David Wagner (soccer)
![]() Wagner as Schalke 04 manager in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | David Wagner[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 19 October 1971||
Place of birth | Frankfurt, West Germany[2] | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
SV Geinsheim | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1990–1991 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 | (0) |
1991–1995 | Mainz 05 | 94 | (19) |
1995–1997 | Schalke 04 | 29 | (2) |
1997–1999 | FC Gütersloh | 49 | (7) |
1999 | Waldhof Mannheim | 5 | (0) |
1999–2002 | Darmstadt 98 | 76 | (21) |
2002–2004 | TSG Weinheim | 23 | (8) |
2004–2006 | Germania Pfungstadt | 0 | (0) |
International career | |||
1992 | Germany U21 | 1 | (0) |
1996–1998 | United States | 8 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2011–2015 | Borussia Dortmund II | ||
2015–2019 | Huddersfield Town | ||
2019–2020 | Schalke 04 | ||
2021–2022 | Young Boys | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
David Wagner (born 19 October 1971) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently managed BSC Young Boys.
Wagner grew up in West Germany and made his professional debut with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1990 and played as a striker for several clubs in the first and second divisions of German football. The son of an American stepfather[2] and German mother, Wagner played for the United States national team, earning eight caps between 1996 and 1998.
From 2011 to 2015, he managed Borussia Dortmund II. Wagner left in November 2015 to take the manager's position at Huddersfield Town, whom he led to the Premier League via the 2017 EFL Championship play-off Final. He left Huddersfield in January 2019, and then had brief spells at Bundesliga club Schalke 04 and Swiss Super League club Young Boys.
Early life and club career
Wagner was born in Frankfurt, West Germany.[2] His biological father is from Thailand,[3] his mother is German.[4] Before his birth, Wagner's mother married an American.[3]
Wagner was a journeyman striker for his playing career, playing primarily for Mainz 05, Darmstadt 98, FC Gütersloh, and Schalke 04. He also had short at Waldhof Mannheim, Eintracht Frankfurt and TSG Weinheim and Germania Pfungstadt. He enjoyed his best spell at Mainz scoring 19 times in his four years at the club. Former teammate and lifelong friend Jurgen Klopp recalled that "he wasn't very consistent, even if he does not want to hear it... He was a big talent, but not every day. He was a very young player when he came from Eintracht Frankfurt to Mainz, a very skilled boy, very quick, a good striker."[5] He was part of the Schalke squad that won the 1997 UEFA Cup.
International career
In the mid-1990s, Wagner was one of several German-born players called up by United States men's national soccer team coach Steve Sampson due to their ancestry, along with Thomas Dooley and Michael Mason.[6] Wagner made his debut in a friendly 3–1 win over El Salvador in Los Angeles on 30 August 1996, in which he was substituted at half-time for Brian McBride. He made five appearances the following year and two more in 1998, all but one as a starter.[7][8]
In April 1997, after Canada lost to the United States in a World Cup qualifying match in which Wagner played, the Canadian Soccer Association complained to FIFA that Wagner should be ineligible to play for the United States based on his appearances for Germany's youth teams. On 2 May 1997, FIFA announced that Wagner was eligible to play for the United States because his games with the German teams were exhibitions, not official matches.[9] However, Wagner was rarely called into the U.S. team afterwards and he was not named to the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[10]
Managerial career
Borussia Dortmund II
Following his playing career, Wagner became a manager, working mostly with his former 1. Mainz 05 teammate Jürgen Klopp. Wagner was appointed as Borussia Dortmund II manager with effect from 1 July 2011.[11] He left the role on 31 October 2015, amid rumours that he was going to join Klopp's backroom staff at Liverpool.[12][13]
Huddersfield Town
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/David_Wagner_2018.jpg/170px-David_Wagner_2018.jpg)
On 5 November 2015, Wagner was appointed manager of English club Huddersfield Town following the departure of Chris Powell.[14] He brought Christoph Bühler, who had left Borussia Dortmund on 1 November 2015, with him as his assistant.[12][15]
In the summer of 2016, Wagner brought in 13 players from across the continent, including Danny Ward, Chris Löwe, and Aaron Mooy. He took his players on a bonding tour of Sweden, where they had to survive with only basic equipment for a few days.[16] The team's success in the early 2016–17 season was largely accredited to the squad's tight bond, something that Wagner claimed was a direct result of this Sweden trip. A few weeks later, they visited Austria and kept two clean sheets in matches against Bundesliga teams Werder Bremen and Ingolstadt 04.[17] After an unbeaten start to the 2016–17 season, Huddersfield were top of the table at the start of September,[18] including a win at St James' Park against Newcastle United.[18][19] Wagner was the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for August 2016 and February 2017.[20][21]
