- Miroslav Votava
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Mirko Votava Personal information Full name Miroslav Votava Date of birth 25 April 1956 Place of birth Prague, Czechoslovakia Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Playing position Midfielder Youth career Dukla Prague 1968–1973 VfL Witten 1973–1974 Borussia Dortmund Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1974–1982 Borussia Dortmund 257 (28) 1982–1985 Atlético Madrid 96 (9) 1985–1996 Werder Bremen 357 (18) 1997 VfB Oldenburg 15 (0) National team 1979–1981 West Germany 5 (0) Teams managed 1997–1998 VfB Oldenburg 1998–1999 SV Meppen 2002–2004 Union Berlin * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Miroslav "Mirko" Votava (born 25 April 1956) is a former German footballer and coach.[1]
A defensive midfielder of stamina and tactical awareness, Votava played 546 matches in the Bundesliga (fourth in the all-time list), retiring at the age of 41. Most of his professional career was spent in Germany with Werder Bremen, with which he won a total of five titles – he also spent eight years in the country with Borussia Dortmund.
Contents
Club career
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Votava started learning his football trade at local FK Dukla. However, his parents left the country during the Prague Spring, settling first in Australia, then Germany, in Witten. He began playing professionally with Borussia Dortmund in 1974, with the club then in the second division.
Netting three goals in 22 games during his first top level season, Votava was an undisputed starter onwards, only missing three contests from 1977–82 combined, although he failed to win any silverware.
He subsequently moved to Atlético de Madrid, where he was an instrumental figure for the Colchoneros, which always finished in the top four in La Liga during his three-year spell, also lifting the Spanish Cup in 1985.
Aged 29, Votava returned to Germany, signing with SV Werder Bremen, where he would play a further 11 seasons, rarely missing a game. He helped the club to the 1991–92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup[2] and two league titles (to which he contributed with 65 matches and five goals combined). On 24 August 1996, aged 40 years and 121 days, he became the league's oldest goalscorer, scoring in a 1–2 loss at VfB Stuttgart.
As he was understandably slowing down, Votava left Bremen during the 1997 January transfer window, joining second division's VfB Oldenburg, retiring at the season's end. During a 23 year professional career, he was never sent off.
Votava then moved into coaching, starting with last club Oldenburg, then moving to SV Meppen, both in the regional leagues. From late 2002 to early 2004, he took the reins of 1. FC Union Berlin, in the second division, following which he returned to Werder, as a youth coach (he had previously worked with the club as a scout).
International career
Internationally, Votava chose to represent West Germany, and would make his debut on 21 November 1979, playing fifteen minutes in a 3–1 friendly away win over the Soviet Union.
He appeared in a further four internationals, including UEFA Euro 1980's group stage match against Greece (0–0), as West Germany emerged victorious.
Honours
Club
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1991–92
- German League: 1987–88, 1992–93
- German Cup: 1990–91, 1993–94; Runner-up 1988–89, 1989–90
- Spanish Cup: 1984–85
Country
References
- ^ "Votava, Miroslav" (in German). kicker.de. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1-bundesliga/1992-93/werder-bremen-4/1365/spieler_miroslav-votava.html. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ "1991/92: Bremen shine in Stadium of Light". UEFA.com. 1 June 1992. http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/ecwc/news/kind=4/newsid=3451.html. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
External links
- Miroslav Votava at fussballdaten.de (German)
- BDFutbol profile
- Miroslav Votava at National-Football-Teams.com
West Germany squad – UEFA Euro 1980 Winners (2nd title) 1 Schumacher • 2 Briegel • 3 Cullmann • 4 K. Förster • 5 Dietz (c) • 6 Schuster • 7 B. Förster • 8 Rummenigge • 9 Hrubesch • 10 Müller • 11 K. Allofs • 12 Memering • 13 Bonhof • 14 Magath • 15 Stielike • 16 Zimmermann • 17 Del'Haye • 18 Matthäus • 19 Votava • 20 Kaltz • 21 Junghans • 22 Immel • Coach: Derwall
West Germany squad – 1980 Mundialito 1 Schumacher • 2 Kaltz • 3 Bonhof • 4 K. Förster • 5 Dietz • 6 Briegel • 7 Magath • 8 Rummenigge • 9 Hrubesch • 10 Müller • 11 K. Allofs • 12 Immel • 13 Niedermayer • 14 Hannes • 15 Votava • 16 Dremmler • 17 Allgöwer • 18 Borchers • Coach: Derwall1. FC Union Berlin – managers Schwenzfeier (1965–69) · Gödicke (1969–70) · Seeger (1970–72) · Prüfke (1972–74) · Fietz (1974–75) · Brüll (1975) · Werner (1976–82) · Nippert (1982–83) · Burwieck (1983–84) · Schäffner (1984–87) · Heine (1988–90) · Struppert (1990) · Voigt (1990–92) · Körner (1992) · Pagelsdorf (1992–94) · Engel (1994–95) · Meyer (1995) · Krautzun (1995–96) · Vogel (1996) · Heine (1996–97) · Vogel (1997) · Weniger (1998) · Fuchs (1998–99) · Vasilev (1999–2002) · Tischanski (2002) · Votava (2002–04) · Ristić (2004) · Wormuth (2004) · Voigt (2004) · Hamann & Wortmann (2004) · Lieberam (2004–05) · Vasilev (2005–06) · Schreier (2006–07) · Neuhaus (2007–)
Categories:- 1956 births
- Living people
- People from Prague
- German people of Czech descent
- German footballers
- Czechoslovak footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
- Borussia Dortmund players
- SV Werder Bremen players
- VfB Oldenburg players
- La Liga footballers
- Atlético Madrid footballers
- Germany international footballers
- Germany B international footballers
- UEFA Euro 1980 players
- UEFA European Football Championship-winning players
- German expatriate footballers
- Czech expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
- German football managers
- 1. FC Union Berlin managers
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