 Giefer withSchalke 04 in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1990-05-17)17 May 1990 (age 35) | ||
| Place of birth | Adenau,West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–1999 | 1. FC Oberahr | ||
| 1999–2003 | TuRa Lommersdorf | ||
| 2003–2009 | Bayer Leverkusen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2012 | Bayer Leverkusen II | 44 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 64 | (0) |
| 2014–2017 | Schalke 04 | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | →Bristol City (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | FC Augsburg II | 3 | (0) |
| 2017–2020 | FC Augsburg | 4 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Würzburger Kickers | 9 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2005–2006 | Germany U16 | 4 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Germany U17 | 16 | (0) |
| 2008 | Germany U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2010 | Germany U20 | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 December 2020 | |||
Fabian Giefer (German pronunciation:[ˈɡiːfɐ]; born 17 May 1990) is a German professionalfootballer who plays as agoalkeeper. Currently a free agent, he last played forWürzburger Kickers.
Born inAdenau,Rhineland-Palatinate, Giefer began his football career at 1. FC Oberahr as his first youth club. He then move to TuRa Lommersdorf before moving toBayer Leverkusen, where he started his professional career.[1] He would soon promoted toBayer Leverkusen II.[2] Griefer played his first Bayer Leverkusen II match in the opening game of the season, in a 2–2 draw againstVerl.[3] At Bayer Leverkusen II, Giefer spent the season competing the first choice goalkeeper role withBenedikt Fernandez andErik Domaschke, which saw him make ten appearances.[4]
Giefer was promoted to theBayer Leverkusen first team ahead of the 2009–10 season.[5] Having signed his first professional contract with the club he was expected to fight over a first choice goalkeeper role withRené Adler.[6] Following Adler's absence, he made hisBundesliga debut on 6 November 2009 againstEintracht Frankfurt, in which he kept a clean sheet in a 4–0 win.[7][8] While Adler managed to regain his first choice goalkeeper role soon after, he went on to make two appearances for the side in the 2009–10 season againstHannover 96[9] andBorussia Mönchengladbach.[10]
In the 2010–11 season, Giefer continued to remain a second choice goalkeeper behind Adler. On 1 December 2010, he made his international debut for theUEFA Europa League, substituting Bayer's #1 goalkeeper, René Adler and the team won 1–0 against Norway'sRosenborg.[11] By the end of December, Giefer made two more appearances in all competitions: once came againstAtlético Madrid[12] and another in the league againstFreiburg.[13] Although he suffered an injury as the season progressed, on 10 April 2011, he made his first appearance of the season, in a 2–1 win overSt. Pauli.[14][15]
In the2011–12 season, Giefer made his first appearance of the season, but wasconcussed during the match, which saw Bayer 04 Leverkusen lose 2–0 on 7 August 2011.[16] After the match, Giefer stated that he did not remember anything about the last month.[17][18][19] This turned out to be his only appearance, as new arrivals ofDavid Yelldell andBernd Leno pushed him out of the first team, as well as, his own injury concerns.[20][21] As a result, Giefer spent most of the season playing for Bayer 04 Leverkusen II side.[22]
On 4 June 2012, it was announced that Giefer would joinFortuna Düsseldorf with a two-year contract until 30 June 2014.[23] He revealed he turned down a move toBayern Munich because he wanted first team action whereas he would have been a back-up to Bayern's first choice goalkeeperManuel Neuer had he joined.[24]
Giefer made his competitive debut in the first round ofDFB-Pokal, in a 1–0 win overWacker Burghausen, keeping clean sheet.[25] He did well in the next game againstAugsburg in the opening game of the season, where he kept a clean sheet again, in a 2–0 win.[26] Having established himself as first choice goalkeeper, Giefer kept five more clean sheets in the first six league matches until he conceded twice on 28 September 2012, in a 2–2 draw against Schalke 04.[27][28] Since then, the club's form soon slipped and began a losing streak as the season progressed. In a 3–2 loss against Augsburg on 20 January 2013, Giefer was at fault when he conceded one of the goals and after the match, he said he took a huge responsibility for his mistakes.[29] On 16 February 2013, Giefer made amends when he provided assist forAxel Bellinghausen, in a 1–0 win overGreuther Fürth.[30] Despite playing the whole game in his first season, he was unable to help the club, as they were relegated to the2. Bundesliga next season.
