Jiří Štajner (born 27 May 1976) is a 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 an attacking midfielder or second striker. Eight years a player for

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, he is extremely popular with Hannover fans and is seen as a cult figure at the club.

Club career

Czech Republic

Štajner started his active footballing career in the youth teams of

SK Dynamo České Budějovice SK Dynamo České Budějovice is a association football, football club from České Budějovice, Czech Republic. They currently play in the Czech First League, the first tier of football in the Czech Republic. History The club was founded in 1899 ...

. At a young age, he was picked up by one of the league's best teams, SK Slavia Prague. He failed to make a breakthrough at Slavia, continuing his youth career with TJ Senohraby, an amateur club close to the city where he grew up - Benešov. In 1998, Štajner moved on to

FK Baník Most FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place ...

in an attempt to advance his career, although his breakthrough was to come at the beginning of the new millennium after signing for

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domesti ...

, as he became known as an excellent goalscorer and attracted attention with his European performances in the UEFA Cup. In the 2001–02 season he was the

Gambrinus liga The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically ru ...

's top goalscorer with 15 goals as Slovan secured the title. In the summer of 2002, Štajner was signed by German Bundesliga side

Hannover 96

Štajner quickly became a favourite with coach Ralf Rangnick, although the club from the Lower Saxonian capital had to pay his former club €3.5 million, which made Štajner the most expensive player in the history of Hannover 96. At the beginning of his spell in Germany he had trouble adapting to the style of play, only becoming a regular starter in his second season. On 22 May 2003, Štajner helped cement his status as a cult hero for the club, notably scoring the decisive goal against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

to retain Hannover's place in the top flight. The match ended 2–2. On 15 May 2010, he announced his return to his former club FC Slovan Liberec. In 2015, he joined Czech lower league side TJ Spartak Chrastava.

International career

Štajner was a member of the Czech Republic national team, and played in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

Honours

Slovan Liberec * Czech Cup: 1999–2000 *

: 2001–02

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stajner, Jiri 1976 births Living people People from Benešov Association football forwards Association football midfielders Czech footballers Czech expatriate footballers Czech Republic international footballers Czech First League players Bundesliga players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Hannover 96 players SK Slavia Prague players FC Slovan Liberec players AC Sparta Prague players FK Baník Most players FK Mladá Boleslav players FC Oberlausitz Neugersdorf players Expatriate footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Sportspeople from the Central Bohemian Region