Thomas Gentner (born 4 October 1988) is a retired 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 lea ...

who played as a left-sided defender and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career history

Thomas came through the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

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

. In 2007, he was signed by Stuttgart Kickers. In the 2007–08 season, he played for their reserve side Stuttgart Kickers II, who play in the German Oberliga. In the 2008–09 season he was promoted to the first team, and made 18 appearances in the professional

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

. In 2009–10, he played for Eintracht Frankfurt U23 in the fourth tier Regionalliga Süd. By 2010–11 he was back in the 3. Liga with

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a Football in Germany, 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 ( ...

, playing 37 games and scoring twice in the league, and making a further three appearances in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

cup. Both league goals came in a 3–2 victory over

SV Wehen Wiesbaden SV Wehen Wiesbaden is a German association football club based in Wiesbaden, Hesse. The club was previously known as ''SV Wehen'' but added ''Wiesbaden'' to its name during the summer of 2007. They left their previous ground, the Taunusstein, t ...

. Although the team finished the season in 11th place, they were not granted a 3. Liga license for 2011–12 as a result of financial problems. Effectively relegated, they would instead compete in the fourth tier

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...

. Thomas left the club in June 2011.

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left establis ...

made an approach to sign the player in the same month, but this was withdrawn when the player took too long to demonstrate a commitment to join the 3. Liga side. In July 2011, he joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

for a trial at their pre-season training programme in

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and Germany. On 6 July 2011 he played for Aberdeen in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against 2. Bundesliga side

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

, crossing for Darren Mackie to score Aberdeen's only goal in a 2–1 defeat. The following day, however, manager Craig Brown confirmed that he would not be signing the player as he did not think he would significantly improve the existing squad. Later in the same month, he joined

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

from the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

for a trial. He played in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Dutch side

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

on 9 July 2011. In August 2011 he signed a new contract with TuS Koblenz. His first match for the club in the 2011–12 season was a 1–0 Regionalliga West defeat to

SC Verl SC Verl is a German association football club based in Verl, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded on 6 September 1924, and since 1970 has consistently played in the higher echelons of amateur football. The club was promoted to the profe ...

Personal life

Thomas is the brother of

midfielder and German international

Christian Gentner Christian Gentner (born 14 August 1985) is a German professional football official and a former player who played as a midfielder. He works as a head of the professional player department at VfB Stuttgart. He won the Bundesliga twice, with VfB S ...

. In a 2010 interview with the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

, Thomas accepted that he would be unlikely to ever play at the same level as his brother. In the same article, Christian claimed that Thomas has the potential and ability to succeed at Bundesliga II level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentner, Thomas 1988 births Living people Footballers from Nürtingen German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Stuttgarter Kickers players TuS Koblenz players 3. Liga players 21st-century German sportsmen