In the 2013–14 season, Giefer continued to be the club's first choice goalkeeper, where he kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win overEnergie Cottbus in the opening game of the season.[31] He was ever-present goalkeeper at the club until he received a straight red card for conceding a penalty in a 3–0 loss againstErzgebirge Aue on 24 November 2013.[32] After serving a suspension, Giefer returned to the first team on 9 December 2013, where he kept a clean sheet again, in a 1–0 win overKaiserslautern.[33][34] He appeared at the substitute bench three times, as the season progressed, Giefer went on to make 31 appearances in all competitions.[35]
It was announced on 6 December 2013 that Giefer would joinSchalke 04 next season.[36] In May 2014, the move was confirmed, as he signed a four-year contract and was assigned thesquad number 34.[37]
However, at the start of the season, Giefer suffered a setback when he suffered injuries and was sidelined for months.[38][39] After returning to training, he spent the rest of the year as a substitute behindRalf Fährmann.[40] He made his Schalke 04 debut on 31 January 2015 when he kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Hannover 96[41] and made another appearance in the next game on 3 February 2015, in a 1–1 draw againstBayern Munich.[42] he suffered an injury again during the match and was out for the rest of the season.[43][44]
In the 2015–16 season, Giefer continued to rehabilitate from his injury in the first half of the season.[45] After returning to full training around January, Giefer appeared on the substitute bench between February and March.[46] Giefer suffered another injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.[47] After returning to training, Giefer made a rare appearance for the club in a year, where he played the whole game, in a 2–0 loss againstRed Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Europa League match.[48] At the end of the 2016–17 season, Giefer was among players to have their future discussed ahead of the 2017–18 season.[49]
On 19 January 2017,Bristol City announced the loan signing of Giefer until the end of the season.[50]
Giefer made his Bristol City debut on 21 January 2017, where he played the whole game, in a 1–0 loss againstNottingham Forest.[51] After making his debut, he was given a handful of first team appearances until he suffered an eye injury, and he subsequently lost his place to reserve goalkeeper,Frank Fielding.[52] He remained on the substitute bench for the rest of the season until he returned to the starting line-up in the last game of the season, in a 1–0 loss againstBirmingham City.[53] Following this, Giefer returned to his parent club.[54]
On 8 June 2017, after leaving Schalke 04, Giefer joinedFC Augsburg, signing a four-year contract, keeping him until 2021.[55] He played the first game for his new club on 25 August for the reserve team,FC Augsburg II, againstBayern Munich II in theRegionalliga; Augsburg won 5–1.[56] On the first team, Giefer was mainly a backup behindMarwin Hitz as well asTomáš Koubek, and later evenAndreas Luthe, making him fourth on the depth chart. He only appeared in the first-team squad on the last match day in his last season at the club, 2019–20.
After making only four competitive appearances in three years, Giefer terminated his contract in Augsburg at the beginning of August 2020 and signed a two-year deal withWürzburger Kickers, who had recently been promoted to the2. Bundesliga.[57]
After representing theGermany youth team for five years, Giefer was called up byGermany U20 in November 2010.[58] He made his Germany U20 debut, where he played until he was sent-off, in a 2–1 win overItaly U20 on 17 November 2010.[59]
Two years on, Giefer was called up byGermany U21, but withdrew and was replaced byKevin Trapp.[60]
In April 2016, Giefer was fined and had to collect points for dangerous driving.[61] He is married to the German model Annabell Trah.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bayer Leverkusen II | 2007–08 | Oberliga Nordrhein | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Regionalliga West | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | 13 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
| 2011–12 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 0 | ||||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 2. Bundesliga | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | ||
| Total | 64 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 68 | 0 | |||
| Schalke 04 | 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015–16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Bristol City | 2016–17 | Championship | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| FC Augsburg II | 2017–18 | Regionalliga Bayern | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| FC Augsburg | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Würzburger Kickers | 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 133 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 141 | 0 | ||