Joseph Paul Gelhardt (born 4 May 2002) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club Leeds United.

Club career

Wigan Athletic

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Gelhardt grew up in Netherton, Merseyside, where he attended

Chesterfield High School Chesterfield High School in Crosby, Merseyside, England, officially opened in 1974. The school has an intake of roughly 1,200 students in years 7–11. The school was founded as a comprehensive from Waterloo Park Grammar School for Girls, Haig ...

. He joined

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

at the age of ten in 2013, progressing through the youth teams before being offered a scholarship deal in 2017. He made his professional debut for Wigan Athletic on 14 August 2018, appearing as a substitute against Rotherham United in the first round of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. On 24 August 2018, he signed his first professional contract with the club. He made his League debut on 27 April 2019, appearing as a half-time substitute against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. On 14 September 2019, he scored his first senior goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Hull City. Gelhardt made 19 appearances in all competitions with 18 coming in the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

during the 2019–20 season, as Wigan were relegated from the Championship after a 12-point penalty saw them drop into the relegation places.

Leeds United

On 10 August 2020, Gelhardt signed a four-year contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Leeds United. He made his senior debut for Leeds United on 21 September 2021 as a second-half substitute for

Mateusz Klich Mateusz Andrzej Klich (; born 13 June 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Poland national team. He is currently a free agent. Club career Cracovia Born in Tarnów, Klich debuted in the Ekstraklasa in Nove ...

in the

third round match against

side

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. The match ended 0–0 with Leeds winning 6–5 on penalties, Gelhardt scoring the seventh of Leeds' eight penalties. Gelhardt made his Premier League debut for Leeds on 16 October as a second-half substitute in the 1–0 defeat to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. On 11 December 2021, Gelhardt scored his first goal for Leeds in a 2–3 away league defeat to

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Chelsea. and he netted his second on 13 March 2022: a dramatic added-time 2-1 winner at Elland Road against Norwich City. In the 2022–23 season, Gelhardt's 10 appearances through the end of October were mostly limited to late substitutions, mostly for Sinisterra and Rodrigo, allowing little time for him to impress himself on the direction of the game. On 27 January 2023, Gelhardt joined Championship play-off pushing side

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. He scored his first goal for Sunderland on 21 February 2023 in a 2-1 defeat to Rotherham United.

International career

Gelhardt scored for the England under-16 team in a 3–3 draw against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the 2018 Montaigu Tournament. In September 2018, Gelhardt scored twice for the England under-17 team against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and also came off the bench to score against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The following month saw him score against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and twice in a game against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In March 2019, Gelhardt scored in a 3–2 win against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

that confirmed qualification for the

2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (37th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football cham ...

. In April 2019, Gelhardt was included in the England U17 squad for the

s and scored in a 3–1 victory over Sweden under-17s as the ''Young Lions'' bowed out of the competition at the group stage. Gelhardt made his U18 debut as a 79th-minute substitute during the 3–2 win over Australia at Hinckley Leicester Road on 6 September 2019. On 2 October 2020, Gelhardt was named in the England U19 squad. On 6 September 2021, Gelhardt made his debut for the England U20s scoring a brace during a 6–1 victory over Romania U20s at St. George's Park. Gelhardt received his first call up to the England U21s on 4 October 2021, as an injury replacement for

Noni Madueke Chukwunonso Tristan "Noni" Madueke (born 10 March 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Chelsea, as a winger and attacking midfielder. Early life Madueke is of Nigerian Igbo descent. Born in Barnet, Madu ...

Style of play

Gelhardt is left footed and plays mainly as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

; he can also play as a second striker, wide forward or as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

. He is known for his dribbling, power and build-up play; his style has been compared to that of

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while als ...

Personal life

Gelhardt supported

growing up.

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelhardt, Joe 2002 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wigan Athletic F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers English people of German descent