Franz Burgmeier

Franz Burgmeier (born 7 April 1982) is a Liechtenstein former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder.

Born in Triesen, Burgmeier was a burgeoning footballer and keen skier, until he gave up the latter sport at 16 following a serious injury.

Having been a youth player for Triesen, he started his professional career with Vaduz.

Burgmeier started out as a youth at Triesen before moving to Vaduz in 2000.

Although based in his home country, like all Liechtenstein clubs Vaduz played league football in Switzerland—at the time in the third tier—but also competed in the Liechtenstein Football Cup.

In Burgmeier's first season the team won promotion to the Challenge League and won the Liechtenstein Cup with a 9–0 defeat against Ruggell in the final.

Burgmeier won several Liechtensteiner Cups with Vaduz, who were promoted to the Swiss Challenge League in 2001, and played in the UEFA Cup.

He made his international debut in 2001 against Spain and three years later scored one of the goals that helped secure his country's first point in World Cup qualification matches.

Burgmeier was born in Triesen, Liechtenstein, a small town with a population of 4,500, close to the border with Switzerland.

He is the younger son of Heinz and Elsbeth, following Patrick Burgmeier, who played football for Vaduz and USV Eschen/Mauren.

From a young age, Franz played both football and skied.

He played for the Liechtenstein youth team in Swiss competitions from ages 11 to 16, winning the championship when he was 13.

However, at 16, a knee injury, which he suffered while skiing, nearly ended his football career and prompted him to stop the former sport.

Burgmeier is married to Monika.

She also plays football, as a full back, for FC Triesen, and also is a coach at the youth level for Liechtenstein's women.

He scored his first goal at the higher level on 31 July 2001, in a postponed game from the first round of the season, which finished in a 4–1 victory against Thun.

Vaduz's success in their nation's cup ensured they gained access to the UEFA Cup, and in August 2002, Burgmeier scored his first European goal during a 1–1 with Livingston, the Scottish side's first game in Europe.

In the second leg, Vaduz had a late goal disallowed during a 0–0, and so they went out in the qualifying round for the third successive year, losing on the away goals rule.

Vaduz topped the Fall Season table that season, but failed to win promotion to the Swiss Super League after finishing fourth in the Final League.

Their failure was offset with another victory in the Liechtenstein Cup, this time defeating Balzers in the final.

In June 2003, he was set to join St. Gallen; however, the deal never went through because the Swiss side could not afford the transfer fee.

Instead he started with Vaduz, who came closer to gaining promotion but were again unsuccessful, after they lost in the promotion–relegation play-off match.

Burgmeier scored one of the goals in the second leg against Neuchâtel Xamax, but Mobulu M'Futi scored to ensure Neuchâtel won over the two legs, and Vaduz stayed in the Challenge League.

Despite his side defending their Liechtenstein Cup, Burgmeier missed the final.

However, their cup success helped Vaduz to another UEFA Cup, which resulted in their first win in the competition with a 4–2 aggregate victory against FAI Cup-holders Longford Town in July 2004.

Burgmeier netted his second European goal during the ties, during the 3–2 second-leg victory, before they were defeated in the second qualifying round to Belgian-side Beveren, during which Burgmeier was injured forcing him to undergo a knee operation and miss the first month of the league season.

Vaduz repeated their efforts domestically, defeating USV Eschen/Mauren in the cup and reaching the promotion play-off game.

However, they were defeated by Schaffhausen and were left with only ten players on secure contracts for the following season.

Burgmeier himself left Vaduz after five years with the club, during which he played 115 league games and scored 27 goals.

Burgmeier, instead, moved to Aarau in Switzerland.

His debut came in a 2–0 league defeat to Thun, before he was substituted near the end of the second half.

Aarau were in the Super League, and finished seventh in Burgmeier's only season with the club, in which he played 35 league games.

His only league goal came in the second round of matches against St. Gallen, but he also scored in both the first two rounds of the Swiss Cup—his first games in the cup since Vaduz were not eligible for the competition—before they were eliminated in the quarter-finals on penalties.

After two unsuccessful attempts to win promotion to the Swiss Super League, Burgmeier left for Aarau in 2005.

He spent only one season with Aarau before a move to the previous season's runners-up Basel in 2006.

His two seasons with Basel were broken up by a loan spell with Thun, before he moved to England with Darlington in August 2008, where he played for one year.

Burgmeier won 112 caps and scored nine goals for his country.

He was a right-footed player competent as either a left midfielder or left back, with the ability to deliver a good cross.

However, Vaduz finished in 11th place in the Fall Season, before results improved and they finished in second place in the Final Table, avoiding being relegated.

The team also successfully defended their Liechtenstein Cup defeating USV Eschen/Mauren 6–1 in the final.