Maximilian Andreas Ehmer (born 3 February 1992) 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 defender for Gillingham. A product of Queens Park Rangers' youth academy, Ehmer signed his first professional contract at the age of 17 in 2009. Two years later, in January 2011, he joined League One team Yeovil Town on loan on a deal that would ultimately run for the remainder of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season. He returned to Yeovil on a six-month loan deal for the following season, and ended the campaign on loan at another League One club in the form of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

. In August 2012, Ehmer signed a new three-year deal at QPR. In March 2013, he was loaned out, this time joining Stevenage on loan until the end of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season. On 28 September 2013, Ehmer made his QPR debut after four years at the club, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for the injured Clint Hill, in a 2–0 league win against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained i ...

Career

Queens Park Rangers

Ehmer joined

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 ...

at the age of eleven and progressed through the youth ranks, captaining his age group at various stages. He had previously played for Ascot United at the age of eight, as well as competing at varsity level during his time at ACS Egham School. During his time playing for the Warfield Predator youth side, aged eleven, he attracted the interest of QPR, who took him into their academy set-up in 2003. He signed his first professional contract with the club in the summer of 2009, aged 17. Ehmer made his league debut for QPR coming on as a substitute for Rangers captain Clint Hill in the 2–0 win over Middlesbrough on 28 September 2013.

Loan spells

He experienced his first taste of first-team football when he signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side Yeovil Town on a month-long loan on 31 December 2010, with the deal to be officially completed the next day. He made his debut against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

on 1 January 2011, playing the whole match in a 0–0 draw at

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901. After impressing in the first two weeks of the loan spell, with Yeovil having secured two victories and one draw without conceding a goal, it was announced that Ehmer would remain at the club for the remainder of the

season. He went on to make 27 appearances during the second half of the campaign, with a good end of season run ensuring Yeovil finished in a comfortable mid-table position. The final game of his loan spell was a 2–0 away victory at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

on 7 May 2011, in which Ehmer was used a half-time substitute. He returned to QPR following the end of his loan agreement, and subsequently signed a new one-year contract extension with the club in June 2011, keeping him contracted to the club until 2013. QPR manager

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

stated – "Max has made great progress over the last few months. He had a very productive spell at Yeovil and the feedback we received was very promising. The experience he gained there will stand him in good stead to really push on over the next 12 months or so". Shortly before the start of the 2011–12 campaign, on 21 July 2011, Ehmer returned to Yeovil on loan, this time on a six-month deal. He played in the club's first game of the new season, playing the first 56 minutes in a 2–0 away loss to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

. Ehmer scored his first professional goal in a

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

tie against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

on 5 October 2011, netting a late consolation strike from close range in a match Yeovil lost 3–2 at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a association football, football stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England and the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. History In 1910 ...

. In December the same year, his loan deal was extended until the end of the season. However, having made 28 appearances in all competitions during his second loan spell, Ehmer returned to QPR on 19 January 2012, with his loan deal being terminated by mutual consent following a change in management at both Yeovil and his parent club. After a brief spell back at QPR, without making any first-team appearances, Ehmer was loaned out, this time joining League One side

on 16 March 2012, on loan until 5 May. He made his debut in the Preston's 2–1 away victory at Exeter City a day after joining the club, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute. Ehmer went on to make nine appearances during his time at the club, before returning to QPR at the end of the 2011–12 season. In August 2012, Ehmer signed a new three-year contract at QPR, keeping him at the club until 2016. In March 2013, Ehmer joined League One side

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

on loan for the remainder of the

season. He made his debut for the club a day after signing, on 29 March, playing the whole in a 1–1 draw away to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

. In the club's next match just three days later, Ehmer scored the only goal of the game as Stevenage secured a 1–0 home win over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartl ...

. Playing at left back, he scored with a first-time finish after

Filipe Morais Filipe Alexandre Major Morais (born 21 November 1985) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger. Morais began his career at Chelsea, progressing through the youth system before signing a professional deal in 2005. ...

' initial shot had been blocked, scoring with just fifteen minutes remaining. Ehmer made six appearances during the brief loan spell, scoring once, as he returned to his parent club following Stevenage's final game of the season. On 4 November 2013, Ehmer joined

side

on loan for a month up to and including 1 December 2013. On 3 December 2013, two days after his original loan expired it was announced that Carlisle had extended Ehmer's loan at the club until 2 January 2014. In November of the same year he was loaned out, this time to

side Gillingham.

Gillingham

On 2 July 2015, Ehmer joined

side Gillingham on a three-year deal. In January 2017 he was named as Gillingham's captain, with the recently appointed head coach Adrian Pennock commenting that "I like his attitude and I like the centre-half to be the captain". He would later lose the captaincy to

Gabriel Zakuani Gabriel Abdala Zakuani (born 31 May 1986) is a Congolese retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He was most recently manager of Spalding United. Zakuani began his career with Leyton Orient, and was a vital member of the side ...

but regained it when he suffered an injury and was named captain permanently when Steve Evans became Gillingham manager before the 2019–20 season. In March 2018 he agreed a contract extension until the end of the 2019–20 season. Ehmer made his 200th appearance for the club in a 1–0 victory over Oxford United on 9 March 2019.

Bristol Rovers

On 21 July 2020, Ehmer signed a two-year contract with

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

following the expiration of his Gillingham contract. Ehmer was announced as Rovers captain on 4 September 2020 and made his debut the following day in a 3-0

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 th ...

defeat to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. He scored his first goal of the season in the FA Cup Third Round 3–2 defeat to

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 ...

side

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

. When Rovers' third manager of the season

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...

came in, Ehmer was stripped of his captaincy which was given to Luke Leahy. On 22 March 2021, Ehmer was publicly slated by his manager who claimed that Ehmer was the wrong choice for captain and would have a lot of work to do to force his way back into the side. Following this, Barton announced that Ehmer would have to have surgery on his shoulder injury that would see him miss the remainder of the season. On 15 June 2021, Ehmer's contract with the club was terminated.

Gillingham return

Having had his contract in Bristol terminated, Ehmer returned to Gillingham that same day.

Personal life

Ehmer was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehmer, Max 1992 births Living people German footballers German expatriate footballers Footballers from Frankfurt Association football midfielders Ascot United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in England German expatriate sportspeople in England