Sascha Bigalke (born 8 January 1990) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Sascha Bigalke
Bigalke at 1. FC Köln in 2014
Personal information
Full name Sascha Bigalke
Date of birth (1990-01-08) 8 January 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth West Berlin, Germany
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
0000–1999 Reinickendorfer Füchse
1999–2007 Hertha BSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2011 Hertha BSC II 51 (7)
2008–2011 Hertha BSC 1 (0)
2011–2012 SpVgg Unterhaching 42 (8)
2012–2014 1. FC Köln 17 (2)
2012–2014 1. FC Köln II 3 (0)
2014–2021 SpVgg Unterhaching 150 (34)
Total 264 (51)
International career
2005–2006 Germany U16 9 (2)
2006–2007 Germany U17 26 (11)
2007–2008 Germany U18 3 (1)
2008–2009 Germany U19 6 (5)
2009–2010 Germany U20 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Bigalke started his professional career with Hertha BSC, making his first appearance on 31 July 2008 in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first qualifying round second leg against FC Nistru Otaci. In January 2011, he was set to transfer to Arminia Bielefeld, but the deal fell through when Bigalke broke his foot shortly before the completion of the transfer. Having made only a single league appearance for Hertha, he moved on a free transfer to SpVgg Unterhaching in July 2011.[citation needed]

At Unterhaching Bigalke became a key player, scoring nine goals and providing twelve assists in 45 matches (league and cup). After playing in a 1-2 first round DFB-Pokal loss against 1. FC Köln he drew the opponent's attention and signed for them in August 2012, on transfer deadline day. The transfer fee allegedly amounted to €400,000 and helped chronically cash-strapped Unterhaching obtain a playing license.[1]

In his first season for 1. FC Köln, Bigalke played a decent role with 16 appearances with eight of them in the starting eleven. During the 2013–14 pre-season he tore his cruciate ligament running into the opponent's goalkeeper in a friendly against local side SF Troisdorf.[2] Subsequently, he missed almost the whole season, only being substituted once at second to last matchday in a home fixture against FC St. Pauli in which Bigalke scored.

On 22 July 2014, 1. FC Köln announced that Bigalke, along with four more players, would not be a part of the first team any more. Instead he was urged to leave the club and had to participate in training with the second team.[3] Consequently, his contract was dissolved by mutual agreement[4] and was able to return to Unterhaching on a free transfer. He signed for them on a one-year deal including an extension clause for another year.[5]

Bigalke retired from football in March 2021 due to injuries.[6]

Career statistics

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As of match played 25 June 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total Ref.
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hertha BSC II 2007–08 NOFV-Oberliga Nord 7 3 7 3 [7]
2008–09 Regionalliga Nord 18 2 18 2 [7]
2009–10 Regionalliga Nord 23 2 23 2 [7]
2010–11 Regionalliga Nord 3 0 3 0 [7]
Total 51 7 51 7
Hertha BSC 2008–09 Bundesliga 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 1 0 [7]
2009–10 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 2[a] 0 3 0 [7]
Total 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 0
SpVgg Unterhaching 2011–12 3. Liga 35 6 2 1 37 7 [7]
2012–13 3. Liga 7 2 1 0 8 2 [7]
Total 42 8 3 1 45 9
Köln 2012–13 2. Bundesliga 16 1 2 0 18 1 [7]
2013–14 2.Bundesliga 1 1 0 0 1 1 [7]
Total 17 2 2 0 19 2
Köln II 2012–13 Regionalliga West 1 0 1 0 [7]
2013–14 Regionalliga West 2 0 2 0 [7]
Total 3 0 3 0
SpVgg Unterhaching 2014–15 3. Liga 8 0 0 0 8 0 [7]
Total 8 0 0 0 8 0
SpVgg Unterhaching 2015–16 Regionalliga Bayern 12 6 0 0 12 6 [7]
2016–17 Regionalliga Bayern 34 19 1 0 2[b] 1 37 20 [7]
2017–18 3. Liga 36 4 1 0 37 4 [7]
2018–19 3. Liga 33 2 0 0 33 2 [7]
2019–20 3. Liga 25 2 0 0 1[c] 0 26 2 [7]
Total 140 33 2 0 3 1 145 34
Career total 262 50 7 1 6 1 275 52
  1. ^ a b Appearances in the UEFA Cup.
  2. ^ Appearances in promotion playoff.
  3. ^ Appearance in the Bavarian Cup.

References

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  1. ^ "Bigalke zu Köln" (in German). abendzeitung-muenchen.de. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Kölner Bigalke erleidet in Testspiel Kreuzbandriss" (in German). ruhrnachrichten.de. 22 June 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Ein Quintett steht im Abseits" (in German). rundschau-online.de. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Sascha Bigalke verlässt den FC" [Sascha Bigalke leaves FC] (in German). fc-koeln.de. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  5. ^ "FC-Abgang: Sascha Bigalke wechselt nach Unterhaching" [FC-Leaving: Sascha Bigalke transfers to Unterhaching] (in German). express.de. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Bigalke beendet Karriere: Ich wollte nicht auf der Trage vom Platz gebracht werden". kicker (in German). 9 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Sascha Bigalke » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
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