Athletic to honour Germany and Bayern legend Sepp Maier
The Bilbao-based club will present the 73-year-old with their “One Club Man Award” for his loyal service to Bayern Munich, the club where he spent 18 seasons.
Allegiance to one club is a quality seldom seen in today's game but every year Athletic Club go out of their way to honour a long-serving player from outside of the Vizcaya region. This year, the Basques have invited legendary German goalkeeper Sepp Maier to San Mamés to receive their 'One Club Man' award - in recognition of those players who dedicated their entire sporting careers to the same club.
Maier's 38-year-old Bundesliga record is still intact
Sepp Maier joined FC Bayern Munich in 1958, signing up for the A-Jugend (Under-16s) category. Hi made his first team debut, aged 21, in the 1-0 defeat to city rivals TSV 1860 in August 1965 - the first of 536 appearances for the club. Maier was also the most consistent player to have starred in the Bundesliga. He didn't miss a single league match between 1966 and 1979 - a feat which to this day has never been matched.
This is the III edition of Athletic's 'One Club Man' award. Previous recipients include Matt Le Tissier and Paolo Maldini. The Leones will be rolling out the red carpet for Maier when UD Las Palmas visit San Mamés on Friday.