Heidenheim’s Patrick Mainka nears century of consecutive 90-minute Bundesliga matches
After arriving in Heidenheim via Arminia Bielefeld, Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund’s reserves in 2018, it is an understatement to say Patrick Mainka has developed into a mainstay of the side as he approaches a rare feat in the modern game.
Already a hero of the club’s first-ever promotion to the top flight in 2023, Mainka achieved iconic status by playing every minute of Heidenheim’s first two Bundesliga seasons that included the highs of UEFA Conference League qualification and the lows of needing the play-off to stay up.
But Mainka has pushed on and has now played 96 consecutive games without missing a single minute – surpassing streaks from the likes of Freiburg’s Christian Günter (82) and Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm (79) – to close in on becoming the first outfield player since the turn of the millennium to play every minute of a century of successive games.
“It takes a lot of discipline,” explained Mainka when asked for the secret of his remarkable stoicism. “Preparation and recovery.”
Mainka’s achievement is all the more stunning in the context of coaches now having five substitutes per game, meaning half the outfield players can be changed per 90 minutes.
This has resulted in Dortmund’s Carney Chukwuemeka approaching a century of senior competitive club appearances – he has made 98 – without yet playing a full 90 minutes.
And he is not an exception: Mainka’s teammate Stefan Schimmer has appeared in 50 Bundesliga games for FCH without ever playing from the first to the final whistle. Four other current German top-flight players, Gio Reyna (65 Bundesliga games), Maximilian Philipp (59), Nathan Ngoumou (54) and Tim Skarke (52), are on long streaks without seeing the 90 minutes through.
There is something else other than peerless professionalism that keeps Mainka going. There is also a boyish sense of wonder at being on the pitch with some of the world’s greatest footballers that fuels the journeyman defender, who had made just one senior first-team appearance – nine minutes of a Bundesliga 2 game for Bielefeld in December 2013 – before he joined Heidenheim.
“A few years ago, I would have given a lot to play just one Bundesliga game. Now I have a few more and I hope there are a few more to come,” explained the 31-year-old. “That I can play against Harry Kane, to compete with him, is something I have worked my whole career for.”
He now finds himself in an exclusive club, though he is far from one of its most prominent all-time members. He does not even feature in the Bundesliga’s all-time top 30 as yet, and though goalkeepers dominate, there are already 13 outfield players with more than 100 successive games in which they have played every minute.
Legendary Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier is the outright leader at 245 games, but former Eintracht Frankfurt defender Manfred Binz comes next with 241. Another outfield player, Borussia Mönchengladbach great Berti Vogts, is third on 212. Hans Siemensmeyer is the next man ahead of Mainka with the former Hannover attacking midfielder on 103, a mark that his pursuer cannot reach in the 2025/26 season.
Should they be relegated – having only survived in dramatic circumstances last season – Mainka would have to wait to potentially keep his streak going, but he will certainly have more than played his part in trying to keep his club in the bigtime.
The FCH captain leads by example with a team-high 59 percent of duels won this season, and despite his combative style, he has committed just nine fouls. His goal to claim a point in Mönchengladbach on Matchday 28 was his second – both from set pieces – this season, and he has also saved three with goalline clearances that have kept Heidenheim in with at least a shout of avoiding the drop with six matches left in the 2025/26 campaign.
Watch: Mainka helped Heidenheim to a draw at Gladbach
But should the worst happen, Mainka will be keeping things in perspective at a club that has achieved far beyond most – if not all – their fans’ wildest dreams.
“Even though it's a difficult situation, you should approach the task with a smile, you have to enjoy it,” said the 31-year-old. “Because it's madness to be playing at this level for Heidenheim too."
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