Niklas Stark

Niklas Stark (born 14 April 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Werder Bremen and the Germany national team.

Niklas Stark
Stark with Hertha BSC in 2019
Personal information
Birth name Niklas Stark[1]
Date of birth (1995-04-14) 14 April 1995
Place of birth Neustadt an der Aisch, Germany
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Werder Bremen
Number 4
Youth career
1998–2002 FSV Ipsheim
2002–2004 TSV Neustadt/Aisch
2004–2013 1. FC Nürnberg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 1. FC Nürnberg 54 (3)
2014–2015 1. FC Nürnberg II 3 (0)
2015–2022 Hertha BSC 176 (7)
2022– Werder Bremen 29 (0)
International career‡
2011–2012 Germany U17 3 (0)
2012–2013 Germany U18 3 (0)
2013–2014 Germany U19 13 (3)
2015 Germany U20 7 (3)
2014–2017 Germany U21 18 (2)
2019– Germany 2 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner2017 Poland
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winner2014 Hungary
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:03, 7 October 2020 (UTC)

Club career

1. FC Nürnberg

Stark made his Bundesliga debut on 27 April 2013 in a 2–1 loss to 1899 Hoffenheim.[3] He made two more appearances for 1. FC Nürnberg in the 2012–13 season.[4] In the 2013–14 season, Stark made appearances for both the first team and second team.[5] He made 21 appearances for the first team and two appearances.[5] He did not score for either team.[5] Again, during the 2014–15 season, Stark made appearances for both the first and second teams.[6] He scored two goals in 26 appearances for the first team.[6] He failed to score in one appearance for the second team.[6] His final match in a Nürnberg jersey proved to be a 2–1 loss to VfL Bochum on 23 August 2015[7] as he transferred to Hertha BSC the following day.[8] He had scored a goal in four league appearances for Nürnberg in the 2015–16 season.[5] He had also made a German Cup appearance prior to the transfer.[5]

Hertha BSC

Stark signed a four-year contract for Hertha BSC on 24 August 2015.[8] He made his debut on 12 September in a 2–1 win over VfB Stuttgart, when he came off the bench for Salomon Kalou in the 73rd minute.[9] He was able to quickly establish himself as a starter, but suffered a setback in October 2015 due to injury, only returning to the starting eleven in February 2016.[10] He scored his first Bundesliga goal for Hertha on 11 March 2016 in a 2–0 victory against Schalke 04.[11]

In the following seasons he was also part of the regular team and also made his first European appearances, as Hertha were able to qualify twice for the UEFA Europa League, but both times eliminated from the competition early.[12][13] At Hertha, he mostly appeared as a centre-back but also as a defensive midfielder.[14][2]

On 31 March 2022, it was announced that Stark's expiring contract would not be renewed, and that he would leave Hertha as a free agent after the 2021–22 season.[15]

Werder Bremen

On 28 May 2022, Werder Bremen, newly promoted to the Bundesliga, announced the signing of Stark for the 2022–23 season.[16] He reportedly signed a four-year contract.[16]

International career

On 15 March 2019, Stark was called up for the Germany national team for the first time in his career by national team coach Joachim Löw.[17] He made his debut on 19 November 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Northern Ireland. He substituted Lukas Klostermann in the 65th minute.[18]

Career statistics

Club
As of matches played on 17 June 2023[5]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1. FC Nürnberg 2012–13 Bundesliga 3000——30
2013–14 21000–—210
2014–15 2. Bundesliga 26210–—272
2015–16 4110–—51
Total 543200000563
1. FC Nürnberg II 2013–14 Regionalliga Bayern 20––—20
2014–15 10––—10
Total 3000000030
Hertha BSC 2015–16 Bundesliga 21220——232
2016–17 2713020—321
2017–18 2611140—312
2018–19 22130——251
2019–20 21130–—241
2021–22 33010–—340
2021–22 26120–2[lower-alpha 1]0340
Total 176715160201998
Werder Bremen 2022–23 Bundesliga 27010——280
Career total 26010181602028611
  1. Appearances in relegation play-offs

International
As of 7 October 2020[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Germany 201910
202010
Total20

Honours

Germany

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 – List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 19 June 2015. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  2. "Niklas Stark | Hertha BSC". Hertha BSC (in German). Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  3. "Hoffenheim hält den Anschluss" (in German). kicker. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. "Niklas Stark". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. "Niklas Stark » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  6. "Niklas Stark". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. "Haberer nutzt Klasse-Kombination zum Sieg" (in German). kicker. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  8. "Dardai über Stark: "Er kann ein Führungsspieler werden"" (in German). kicker. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  9. "Heimsieg!". Hertha BSC (in German). 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  10. "Fussball - U21: Auch Stark verletzt - Hrubesch nominiert Cacutalua nach". RAN (in German). 6 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  11. "Ibisevic and Stark on target as Hertha see off Schalke". SBS Sport. 12 March 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  12. "Brøndby-Hertha | UEFA Europa League 2016/17". UEFA. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  13. "Hertha Berlin's Europe League campaign comes to an end in Bilbao". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  14. Lynch, Alex (4 June 2017). "Scout Report: Niklas Stark | Hertha's Young Defensive Midfield Stalwart". Outside of the Boot. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  15. "Hertha verlängert Vertrag von Niklas Stark nicht - B.Z. – Die Stimme Berlins". B.Z. – Die Stimme Berlins (in German). 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  16. "Ablösefrei: Niklas Stark wechselt von Berlin nach Bremen". kicker (in German). 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  17. "Maximilian Eggestein, Niklas Stark and Lukas Klostermann: who are the new faces in Joachim Löw's latest Germany squad?". bundesliga.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  18. "Germany v Northern Ireland game report". UEFA. 19 November 2019.
  19. Niklas Stark at WorldFootball.net
  20. "Weisers Kopfball macht den EM-Traum wahr". kicker.de (in German). 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  21. "Auszeichnung für Brandt, Stark und Gimber" (in German). Kicker. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  22. "The UEFA Technical Team Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  23. "The official Under-21 Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. July 2017.
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