Georg Margreitter

Georg Margreitter
Margreitter with 1. FC Nürnberg in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-11-07) 7 November 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Schruns, Austria
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
FC Schruns
BNZ Vorarlberg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 LASK Linz 28 (2)
2008–2009Magna Wiener Neustadt (loan) 30 (4)
2010–2012 Austria Vienna 59 (2)
2012–2015 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 (0)
2013–2014Copenhagen (loan) 13 (0)
2014Chesterfield (loan) 13 (1)
2015–2021 1. FC Nürnberg 129 (9)
2021–2023 Grasshopper Club Zürich 37 (4)
International career
Austria U-19 6 (0)
Austria U-20 7 (0)
Austria U-21 11 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 February 2011

Georg Margreitter (born 7 November 1988) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a central defender.

Career

Margreitter began his professional career with Austrian Bundesliga club LASK Linz in 2007, making his first team debut on 28 July 2007 against Red Bull Salzburg.

Early career

In Summer 2008 he was loaned out to the newly formed Magna Wiener Neustadt. Margreitter established himself as a regular member of their central defence as the club won the Austrian Football First League (second tier).

He returned to LASK for the 2009–10 season and was made captain. In Summer 2010 he moved to fellow top flight side Austria Vienna, where he signed a contract until 2013. Here, he played European football with the team in the UEFA Europa League.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 24 August 2012, Margreitter joined English side Wolverhampton Wanderers signing a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £500,000.[1][2] He made his club debut on 30 August 2012 in a 3–1 League Cup win at Northampton.[3] Much of his season was however affected by injury problems, as well as the departure of Ståle Solbakken as manager, while subsequent managers did not select Margreitter. His sole league appearance for the club during the 2012–13 campaign was a ten-minute spell as a substitute in a match at Ipswich. His third and what turned out to be final appearance for the club came in a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea in the League Cup.[4] The season saw the club relegated for a consecutive season, prompting to Margreitter to blog that there had been a "lack of hunger" among the players to win matches.[5]

Out of the plans of new Wolves manager Kenny Jackett,[6] Margreitter was sent on a season-long loan to Copenhagen in September 2013, where he reunited with his former Wolves manager Ståle Solbakken and played in the Champions League.

After returning to Wolves he was loaned out again, joining English League One side Chesterfield in September 2014 in a three-month deal, making 14 appearances in total,[7] scoring once against Notts County.[8]

On 4 August 2015, Wolves announced that Margreitter and the club had reached an agreement to cancel his contract, which had one year left to run.[9]

1. FC Nürnberg

On 24 August he signed a deal with German 2. Bundesliga side 1. FC Nürnberg.[10] He quickly grew out to become an integral part of the defense. In 2018, Margreitter and Nürnberg reached promotion to the Bundesliga, after having been down in the second tier for four years. On 3 December 2018, he scored his first Bundesliga-goal in a 1–1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.[11]

Grasshopper Club Zürich

On 5 July 2021, Margreitter signed with Grasshopper Club Zürich for one year.[12] He quickly established himself as the leader of Grasshopper's defence and of the team as a whole, even captaining the squad on occasion. He shot his first goal in the Super League on 21 August 2021, in a 2–1 loss against city rivals FC Zürich. His contract was extended by a further year on 20 April 2022.[13]

In his second season, he picked up where he left off, starting in most of the games in the first half of the season. However, in the second half he had fallen out of favor in the Grasshoppers' defense and would not start again until the end of the season. On 25 May 2023, it was announced that he would depart the club at the end of the season, following the expiration of his contract.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Wolves sign Austrian defender Georg Margreitter". BBC Sport. 24 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Wolves have no excuses now admits Stale Solbakken". Express & Star. 15 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Northampton 1–3 Wolves". BBC Sport. 30 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Chelsea 6-0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 25 September 2012.
  5. ^ "No hunger at Wolves, just flash cars – Georg Margreitter". Express & Star. 16 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Kenny Jackett opens the door for Kevin Doyle at Wolves". Express & Star. 6 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Chesterfield sign Wolves defender Georg Margreitter on loan". BBC Sport. 11 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Chesterfield 1-1 Notts County". BBC Sport. 27 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Georg Margreitter leaves Wolves". Wolves Express & Star. 4 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Georg Margreitter verstärkt den Club" (in German). FC Nürnberg. 24 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Kein Sieger in der Nürnberger Wasserschlacht". kicker.de. kicker. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  12. ^ "GEORG MARGREITTER ZU GC". gcz.ch. Grasshopper Club Zürich. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  13. ^ "MARGREITTER EXTENDS UNTIL 2023". gcz.ch. Grasshopper Club Zürich. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  14. ^ "End of Season Squad Update". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.