On 29 May 2017, Huddersfield secured promotion to the Premier League for the 2017–18 season, following a victory on penalties in the play-off final against Reading.[22][23] On 30 June 2017, Wagner signed an improved two-year contract.[24] He was praised for his achievements in keeping Huddersfield in the Premier League at the end of the 2017–18 season, a feat regarded by bookmakers as improbable and described by The Guardian as "the Premier League's greatest survival story", with Wagner in particular noted as "a leader of rare charisma and intelligence."[25]
On 14 January 2019, Wagner and Huddersfield Town agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent, with the team in last place and eight points from safety.[26]
Schalke 04
On 9 May 2019, Wagner was appointed as manager of Bundesliga club Schalke 04 on a three-year contract until 30 June 2022.[27] In the second half of the 2019–20 season, Schalke set a new club record of 16 league games without a win between 25 January and 27 June 2020.[28] The winless streak continued with an 0–8 defeat against Bayern Munich in the first match of the 2020–21 season.[29] After a 3–1 defeat against Werder Bremen, the 18th winless league match in a row, Wagner was sacked on 27 September 2020.[30]
Young Boys
In the summer of 2021, Wagner was heavily linked with the vacant manager's position at recently relegated Championship club West Bromwich Albion, however talks broke down.[31] On 10 June 2021, he was appointed manager of Swiss Super League reigning champions Young Boys.[32]
On his debut on 24 July, Wagner's team won 4–3 at FC Luzern.[33] Having won three qualifying rounds, the team took part in the UEFA Champions League group stage where they came last with one victory, a 2–1 home win over Manchester United in the opening fixture on 14 September.[34]
Wagner was unable to lead the Bern-based club to a fourth consecutive league title and was dismissed in March 2022. The team were in second place, 15 points behind FC Zürich.[35]
Family
Wagner is married and has two daughters, Lynn and Lea. His daughter Lea works as a sports presenter for the public regional broadcasting company SWR.[36] She is also part of the team of reporters for Sportschau on ARD.[37]
Career statistics
Player
Club
Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | Continental | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Eintracht Frankfurt | 1990–91 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
Mainz 05 | 1991–92 | 2. Bundesliga | 8[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
1992–93 | 2. Bundesliga | 43 | 11 | 2 | 1 | — | 45 | 12 | ||
1993–94 | 2. Bundesliga | 35 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | 36 | 7 | ||
1994–95 | 2. Bundesliga | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | ||
Schalke 04 | 1995–96 | Bundesliga | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 2 | |
1996–97 | Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 1 | |
FC Gütersloh | 1997–98 | 2. Bundesliga | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 4 | |
1998–99 | 2. Bundesliga | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 27 | 3 | ||
Waldhof Mannheim | 1999–2000 | 2. Bundesliga | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
Darmstadt 98 | 1999–2000 | Regionalliga Süd | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 6 | |
2000–01 | Regionalliga Süd | 31 | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 11 | ||
2001–02 | Regionalliga Süd | 26 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | 29 | 4 | ||
TSG Weinheim | 2003–04 | Oberliga Ba-Wü | 23 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 8 | |
Pfungstadt | 2004–05 | Regionalliga Süd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
Career total | 277 | 57 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 293 | 59 |
- ^ Includes DFB-Pokal
- ^ Appearances in 2. Bundesliga Süd as the league was split into a 'North' and 'South' due to the merging of clubs from former East Germany
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
United States | 1997 | 5 | 0 |
1998 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 6 | 0 |
Manager
As of 7 March 2022
Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Borussia Dortmund II | 1 July 2011 | 31 October 2015 | 164 | 57 | 47 | 60 | 34.8 | [38] |
Huddersfield Town | 9 November 2015 | 14 January 2019 | 154 | 51 | 33 | 70 | 33.1 | [39] |
Schalke 04 | 1 July 2019 | 27 September 2020 | 40 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 30.0 | [39] |
Young Boys | 1 July 2021 | 7 March 2022 | 40 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 47.5 | [39] |
Total | 398 | 139 | 104 | 155 | 34.9 |
Honours
Player
Schalke 04
Manager
Huddersfield Town
Individual
- EFL Championship Manager of the Year: 2016–17[42]
- Premier League Manager of the Month: August 2017[43]
- EFL Championship Manager of the Month: August 2016, February 2017[20][21]
References
- ^ a b c "Wagner: David Wagner: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ a b c "Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll: Schalke-Trainer David Wagner gibt intime Einblicke über seine Mutter" (in German).
- ^ a b Ulrich, Ron (29 September 2019). "Wagners größte Leistung". 11 Freunde (in German). 11 Freunde GmbH & Co. KG. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ "ASN: American David Wagner Now Coaching in England". americansoccernow.com. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "Who is new Schalke coach David Wagner?". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ Jones, Grahame L. (10 February 1997). "A Talent Search Through Cyberspace". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ "Wagner, David". National Football Teams. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ "1996 Lineups". US Soccer. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ "Wagner Gets Approval for U.S. Team". The New York Times. 2 May 1997. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ Longman, Jere (6 May 1998). "SOCCER; U.S. Names Experienced World Cup Team". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ "David Wagner coacht ab Juli die BVB-U23" [David Wagner coaches the BVB under-23 club in July]. kicker (in German). 2 March 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ a b "Borussia Dortmund und David Wagner beenden Zusammenarbeit" [Borussia Dortmund and Wagner reach an agreement] (in German). Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ^ "David Wagner leaves Dortmund U23 post amid Liverpool links". ESPN. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ "David Wagner: Huddersfield name ex-Borussia Dortmund man as boss". BBC. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Huddersfield appoint former Dortmund reserves manager David Wagner". The Guardian. Press Association. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Threlfall-Sykes, David. "David Wagner & Mark Hudson review Huddersfield Town's pre-season camp in Sweden". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ Porter, Alexandra (28 July 2016). "FC Ingolstadt friendly rounds off Huddersfield Town pre season". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ a b "Newcastle United 1–2 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. 13 August 2016.
- ^ Dale, James (20 August 2016). "Sky Bet Championship round-up: Huddersfield town go top of the league as Newcastle win again". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ a b "David Wagner named Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month". English Football League. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner named manager of the month". ITV. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "How Huddersfield won promotion to the Premier League". BBC Sport. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ "David Wagner praises Huddersfield 'legends' after promotion to top flight". The Guardian. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ "David Wagner: Huddersfield Town boss extends contract with Premier League side". BBC Sport. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ Doyle, Paul (10 May 2018). "Huddersfield staying up is Premier League's greatest survival story". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "David Wagner: Huddersfield Town manager leaves club by mutual consent". BBC Sport. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "David Wagner becomes new head coach of Schalke 04". Schalke 04. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Schalke verliert beim SC Freiburg 0:4". Ruhr Nachrichten (in German). Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Bayern Munich 8–0 FC Schalke 04". BBC Sport. 18 September 2020.
- ^ "FC Schalke 04 relieve head coach David Wagner of his duties". Schalke 04. 27 September 2020.
- ^ "David Wagner: West Brom end pursuit of former Huddersfield and Schalke manager". Sky Sports. 10 June 2021.
- ^ "U.S. Coach Wagner Hired to Manage Swiss Champion Young Boys". Sports Illustrated. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "7-Tore-Spektakel zum Saisonauftakt: YB ringt Luzern 4:3 nieder" (in German). SRF. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ^ Burke, Molly (14 September 2021). "Former Huddersfield Town manager leads Young Boys to Champions League victory over Manchester United". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ^ Chicken, Steven (8 March 2022). "Huddersfield Town icon David Wagner sacked by Swiss champions Young Boys". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Lea Wagner moderiert 'SWR Sport'" (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ "Tochter von Schalke-Trainer Wagner wird Sportschau-Moderatorin" (in German). 14 February 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ "Borussia Dortmund II – Trainerhistorie". Kicker (in German). Olympia-Verlag. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ a b c "Managers: David Wagner". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ Threlfall-Sykes, David (5 November 2015). "Learn more about the new arrival". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
- ^ Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2017). "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ "David Wagner named Schalke head coach". Bundesliga. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
- ^ "Manager profile: David Wagner". Premier League. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- David Wagner at Soccerway
- 1971 births
- Living people
- German people of Thai descent
- German people of American descent
- Footballers from Frankfurt
- German footballers
- American sportspeople of Thai descent
- American soccer players
- Association football forwards
- Eintracht Frankfurt II players
- Eintracht Frankfurt players
- 1. FSV Mainz 05 players
- FC Schalke 04 players
- FC Gütersloh 2000 players
- SV Waldhof Mannheim players
- SV Darmstadt 98 players
- Bundesliga players
- 2. Bundesliga players
- Regionalliga players
- UEFA Cup winning players
- Germany youth international footballers
- Germany under-21 international footballers
- United States men's international soccer players
- German football managers
- American soccer coaches
- Borussia Dortmund II managers
- Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers
- FC Schalke 04 managers
- BSC Young Boys managers
- 3. Liga managers
- English Football League managers
- Premier League managers
- Bundesliga managers
- Swiss Super League managers
- German expatriate football managers
- German expatriate sportspeople in England
- German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- American expatriate soccer coaches
- American expatriate sportspeople in England
- American expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Expatriate football managers in England
- Expatriate football managers in Switzerland