Mario Leitgeb (born 30 June 1988) is an Austrian 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
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 ...
for
Austrian Bundesliga
The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...
club
Wolfsberger AC
Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC enter ...
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
n capital, playing for Sturm Graz. He played in the club's academy until 2006, where he was promoted to the reserve team. Between 2006 and 2008, Leitgeb played 25 matches for the reserves, scoring one goal. In 2008, he was picked up by
SC Austria Lustenau
Sportclub Austria Lustenau is a professional association football club based in the town of Lustenau, Vorarlberg, Austria, that competes in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of the Austrian football league system. Founded in 1914, ...
from the
second division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
. Leitgeb made his debut in the second division on 11 July 2008, in a 2–0 away loss to
SV Grödig
Sportverein Grödig is an Austrian association football club from Grödig. The team currently competes in the Regionalliga Salzburg, the third tier of Austrian football.
Grödig were relegated from the Austrian Bundesliga at the end of the 2 ...
. In the second round of the regular season he made an own goal. During his time in Lustenau, he picked up 89 league appearances and made 10 additional appearances in the
Austrian Cup
The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...
. In the 36th minute of his first cup appearance, a match against
Grazer AK
Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletiksport Klub (in Austria the abbreviation GAK is more common), is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria (''Steiermark''). The football section used to be on ...
, but left by mutual consent after only six months after the club failed to reach promomotion to the
Austrian Bundesliga
The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...
. Instead, he continued his career with
SV Grödig
Sportverein Grödig is an Austrian association football club from Grödig. The team currently competes in the Regionalliga Salzburg, the third tier of Austrian football.
Grödig were relegated from the Austrian Bundesliga at the end of the 2 ...
, where he played 63 league matches in two seasons. On 12 June 2014, Leitgeb signed a three-year contract with
Austria Wien
Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...
for an undisclosed fee.
After initially having signed a precontract with former club Sturm Graz in January 2016, Leitgeb joined Swiss club
FC St. Gallen
Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League.
History
Founde ...
on a six-month contract.
Wolfsberger AC
In January 2017 Leitgeb returned to Austria, signing with Bundesliga-side
Wolfsberger AC
Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC enter ...
on a one-and-a-half-year deal. He signed a two-year contract extension with the club on 29 March 2019. On 19 September 2019, Leitgeb made his European debut in a UEFA Europa League group stage away match against German club
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...
. In what was described as a "miracle", he scored two headers against a passive Mönchengladbach-defense and thereby became a vital part in Wolfsberger's 4–0 thrashing.