Sebastian Polter (born 1 April 1991) is a German 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 ...

who plays as a striker for

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 ...

club

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Sp ...

, on loan from

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

Club career

Early career

Polter played for

VfL Wolfsburg II VfL Wolfsburg II was a German association football team from the city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It is the reserve team of VfL Wolfsburg. The team's greatest success has been two league championships in the tier four Regionalliga Nord in 2013� ...

from July 2008 until June 2012. During the 2008–09 season, Polter made 10 appearances without scoring a goal. During the 2009–10 season, Polter scored three goals in 15 appearances. During the 2010–11 season, Polter scored 11 goals in 25 appearances. He played for both the first team and reserve team during the 2011–12 season. He scored two goals in 12 appearances for the first team and five goals in 18 appearances for the reserve team. Polter played for 1. FC Nürnberg between July 2012 and June 2013 and for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in April 2013. He scored five goals in 27 appearances for the first team and a goal in two appearances for the reserve team. Polter played for 1. FSV Mainz 05 between July 2013 and August 2014 and

1. FSV Mainz 05 II 1. FSV Mainz 05 II is a German association football club from the town of Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the reserve team of 1. FSV Mainz 05. The team's greatest achievement came in 2014 when it won promotion to the 3. Liga for the first tim ...

between September 2013 and June 2014. For the first team, he played in 15 matches without scoring a goal, and for the reserve team, he scored three goals in seven appearances. In late August 2014, he was loaned to

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

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 ...

for the season. He scored 14 goals in 29 appearances.

Queens Park Rangers

In July 2015 it was announced that

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

had signed Polter from

FSV Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

on a three-year-deal for an undisclosed fee. Polter made an instant impact on his debut scoring QPR's third goal in their 10–0 win over Italian side Verona Stars in the club's first pre-season fixture of the summer. Polter's league debut came in a 2–0 away loss to London rivals

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

as he came on as a sub for

Charlie Austin Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker. Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football up to May 2009, when he was signed by Swindon Town after a pro ...

in the 84th minute. His full debut came in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

, he scored the first goal for QPR as they secured a comfortable 3–0 victory. He finished the 2015–16 season with seven goals in 33 appearances. During the 2016–17 season for Queens Park Rangers, he scored 12 goals in 23 appearances.

Union Berlin

He rejoined Union Berlin on 10 January 2017. During the 2016–17 season for Union Berlin, he scored seven goals in 15 appearances. He finished the 2017–18 season with 12 goals in 26 appearances. On 28 May 2020, Union Berlin president Dirk Zingler announced in a statement that Polter would not play for the club until the end of his contract in June, stating that Polter was the only member of the club that did not "stand up for each other and for our club," during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He had, as the sole member of the first team, refused to take a pay cut as the club was struggling financially due to the effects of the pandemic.

Fortuna Sittard

Polter signed a two-year contract with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

on 17 August 2020.

VfL Bochum

On 13 August 2021,

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundeslig ...

signed Polter on a free transfer until 30 June 2023.

Schalke 04

On 20 June 2022, Polter signed a three-year contract with

, which promoted to the

Loan to Darmstadt 98

On 1 February 2024, Polter was loaned to Bundesliga club

until the end of the season, with the club having an option to make the move permanent.

International career

Polter was a member of several German youth national teams and also appointed to the squad for

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 ...

in Israel where Germany were eliminated at the group stage.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Schalke 04 website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polter, Sebastian 1991 births Living people People from Wilhelmshaven Footballers from Lower Saxony German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players English Football League players Eredivisie players SV Wilhelmshaven players SV Werder Bremen players Eintracht Braunschweig players VfL Wolfsburg II players VfL Wolfsburg players 1. FC Nürnberg players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players 1. FC Union Berlin players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Fortuna Sittard players VfL Bochum players FC Schalke 04 players SV Darmstadt 98 players German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands