Steffen Heidrich (born 19 July 1967) is a German 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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

Career

As a player

In his youth Steffen Heidrich played for BSG Messgeräte Beierfeld and in 1980 he began his career with

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 ...

, and quickly became an important first-team player, as the club enjoyed relative success in the late 1980s. He earned one cap for

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, as a substitute for

Rico Steinmann Rico Steinmann (born 26 December 1967 in Karl-Marx-Stadt) is a German former professional footballer who played mostly as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively ...

in a match against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

shortly before

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...

. From December 1984, Heidrich played 128 games for FCK and its successor Chemnitzer FC in the GDR Oberliga, scoring 31 goals. He was an important part of the team which experienced its most successful time in the late 1980s after the 1966/67 championship season. He stayed at

Chemnitzer FC 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 ...

(as the club was now renamed), playing in the 2. Bundesliga until 1993, when he joined

VfB Leipzig {{Short pages monitor