Markus Berger (born 21 January 1985) is an Austrian 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 plays for

Salzburger AK 1914 Salzburger AK 1914 is a football club based in the city of Salzburg, Austria who currently plays in the 3rd tier Regionalliga Salzburg. It was founded in 1914 and is the oldest football club from that city. History The club was formed by pupils ...

as a

central defender 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 ...

Club career

Having started his professional career at

SV Ried SV Ried is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club from Ried im Innkreis, Upper Austria. The team plays its home matches at Josko Arena, a stadium with a capacity of 7,680. After being relegated from Austrian Football Bundesli ...

, Berger helping to promotion to the

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 ...

in his first year, and played 14 games as the team finished in a best-ever runner-up position in 2006–07.

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

side Académica de Coimbra signed him in July 2007, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

; after going almost unnoticed throughout the season, he scored in his fifth match with the ''Students'' in a 3–0 away win against

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

. Berger was first choice in his last two years with Académica, netting a combined four league goals in the process. During January 2009, he went on a trial period with Hibernian from the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

, and his agent later claimed that a loan deal had been agreed between the clubs with Hibs having the option to buy the player at the end of the campaign for £500,000, but the move was not completed. On 30 December 2011, after nearly 100 official appearances for Académica, Berger penned a three-year contract at

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...

FC Chornomorets Odesa FC Chornomorets Odesa ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Odesa. The club's home ground is the 34,164 capacity Chornomorets Stadium opened in 1935 and rebuilt in 2011. According to the club's website, it was formed in 1936 a ...

. At the start of March 2014, he left his team due to the civil unrest caused by the

2014 Ukrainian revolution The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

, going on to sign for

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

club

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start, translates to The sports club Start ) is a Norwegian football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The clu ...

late into that month. He made his debut on 6 April in a 3–1 home victory over

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norway, Norwegian association football, football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently ...

, in which he also scored his first goal. In June 2014, after only a few months in Norway, Berger moved to the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

with

FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast FC Ural Yekaterinburg (russian: ФК Урал) is a Russian association football club based in Yekaterinburg. They play in the Russian Premier League. History The club was founded in 1930 and was known as Avangard (1930–1948, 1953–1957), Ze ...

. However, in January of the following year, he returned to Portugal after signing with

Gil Vicente F.C. Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese football club that plays in Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the top division of football in the country, and it is named after the Portugues ...

until the end of the season. Berger agreed to a one-year deal with

C.D. Tondela Clube Desportivo de Tondela () is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Tondela, located in Viseu District, and play in the Estádio João Cardoso ...

in early July 2015, after suffering relegation. He returned to his country on 20 June 2016, joining Regional League West side

SV Grödig Sportverein Grödig is an Austrian association football club from Grödig. The team currently competes in the Regionalliga Salzburg, the third tier of Austrian football. Grödig were relegated from the Austrian Bundesliga at the end of the 2 ...

Personal life

Berger's older brother, Hans-Peter, was also a footballer.

Honours

Académica *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2011–12

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Markus 1985 births Living people Footballers from Salzburg Austrian footballers Association football defenders Austrian Football Bundesliga players 2. Liga (Austria) players SV Ried players SV Grödig players Primeira Liga players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Gil Vicente F.C. players C.D. Tondela players Ukrainian Premier League players FC Chornomorets Odesa players Eliteserien players IK Start players Russian Premier League players FC Ural Yekaterinburg players Austria under-21 international footballers Austrian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Russia Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Russia