Marek Heinz

Early career

As a youth player, Heinz played for such Czech football clubs as Lokomotiva Hodolany, Olomouc-Holice and Sigma MŽ Olomouc. Although he trained as a car mechanic and considered becoming involved in natural science, Heinz went into professional football, playing for Sigma Olomouc with a short loan spell at Lázně Bohdaneč before moving to Germany in 2000.

First stint in Germany and Return to the Czech Republic (2000–2004)

Heinz headed to German side Hamburger SV in 2000. A surplus to requirements under head coach Kurt Jara midway through the 2002–03 season, he joined Arminia Bielefeld for the remainder of the campaign with an option to make the move permanent if Bielefeld avoided relegation. Bielefeld were relegated from the Bundesliga after losing their final game of the season in May 2003. Baník Ostrava signed Heinz from the Hamburg club ahead of the 2003–04 season. He made his debut for the club in July 2003, providing two assists in a win against České Budějovice. Heinz scored his first Baník goal in a 1–1 draw against Liberec just a week into the season, ultimately leading Baník to the Czech title in the 2003–04 Czech First League and finishing the season as the league's top goalscorer with 19 goals. He formed a partnership with Miroslav Matušovič which returned 29 goals for the club that season.

Second stint in Germany and Turkey (2004–2006)

After Euro 2004 Heinz returned to Germany, signing for Borussia Mönchengladbach at the…

Youth teams

Heinz played for his country at various age groups. He played for the under-20 (4 appearances without scoring) and the under-21 sides (17 matches, 6 goals). He took part in the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship held in Slovakia, where the Czech side finished as runners-up after losing 2–1 to Italy in the final. Heinz provided the assist to Tomáš Došek in the 51st minute of the final, which made the score 1–1, although a free-kick from Italian player Andrea Pirlo in the 81st minute decided the game.

2000 Summer Olympics

Heinz was part of the Czech squad that participated in the football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia. On 13 September he played in the opening group match against the United States, being fouled by Chad McCarty, which resulted in a penalty to the Czechs. Lukáš Došek converted the spot kick, equalising the game for the final score of 2–2. He was one of four forwards who started the match in Brisbane against Kuwait on 16 September, although he played in midfield. Heinz scored the opening goal of the game after just 64 seconds but Kuwait scored three second-half goals to ultimately register a 3–2 win. After receiving yellow cards in both of the first two matches, Heinz was unavailable for selection for the third group game against Cameroon, which the Czech team drew 1–1 and got eliminated from the tournament.

Senior side

Heinz made his debut for the Czech Republic senior side on 16 August 2000 in…

Sports advisor at Saint Etienne Claude Robin described Heinz as "a superb technician who delivers excellent passes". He was also known for scoring goals from direct free kicks.

Heinz worked with coaching Sigma Olomouc youth teams until July 2019, when he switched focus to training individual attacking players and being the head coach of the FK Šternberk youth team. As assistant coach of the Šternberk senior side, he was expelled from a Czech Fourth Division match against FC Vsetín in April 2025 after verbally abusing the referee among some controversial decisions. In June 2025, Heinz was appointed assistant coach at Sigma Olomouc B.