Axel Keller (born 25 March 1977 in

Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...

) 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 ...

who plays as a goalkeeper for VfL Pirna-Copitz.

Career

Keller began his career in the youth system of his hometown club,

FC Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitzer Fußballclub e.V. is a German association football club based in Chemnitz, Saxony. The club competes in Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football. The roots of the club go back to its establishment as Chemnitzer BC 193 ...

(later Chemnitzer FC), before leaving at age 19 to join local amateur side Altchemnitzer BSC. Two years later he joined Carl Zeiss Jena, where he made his breakthrough in senior football, making 57 league appearances in two seasons. He then spent two years in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

– firstly playing for

TSV 1860 München A tab-separated values (TSV) file is a simple text format for storing data in a tabular structure, e.g., a database table or spreadsheet data, and a way of exchanging information between databases. Each record in the table is one line of the te ...

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, then as a backup 'keeper at

FC Schweinfurt 05 1. Fussball-Club Schweinfurt 1905, Verein für Leibesübungen e.V., called 1. FC Schweinfurt 05, Schweinfurt 05, or simply FC 05, is a German association football club established in Schweinfurt (Bavaria) in 1905. It has sections for netball, f ...

, newly promoted to the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

. In 2002, Keller joined

Eintracht Trier SV Eintracht Trier 05 is a German association football club based in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. It was formed on 11 March 1948 out of the merger of Westmark 05 Trier and Eintracht Trier 06, on the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of pred ...

, where he spent two seasons, establishing himself as first-choice 'keeper in his second season, before signing for

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

in 2004, where he didn't make a league appearance in two years, serving as understudy to Mathias Schober. In 2006, he joined

Erzgebirge Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, ...

, in a straight swap with their keeper Jörg Hahnel. Initially he was on the bench, but won his place when first-choice 'keeper Tomasz Bobel was sent off in the 12th game of the season. Keller remained in the team until March 2008, when he missed a game to attend the birth of his daughter. In July 2008, Keller joined

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Ka ...

, of the new

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for th ...

. In his first two seasons with Dynamo he was the undisputed first choice 'keeper, but lost his place to

Benjamin Kirsten Benjamin Kirsten (born 2 June 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent much of his active career with Dynamo Dresden and 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig. Early life Kirsten was born in Riesa, East Germany. ...

mid-way through the 2010–11 season and was released by the club in 2011, subsequently signing for

Heidenauer SV Heidenauer SV are a sports team from Heidenau, Saxony in Germany. Their football team compete in the Sachsenliga, at the sixth tier of German football. History The club was founded in 1948 as BSG Motor Heidenau and took up their current name afte ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Axel 1977 births Living people German men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Chemnitzer FC players FC Carl Zeiss Jena players 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 players TSV 1860 Munich II players SV Eintracht Trier 05 players FC Hansa Rostock players FC Erzgebirge Aue players Dynamo Dresden players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Sportspeople from Chemnitz Footballers from Saxony