Alexander Walke

Alexander Walke (born 6 June 1983) is a German former professional football goalkeeper.

Club career Born in Oranienburg, Brandenburg, Walke began his career at Energie Cottbus as a 14-year-old. In 1999, he transferred to Werder Bremen, and was called up to the professional team in 2003. After six years, Walke moved to Baden-Württemberg in 2005 from Werder Bremen to join SC Freiburg. In 2008, he transferred to SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Walke left SV Wehen Wiesbaden to the end of the 2008–09 season. On 28 May 2009, he signed a two-year contract with FC Hansa Rostock where he played in all 36 games.

In 2010, Walke left Germany to sign for Austrian Bundesliga champion FC Red Bull Salzburg. He was the third German-born goalkeeper for the 2010–2011 season behind Niclas Heimann and Gerhard Tremmel. After one year on loan at Greuther Fürth in the 2. Bundesliga he returned to Salzburg for the 2011–12 season taking over the number 1 position from Eddie Gustafsson.

During the 2017–18 season Salzburg had their best ever European campaign. They finished top of their Europa League group, for a record fourth time, before beating Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund thus making their first ever appearance in the UEFA Europa League semi-final. On 3 May 2018, he played in the Europa League semi-finals as Olympique de Marseille played out a 1–2 away loss but a 3–2 aggregate win to secure a place in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final.

He retired in 2023 as a legend of Red Bull Salzburg, and will stay on as a youth goalkeeping coach.

International career He competed for Germany at the FIFA World Youth Championship 2003, but tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol, the active chemical in marijuana.

Career statistics

Honours Red Bull Salzburg Austrian Bundesliga: 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 Austrian Cup: 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22