Sven Ratke is a German former footballer who played as a midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 or forward.

Ratke began his career with Dynamo Dresden

Dynamo Dresden

SG Dynamo Dresden are a German association football club, based in Dresden, Saxony. They were founded in 1950, as a club affiliated with the East German police, and became one of the most popular and successful clubs in East German football, winning eight league titles...

, making his debut in the 1989–90 season, in which the club won the League

DDR-Oberliga

The DDR-Oberliga was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the elite level of football competition in the DDR , being roughly equivalent to the Oberliga or Bundesliga in West Germany.-Overview:Following World...

 and Cup

FDGB Pokal

The FDGB-Pokal was an elimination football tournament held annually in the former East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football after the DDR-Oberliga championship...

 double

The Double

The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...

, with Ratke coming on as a substitute for Matthias Döschner

Matthias Döschner

Matthias Döschner is a German former footballer. He spent much of his career with Dynamo Dresden, playing over 250 DDR-Oberliga games. He also won 40 caps for East Germany.-External links:**...

 in the cup final. After reunification, Dynamo qualified for the Fußball-Bundesliga

Fußball-Bundesliga

The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

, where they played for four seasons, and Ratke played in each one, a total of 48 appearances (one goal). After Dynamo's relegation in 1995, Ratke left the club, joining ambitious Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 club SV Lurup

SV Lurup

SV Lurup is a German association football club from the city of Hamburg in the federal state of the same name.-History:The club was founded in 1923 as Turn- und Sportverein Lurup in the former town Lurup and later that same year merged with FSV 1920 Schenefeld to form TSV Lurup-Schenefeld in a...

, where he spent half a season before signing for VfL Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...

 of the 2. Bundesliga

2. Fußball-Bundesliga

- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...

. Wolfsburg were promoted to the Bundesliga in Ratke's second season with the club, and he made 13 appearances at this level, before leaving in 1998.

Ratke then returned to Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, spending a season in amateur football, with VfB Hellerau-Klotzsche, before signing for Dresdner SC

Dresdner SC

Dresdner SC is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a founding member of the German Football Association in 1900...

, who were at this point the top club in the city, finishing second in the Regionalliga Nordost

Regionalliga Nordost

The Regionalliga Nordost was the third tier of the German football league system in the states of former East Germany and West-Berlin from 1994 to 2000. As such, it was almost identical in territorial cover to the old DDR-Oberliga....

, while Dynamo were relegated to the NOFV-Oberliga. In 2002, Dynamo returned to the third tier (now the Regionalliga Nord

Regionalliga Nord

The Regionalliga Nord is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the northern and eastern part of Germany. It covers ten of the sixteen states of Germany...

), and Ratke returned to the club, where he spent two seasons before retiring in 2004, having helped the club earn promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

Now retired, Ratke is still involved with Dynamo Dresden, working as a coach with their youth team.

External links

• Career stats at RSSSF