Marek Nikl (born 20 February 1976) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

former 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 le ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, most notably for

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

. He made five appearances for the Czech Republic national team.

Career

Nikl spent most of his early footballing years with

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

-based club

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

– with a short spell at Sparta Krc in the 1994–95 season – before joining then newly promoted Bundesliga side

in November 1998 for the remainder of the 1998–99 season. He played in all 22 games after his arrival in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

but could not prevent the side going down despite scoring his first goal for the ''Club'' in the final game of the season. This game saw Nürnberg dropping from a secure 12th spot going into the match to being relegated on scored goals as 16th of the league at the end of the match. Nikl stayed with the team and was a cornerstone in the following two seasons. Nürnberg were promoted again at the end of the 2000–01 season and successfully staved off relegation in the following season, with the Czech defender again playing a vital role in doing so. However, the team could not accomplish the feat a second time and were relegated again at the end of the 2002–03 season. Nikl still played in most of the games for the team and was well established within the team's hierarchy. He chose not to leave the club and stayed on to help the team get promoted for a third time during his spell at Nürnberg. Once more, Nikl proved a valuable asset during the successful promotion campaign the following season missing merely six of thirty-four games. Nürnberg stayed up the

next year "Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''. History A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a single in 2000 and wa ...

and Nikl played in 25 matches, twice missing three matches in a row due to injuries. With the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Nikl seemed to fall out of coach

Wolfgang Wolf Wolfgang Wolf (born 24 September 1957) is a German football coach and a former player. Career Wolf was born in Tiefenthal. As a player, he spent twelve seasons in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Stuttgarter Kickers. Coaching care ...

's favor playing just five of the eleven games until Wolf's dismissal. With the arrival of new coach Hans Meyer, Nikl was back in the starting line-up playing all of the remaining twenty-two matches stabilising Nürnberg's defence in the process. Troubled by minor injuries and problems with his stamina, Nikl was forced to sit out the start of the following 2006–07 season coming on in only seven games. Nevertheless, he was part of the squad that won the national cup in May 2007. In the following season, Nikl played several matches for the second team squad in the German fourth division. Because of the unsatisfying situation he left the FCN in September 2007 and again joined Bohemians 1905 Prague. He was capped five times for the Czech Republic national team and all of these caps were gained while playing at Nürnberg. His debut was against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on 28 April 1999, his last game thus far came against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in August 2000.

Honours

1. FC Nürnberg *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

: 2006–07

External links

*
Marek Nikl
at FCN website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikl, Marek 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Nymburk Czech men's footballers Men's association football defenders Czech Republic men's international footballers SK Sparta Krč players Bohemians 1905 players 1. FC Nürnberg players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Czech First League players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Footballers from the Central Bohemian Region