Martin Forkel (born 22 July 1979) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former defender.

Career

Youth career

Forkel was born in

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

. He played as a youth for two clubs in his hometown,

Viktoria DJK Coburg The DVV Coburg (full name: ''Deutsche Jugend Kraft Viktoria Verein für Bewegungsspiele Coburg e.V.'') was a German association football club from the town of Coburg, Bavaria. Coburg became part of Bavaria in 1920, after the First World War. ...

and

VfB Coburg The DVV Coburg (full name: ''Deutsche Jugend Kraft Viktoria Verein für Bewegungsspiele Coburg e.V.'') was a German :German football clubs, association football club from the town of Coburg, Bavaria. Coburg became part of Bavaria in 1920, afte ...

, before joining

TSV Vestenbergsgreuth The TSV Vestenbergsgreuth is a German association football club from the village of Vestenbergsgreuth, Franconia. From 1996 to 2007, the club did not field a team due to a merger with SpVgg Fürth, but has since returned to competitive footbal ...

. TSV merged with SpVgg Fürth in 1996, forming

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the B ...

, with whom Forkel would make his breakthrough in the professional game.

Southern Germany

Forkel made one appearance for

, as a substitute for

Arie van Lent Arie van Lent (born 31 August 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer, who played as a forward. He was most recently the manager of SpVgg Unterhaching. Playing career At the age of 12, van Lent played for the youth team of Sparta 57 Oph ...

in a 3–1 win over

FSV Mainz 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 ...

in the 2. Bundesliga in December 1998. He was released by the club at the end of the 1998–99 season, signing for

Borussia Fulda Borussia Fulda is a German association football club from Fulda, Hesse. The club was founded 4 July 1904 as ''FC Borussia 1904 Fulda'' and underwent a number of changes in 1923 when they were first joined by ''Radsportclub 1907 Fulda'' in July, ...

of the Regionalliga Süd. Fulda were relegated in Forkel's only season with the club, finishing 17th, but he was to stay at the third tier, signing for

Wacker Burghausen SV Wacker Burghausen is a German football club based in Burghausen, Bavaria and is part of one of the nation's largest sports clubs with some 6,000 members participating in two dozen different sports. History The club was founded on 13 Novemb ...

in July 2000. In Forkel's first season with Burghausen, the club battled against relegation, but were promoted as champions in 2001–02, with Forkel and ever-present. He would go on to play for the club for four seasons in the 2. Bundesliga, achieving a mid-table finish each time, before leaving to join

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era (1933–1945) The or ...

in July 2006.

Western Germany

Forkel made his debut for

on the opening day of the 2006–07 season, as a substitute for

Rüdiger Ziehl Rüdiger Ziehl (born 26 October 1977) is a German football manager and former player who manages 1. FC Saarbrücken. Playing career Ziehl was born in Zweibrücken. He made his debut on the professional league level in the Bundesliga for 1. FC ...

in a 2–1 defeat against

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

. As at Burghausen, he would play for four seasons in the 2. Bundesliga, although his appearances were more restricted, and his time at Koblenz ended with the club being relegated to the 3. Liga in 2010. Forkel then joined another 3. Liga club, 1. FC Saarbrücken, where he would spend the next two seasons as a regular in the first team. He was released by the club in 2012, and spent a year with

Borussia Neunkirchen Borussia VfB Neunkirchen is a German association football club based in Neunkirchen, Saarland. The club ''SC Borussia Neunkirchen'' was founded out of the 1907 merger of ''FC 1905 Borussia'' and ''SC Neunkirchen''. History From 1912 through t ...

of the

Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar The Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, formerly the ''Oberliga Südwest'', is the highest regional football league for the Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland states of Germany, organized by the Southwestern Regional Football Association. It is the fifth ...

. In July 2013 he returned to Saarbrücken, originally to play for their reserve team, but after coach

Jürgen Luginger Jürgen Luginger (born 8 December 1967) is a German former professional football player and manager. Coaching career Luginger became head coach of Schalke 04 II prior to the 2014–15 season. In April 2017 he became new manager of FC 08 Hombu ...

was replaced with

Milan Šašić Milan Šašić (born 18 October 1958) is a Croatian football manager. Šašić has managed three clubs in the 2. Bundesliga for six seasons. Coaching career Šašić managed NK Karlovac from July 1988 to June 1991, DJK Gebhardshain-Steinebach fro ...

he was brought back into the first-team fold. He made his second debut for the club in September 2013 as a substitute for Philipp Hoffmann in a 1–0 defeat to

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Spo ...

, and remained a first-team regular until the end of the season, which saw Saarbrücken relegated. Forkel then left the club for a second time.

International career

Forkel was in the

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

squad for the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams that ...

, and made six appearances for the under-21 team that same year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forkel, Martin 1979 births Living people Men's association football fullbacks German men's footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's youth international footballers SpVgg Greuther Fürth players SV Wacker Burghausen players TuS Koblenz players 1. FC Saarbrücken players Borussia Neunkirchen players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Sportspeople from Coburg Footballers from Upper Franconia