SV Lippstadt 08 is playing an outstanding Regionalliga West season. After the first half of the season, SVL can look back on 26 points. Viktor Maier has played a big part in this.

On Tuesday morning, RevierSport dialled Viktor Maier’s number. The top goal scorer of the Regionalliga West and SV Lippstadt. He has scored eleven goals in 15 appearances.

“I’m currently in hospital and will be operated on Wednesday morning. But I do have a few minutes for RevierSport,” the 33-year-old said on his mobile phone.

What had happened? During SV Lippstadt’s draw with 1. FC Köln II last weekend, there was a collision between Köln II keeper Gavin Didzilatis and Maier in the 80th minute. The consequences: The goalkeeper saw the red card, Maier had to be substituted injured. “I suffered a fractured cheekbone and have to go under the knife. The year is over for me. There’s nothing you can do. Unfortunately, that’s part of football. I hope that after a few weeks of rest, I will be back in January for the start of training,” reports Maier.

The Lippstadt team around coach Felix Bechtold will hope the same. Because Maier is a kind of life insurance for the SVL. And not only this season. In 142 matches for Lippstadt, the Kazakh-born player has scored 83 goals and provided 20 assists. In this series alone, he has scored eleven goals and provided three assists.

But team player Maier is happy to pass on the praise to the team. The striker emphasises: “Of course, we can’t complain about the season so far. We are playing a very solid round. We have played good ball in most games. But we are still developing, we have the youngest team after the U-teams. We still have a hard time against the big teams in the league. That would be the next step.”

But for Maier, who has set his sights on scoring 15 to 20 goals, only one goal has priority: “Staying in the league,” he says.

The goalkeeper’s contract in Lippstadt runs until summer 2024. The future bachelor in sports business management does not yet know what will happen after that. Maier: “Then I’ll be 35 years old, then we’ll see to what extent my body will still be able to cope. I can imagine anything: The end of my career or one or two more years.”

Then in Lippstadt? “That would be nice and somewhere romantic, too, if you can end your career where it all began,” Maier replies.