Christian Gentner (born 14 August 1985) is a German professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

official and a former player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He works as a head of the professional player department at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

. He won the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

twice, with

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. He was also called up five times to the senior Germany national team.

Club career

Before joining

, Gentner played at TSV Beuren and VfL Kirchheim. In the 2004–05 season, he played 28 times and scored six times for the

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

(third division)

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

of VfB Stuttgart. In the same season, he had his

debut against

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

on 20 February 2005 (1–0). He scored his first goal in a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

game against

Domžale Domžale (; german: Domschale)''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of Municipality of Domžale. The town lies ...

on 25 September 2005. In 2006, Gentner's contract in Stuttgart was extended until 2010. On 18 July 2007, he was loaned to

until summer 2009 and on 11 August 2008 Gentner signed a permanent deal with Wolfsburg. On 8 January 2010, Gentner announced that he would be joining

at the end of the season. After seeing out his contract with the Wolves which ended on 1 July 2010, Gentner returned to Stuttgart on a free transfer. On 6 January 2013, Gentner extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2016 with an option for a further year. Following

Serdar Tasci Serdar Tasci ( tr, Serdar Taşçı; born 24 April 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Tasci started his career with VfB Stuttgart in 2006, playing with the club until 2013; captaining the side from 2011 ...

's departure to

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

, it was announced that Gentner is to be his successor as the new club captain. In May 2016 Gentner extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2019. On 5 July 2019, Gentner signed a contract with club

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

. In September 2022, Gentner announced that he would retire from playing at the end of 2022. At the same time,

announced that he would join the club on 1 January 2023 as head of the professional player department.

International career

On 19 May 2009, Gentner was called up to the senior Germany national team for their tour of Asia. He made his debut against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

on 29 May 2009.

Personal life

His brother

Thomas Gentner Thomas Gentner (born 4 October 1988) is a retired professional association football, footballer who played as a left-sided defender (association football), defender and midfielder. Career history Thomas came through the youth system at VfB St ...

plays for

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era (1933–1945) The or ...

. On 15 December 2018, Gentner's father died at Stuttgart's stadium, just after Stuttgart had beaten

2–1.

Career statistics

Honours

VfB Stuttgart *

: 2006–07 * 2. Bundesliga: 2016–17 VfL Wolfsburg *

: 2008–09 Individual * Bundesliga Goal of the Month: August 2013

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gentner, Christian 1985 births Living people People from Nürtingen Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) German footballers Association football midfielders Germany B international footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany international footballers VfL Kirchheim/Teck players VfB Stuttgart players VfB Stuttgart II players VfL Wolfsburg players 1. FC Union Berlin players FC Luzern players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Swiss Super League players Footballers from Baden-Württemberg German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland