Florian Niederlechner (born 24 October 1990) is a German professional

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club Hertha BSC.

Career

Niederlechner's career is considered atypical since he became a

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

player without passing through the youth ranks of a professional club. At the age of twelve, after a single year with the club, he was forced to leave the under-13 team of

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members of ...

being deemed too small and too slow. He moved to the local

Kreisliga The Kreisliga ( en, District League), along with the ''Kreisoberliga'' ( en, District Premier League) and the ''Kreisklasse'' ( en, District Class), are the lowest set of divisions in the German football league system, set at step 8 and below. S ...

club TSV Ebersberg, starting playing senior football for Landesliga side FC Falke Markt Schwaben in 2008. At the time he completed his vocational training as industrial management assistant. In 2010, he joined fifth tier

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one o ...

side

FC Ismaning FC Ismaning is a German association football club based in Ismaning by Munich, Bavaria. History The 700 member club was founded in March 1921 and played in lower-tier competition until the mid-90s when the footballers advanced for the first t ...

. There he created a stir by scoring 19 goals in the 2010–11 season, eventually receiving and accepting an offer from

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 ...

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...

, which was forced to bet on young talents due to its financial difficulties. For Unterhaching, Niederlechner continued to be a successful striker, scoring eight goals in the 2011–12 season and another eight in the first leg of the next campaign. During the winter break 2012–13, he made the next move, this time to ambitious fellow 3. Liga side 1. FC Heidenheim, with whom he achieved promotion 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 2014. After 15 goals and ten assists in 33 league matches, and Heidenheim finishing 8th after promotion to 2. Bundesliga, he finally made the step to the Bundesliga, joining

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

. This move was reportedly worth a transfer fee of €2 million. He was loaned to

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

on 31 January 2016. On 29 May 2019,

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

announced that Niederlechner would join the club from the upcoming season. He penned a three-year contract. On 18 January 2023, Niederlechner joined Hertha BSC on a contract valid until 2025.

Personal life

He shares a flat with one of his best friends, Michael Vitzthum, who had been his team mate at Heidenheim, and now plays for SV Wehen Wiesbaden.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niederlechner, Florian 1990 births Living people People from Ebersberg (district) Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria Footballers from Bavaria German footballers Association football forwards SpVgg Unterhaching players 1. FC Heidenheim players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players SC Freiburg players FC Augsburg players Hertha BSC players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players