 Albertz withShanghai Shenhua in 2003 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1971-01-29)29 January 1971 (age 54) | ||
| Place of birth | Mönchengladbach,West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1975–1978 | PSV Mönchengladbach | ||
| 1978–1989 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1990 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 0 | (0) |
| 1990–1993 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 58 | (4) |
| 1993–1996 | Hamburger SV | 99 | (22) |
| 1996–2001 | Rangers | 156 | (58) |
| 2001–2003 | Hamburger SV | 28 | (6) |
| 2003–2004 | Shanghai Shenhua | 47 | (13) |
| 2004–2005 | Greuther Fürth | 13 | (3) |
| 2005–2007 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 51 | (7) |
| 2008 | Clyde | 7 | (2) |
| Total | 459 | (115) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996–1998 | Germany | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jörg Albertz (German pronunciation:[ˈjœʁkˈʔalbɛʁts];[1] born 29 January 1971) is a German former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder. Between 1996 and 1998, he played three international games for theGermany national team.[2]
As both a youth player and apprentice, Albertz played for PSV Mönchengladbach andBorussia Mönchengladbach. His first professional contract was signed in 1990 forFortuna Düsseldorf. When the team from the Rhineland were relegated to the second tier of the Bundesliga, Albertz moved toHamburger SV where he soon became the public hero of the team. Two seasons later he became the club captain.
In 1996, Albertz signed forRangers for £4 million, and he scored a famous free-kick against rivalsCeltic in January 1997 to help them on the way to theirninth consecutive Scottish league championship title. Albertz became a favourite with the Rangers fans and earned himself the nickname "The Hammer" for his powerful long range shots.[3] He scored two more important goals against Celtic, both of a similar nature involving individual runs from midfield, in April 1998 as Rangers closed in on another title and theScottish Cup, but missed out on both trophies. After the departure of managerWalter Smith in June 1998, he was frequently left out of the starting line-up by the incomingDick Advocaat.[4] Despite this, he won further championship medals in 1999 and 2000, as well as the Scottish Cup – also in1999 and2000 – and the early-seasonScottish League Cup in1996 and1998.[5]
He returned to Hamburg in 2001. Despite the hype of his return, he was unable to live up to the hopes that the supporters placed on his shoulders. Before the beginning of season 2002–03 he transferred to Chinese clubShanghai Shenhua.[3] He initially gained success with them when he won the2003 league title. In 2003 theChinese Football Association revoked the league title after it was discovered the Shenhua General manager Lou Shifang had bribed officials to give favourable decisions to Shenhua in games that season.[6][7]
Having had a moderately successful spell in China, Albertz moved back to his homeland in 2004, his re-initiation into the German game coming withGreuther Fürth.[8] On the receiving end of many injuries, he switched toFortuna Düsseldorf once again, where he retired at the end of the 2006–07 season.
On 11 March 2008, Albertz confirmed he was training withClyde with a view to a short-term move, to help out their manager and his former Rangers teammateJohn Brown.[9] He registered to play on 14 March,[10] and made his debut the following day, scoring a trademark free kick in a 1–1 draw withStirling Albion.[11] He scored Clyde's winning goal with another free kick in an important 2–1 victory overSt Johnstone on 25 March, to lift Clyde out of the relegation play-off zone.[12] After helping Clyde stay in theScottish First Division via the playoffs, Albertz went into retirement once again, after making eight appearances for the club, scoring twice.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 1990–91[15] | Bundesliga | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| 1991–92[15] | Bundesliga | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 1992–93[15] | 2. Bundesliga | 35 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 37 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 58 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 5 | ||
| Hamburger SV | 1993–94[15] | Bundesliga | 31 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 34 | 4 | |||
| 1994–95[15] | Bundesliga | 34 | 9 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 36 | 9 | ||||
| 1995–96[15] | Bundesliga | 34 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 35 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 99 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 22 | ||
| Rangers | 1996–97 | Scottish Premier Division | 32 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | 47 | 13 | |
| 1997–98 | Scottish Premier Division | 31 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 42 | 15 | ||
| 1998–99 | Scottish Premier League | 34 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 4 | — | 53 | 19 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Scottish Premier League | 35 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | — | 53 | 20 | ||
| 2000–01 | Scottish Premier League | 24 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | — | 34 | 15 | ||
| Total | 156 | 58 | 19 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 42 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 229 | 82 | ||
| Hamburger SV | 2001–02[15] | Bundesliga | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 4 | |||
| 2002–03[15] | Bundesliga | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 28 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 7 | ||
| Shanghai Shenhua | 2003 | Chinese Jia-A League | 27 | 6 | — | — | — | 27 | 6 | |||||
| 2004 | Chinese Super League | 20 | 7 | — | 20 | 7 | ||||||||
| Total | 47 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 13 | ||||||||
| Greuther Fürth | 2004–05[15] | 2. Bundesliga | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 3 | |||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 2005–06[15] | Regionalliga | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 3 | |||
| 2006–07[15] | Regionalliga | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 51 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 7 | ||
| Clyde | 2007–08[16] | Scottish First Division | 7 | 2 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 8 | 2 | |||||
| Career total | 459 | 115 | 29 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 42 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 543 | 141 | ||
Rangers
Shanghai Shenhua
Individual
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
