-year contract with another team in the division, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, but the club sent him on a six-month loan to Austrian Bundesliga's Rapid Wien in January 2008.

He helped Rapid win the 2008 Bundesliga title, after scoring seven goals in 11 league matches for the club, including braces in a 2–0 derby win over Austria Wien and a 7–0 away win against the club's main title rivals Red Bull Salzburg. Consequently, Rapid decided to make the deal permanent and signed Maierhofer on a three-year contract.[2]

The 2008–09 season saw his best goalscoring return as he struck 27 goals, including two in Champions League qualifiers, helping the club end the league campaign as runners-up.

He signed for newly promoted Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee – reportedly an initial £1.8m – on 31 August 2009.[3] He scored on his debut in a 3–1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.[4] He suffered a hernia injury which put him out of action for several months, and upon regaining fitness was no longer in contention at Wolves. He was instead sent on a one-month loan to Championship club Bristol City in March 2010,[5] but failed to make an impact.[6]

During summer 2010, he was told he was no longer part of Wolves manager Mick McCarthy's plans and was instead loaned to 2. Bundesliga club MSV Duisburg on a season-long loan for the 2010–11 campaign.[7][8] He scored 12 goals during the season, including a goal in a DFB Cup semi final to take the Zebras to the final where they lost to Schalke.[9]

On 23 August 2011, Maierhofer returned to Austria when he signed for Red Bull Salzburg in a two-year deal. After a year and a half in Salzburg, Maierhofer returned to Germany, signing for 1. FC Köln in January 2013, but left in the summer.[10] On 14 March 2014, Maierhofer joined Championship side Millwall on a short-term deal until the end of the 2013–14 season.[11]

On 19 November 2014, he signed a short-term deal with SC Wiener Neustadt of the Austrian Bundesliga for the rest of 2014. He was part of the starting XI against Wolfsberger AC three days later and scored the first goal in a 2–0 home win.

On 12 February 2016, he signed half-year contract with option to buy with FK AS Trenčín.[12]

International career

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Maierhofer's good performances during his initial loan spell at Rapid Wien secured him his first call-up to the Austria national team in April 2008, when he was named to the country's preliminary squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals.[13] However, he would not make the final cut.

On 20 August 2008, he eventually made his international debut, in a 2–2 friendly against Italy, in Nice. He scored his first international goal when he scored inside the first minute against the Faroe Islands on 5 September 2009.

Career statistics

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As of 29 December 2020[14][15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
First Vienna FC 2002–03 Austrian Regionalliga East 18 2 0 0 18 2
Bayern Munich II 2005–06 Regionalliga Süd 28 10 28 10
2006–07 Regionalliga Süd 14 11 14 11
Total 42 21 42 21
Bayern Munich 2006–07 Bundesliga 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
TuS Koblenz 2006–07 2. Bundesliga 14 3 0 0 14 3
Greuther Fürth 2007–08 2. Bundesliga 10 2 2 1 12 3
Rapid Wien 2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 11 7 0 0 0 0 11 7
2008–09 Austrian Bundesliga 35 23 3 2 2 2 40 27
2009–10 Austrian Bundesliga 3 1 1 1 5 2 9 4
Total 49 31 4 3 7 4 60 38
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2009–10 Premier League 8 1 0 0 1[a] 0 9 1
2011–12 Premier League 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 9 1 0 0 1 0 10 1
Bristol City (loan) 2009–10 Championship 3 0 0 0 3 0
MSV Duisburg (loan) 2010–11 2. Bundesliga 27 8 5 4 32 12
Red Bull Salzburg 2011–12 Austrian Bundesliga 29 14 3 1 7 0 39 15
2012–13 Austrian Bundesliga 10 1 2 1 2 0 14 2
Total 39 15 5 2 9 0 53 17
1. FC Köln 2012–13 2. Bundesliga 14 1 0 0 14 1
Millwall 2013–14 Championship 11 2 0 0 11 2
SC Wiener Neustadt 2014–15 Austrian Bundesliga 4 1 0 0 4 1
Millwall 2014–15 Championship 10 1 0 0 10 1
AS Trenčín 2015–16 Slovak Super Liga 10 2 1 1 11 3
SV Mattersburg 2016–17 Austrian Bundesliga 14 2 0 0 14 2
2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 23 5 4 2 27 7
Total 37 7 4 2 41 9
FC Aarau 2018–19 Swiss Challenge League 26 11 1 0 2[b] 1 29 12
2019–20 Swiss Challenge League 14 2 2 0 16 2
Total 40 13 3 0 2 1 45 14
WSG Swarovski Tirol 2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 13 2 1 0 14 2
Admira Wacker 2020–21 Austrian Bundesliga 7 0 2 0 9 0
Würzburger Kickers 2020–21 2. Bundesliga 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 359 112 27 13 16 4 3 1 405 130
  1. ^ Appearance in League Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Swiss Super League Promotion play-offs

Honours

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Club

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FC Bayern Munich II

Rapid Wien[15]

Red Bull Salzburg[15]

AS Trenčín[15]

References

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  1. ^ ""Wird definitiv weiterhelfen": Maierhofer wechselt nach Würzburg". kicker.de (in German). 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Maierhofer rewarded for Rapid progress". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008.
  3. ^ "Wolves capture striker Maierhofer". BBC Sport. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Blackburn 3 – 1 Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  5. ^ "Bristol City sign striker Stefan Maierhofer from Wolves". BBC Sport. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Stefan Maierhofer's emergency loan at Bristol City ends". BBC Sport. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  7. ^ "McCarthy wants Maierhofer sale". BBC Sport. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Hoff goes out on loan". wolves.co.uk. 2 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Schalke holt den Pott zum fünften Mal" (in German). kicker. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  10. ^ "Stefan Maierhofer: Millwall sign Austrian striker". BBC Sport. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Striker Stefan signs". Millwall FC. 14 March 2014.
  12. ^ Zagiba, Tomáš (12 February 2016). "Trenčín sa dohodol s bývalým útočníkom Bayernu či Salzburgu". profutbal.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Austria's EURO 2008 squad with 3 Bundesliga players" (in German). Eurosport. 24 April 2008.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Stefan Maierhofer" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d "S. Maierhofer". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
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