SOCCER STAR MAIERHOFER TO KICK FOR ELF VIKINGS
Former Austrian international round ball football star Stefan Maierhofer is now part of the Vienna Vikings’ roster — at the age of 42.
Rumours had been rife that the player nicknamed ‘Major’ could be about to come out of retirement after four seasons on the sidelines, and Maierhofer did little to quell the conversation by posting a personal video of himself in front of the Generali Arena, one of the Vikings’ venues for 2025. He eventually put an end to the speculation by telling Servus TV’s Sport & Talk from Hangar-7: that he would indeed be making his ‘professional comeback as an American football kicker and will play for the Vienna Vikings in 2025’.
Maierhofer’s soccer career spanned over 20 years, most of which saw him become renowned for his goalscoring prowess. Stints at Rapid Vienna, Bayern Munich, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Red Bull Salzburg and MSV Duisburg amongst others, saw him traverse the various European leagues in between making 19 appearances for the Austrian national team.
“From the first minute I joined the Vikings, it was clear to me that this is where I wanted to be,” Maierhofer explained. “This is a team that speaks with one voice: from the owner to the equipment manager, everything is geared toward success and respect.”
Maierhofer’s ability to kick an entirely different type of football was given a tough evaluation during the Vikings’ training camp sessions, with former NFL player-turned-Vikings coach Giorgio Tavecchio working him hard.
“The training sessions with Giorgio were challenging,” Maierhofer admitted. “We worked on my technique in the pouring rain — but that only made my goal clearer. I want to reach the finals with the Vikings in 2025 and play in the championship game in front of 50,000 football fans at VfB Stuttgart’s stadium.”
The coup has been brewing for some time, with the Viennese franchise deciding to explore the use of former professional footballers at the end of the 2024 campaign.
“We met with several football players, including prominent ones, and all of them wanted to play for us,” team owner Robin Lumsden revealed. “Many struggled, and it quickly became clear to us that Stefan was exactly the right fit. It was extremely important to us that the right athlete not only fit us athletically, but also in terms of character, and he had the talent as well as embodying the Vikings fighting mentality: highly professional and highly competitive. Stefan leaves nothing to chance. Neither do we.”
Keeping Maierhofer’s training sessions with Tavecchio under wraps wasn’t all that easy, however.
“Stefan is a very tall man, extremely popular and with a unique body language, but we managed it somehow,” head coach Chris Calaycay grinned. “Of course, he’s got a great leg, but the transition from kicking a soccer ball to kicking a football is tough. However, it is going tremendously well. It is impressive how motivated and competitive Stefan is. We might see him on the field for kick-offs earlier than scheduled.”
Calaycay wouldn’t be drawn on a precise date for Maierhofer’s first game appearance, with the Vikings kicking off their 2025 campaign on the road in Prague this Sunday (18th May).