Gordon Wild in Büderich

Gordon Wild and the Distance Between Here and There

Atlanta United selected Gordon Wild with the No. 37 pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. He arrived from Maryland with a Generation Adidas contract, a productive college career, and a background split between German academy football and U.S. college soccer. Before college, he had come through the academy at Mainz in Germany. At Maryland, he scored 17 goals in 2016, won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, and finished as a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist.

For Atlanta supporters, Wild belongs to the club’s early years, when draft picks and ATLUTD 2 players still felt closely tied to the first team’s future. He never became a first-team regular, and his career moved elsewhere. Atlanta United 2 led to a loan with Charleston Battery, then to stops that included D.C. United, Loudoun United, the LA Galaxy system, and Indy Eleven.

He is 30 now, and he is with FC Büderich in Germany.

Meerbusch-Büderich

FC Büderich is based in Büderich, the largest district of Meerbusch, just outside Düsseldorf in western Germany.

Büderich sits on the west bank of the Rhine, across from Düsseldorf, with tram lines and roads running directly into the city. The area is built from low-rise housing, short retail streets, and quiet residential blocks.

The Rhine forms the eastern edge of the district. Paths run along the water, used daily for cycling and walking. A few blocks inland, the space opens. Housing gives way to flat fields, and the club’s ground sits there, at that edge. The main pitch is new, set directly beside farmland.

Wild’s return to Germany places him within driving distance of his birthplace, but in a quieter football environment than the academy system where he developed.

FC Büderich

The club plays at Am Eisenbrand, a ground in Büderich just outside Düsseldorf. The stadium holds roughly 5,000 spectators, with a single covered stand along one touchline and open space around the rest of the field.

FC Büderich’s first team competes in the Oberliga Niederrhein, the fifth tier of German soccer. Training sessions and matches take place on adjacent fields, where youth teams and senior sides cycle through the same spaces across the week.

Movement inside the club is continuous. Players advance through age groups without changing environment, returning to the same pitches and facilities at each level.

Role and Usage

Wild is a rotational left-footed second striker, or hängende Spitze. He appears as one of the more experienced attackers in the squad, within a group that includes younger players moving through the team.

In Büderich’s March 2026 win over KFC Uerdingen, he entered from the bench and created a scoring chance after coming on.