David Wagner (soccer)

David Wagner
Wagner as head coach of Huddersfield Town in 2018
Personal information
Full name David Wagner[1]
Date of birth (1971-10-19) 19 October 1971[1]
Place of birth Geinsheim am Rhein, West Germany[1]
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Huddersfield Town (head coach)
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 SV Waldhof Mannheim 5 (0)
1999–2002 SV Darmstadt 98 76 (21)
2002–2004 TSG Weinheim
2004–2006 Germania Pfungstadt
National team
1992 Germany U21 1 (0)
1996–1998 United States 8 (0)
Teams managed
2011–2015 Borussia Dortmund II
2015– Huddersfield Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

David Wagner (born 19 October 1971) is a German-American football manager and former professional player who is the head coach of Premier League club Huddersfield Town.

Wagner grew up in West Germany and made his professional debut with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1990 and played as a forward for several clubs in the first and second divisions of German football. The son of an American father and German mother, Wagner played for the United States national team, earning eight caps between 1996 and 1998.

Playing career

In 1996 Wagner was recruited along with fellow Bundesliga player Michael Mason by manager Steve Sampson into the United States national team despite never having seen them play. Sampson had been recommended Wagner and Mason and made aware of their American background by U.S. player Thomas Dooley, who like them was also raised in Germany. Wagner had a United States passport, but had played for Germany's U-18 and U-21 teams earlier in his career. This gave him additional credibility with Sampson but posed a problem as he risked being considered ineligible to play for the United States.

In April 1997, after Canada lost to the United States in a World Cup qualifying match in which Wagner played, the Canadian Soccer Federation 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. However, Wagner was rarely called into the U.S. team afterward and he was not named to the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Managerial career

Borussia Dortmund

Following his playing career Wagner became a coach, working mostly with his former Mainz teammate Jürgen Klopp. Wagner was appointed as Borussia Dortmund II manager with effect from 1 July 2011.[2] He left the role on 1 November 2015, amidst rumours that he was going to join Klopp's backroom staff at Liverpool.[3][4]

Huddersfield Town

On 5 November 2015, he was appointed head coach of Huddersfield Town following the departure of Chris Powell.[5] Wagner brought Christoph Bühler, who had left Borussia Dortmund on 1 November 2015, with him as his assistant.[3][6]

In the summer of 2016, Wagner brought in 13 players from across the continent, including Danny Ward, Chris Löwe, and Aaron Mooy. Wagner took his players on a bonding tour of Sweden, where they had to survive with only basic equipment for a few days.[7] 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 sides Werder Bremen and FC Ingolstadt 04.[8] After an unbeaten start to the 2016–17 season, Huddersfield were top of the table at the start of September,[9] including a win at St James' Park against Newcastle United.[9][10]

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.[11][12] On 30 June 2017 Wagner signed an improved two-year contract. [13] Wagner has been 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."[14]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 6 October 2018
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
PWDLWin %
Borussia Dortmund II 1 July 2011 1 November 2015 164 57 47 60 034.8 [2][3][15]
Huddersfield Town 9 November 2015 Present 139 49 31 59 035.3 [16]
Total 303 106 78 119 035.0 —

Honours

As a player

FC Schalke 04

As a manager

Huddersfield Town

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Wagner: David Wagner: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. 1 2 3 "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.
  4. ↑ "David Wagner leaves Dortmund U23 post amid Liverpool links". ESPN.com. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "David Wagner: Huddersfield name ex-Borussia Dortmund man as boss". BBC. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 Press Association (5 November 2015). "Huddersfield appoint former Dortmund reserves manager David Wagner". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Threlfall-Sykes, David. "David Wagner & Mark Hudson review Huddersfield Town's pre-season camp in Sweden". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Porter, Alexandra (28 July 2016). "FC Ingolstadt friendly rounds off Huddersfield Town pre season". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Newcastle United 1–2 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. 13 August 2016.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "How Huddersfield won promotion to the Premier League". 23 May 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "David Wagner praises Huddersfield 'legends' after promotion to top flight". The Guardian. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "David Wagner: Huddersfield Town boss extends contract with Premier League side". 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. ↑ Paul Doyle. "Huddersfield staying up is Premier League’s greatest survival story".The Guardian10 May 2018 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/10/huddersfield-stay-up-premier-league-david-wagner-money
  15. ↑ "BV Borussia 09 Dortmund II: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Managers: David Wagner". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  17. ↑ Threlfall-Sykes, David (5 November 2015). "Learn more about the new arrival". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2017). "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Manager profile: David Wagner". Premier League. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
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