Saison 2010/11 - Hannover 96

With the transfer to England a long-awaited dream came true; finally Emanuel was able to make the life of the forwards in England?s Premiership difficult. But everyone needs some time to settle in, and because a suspension was still imposed on Emanuel from his time on Moscow, the first weeks in Middlesbrough were rough: He missed all pre-season matches as well as the first two of the Premiership. However, after a while Emanuel fought his way into a regular position, even reaching the UEFA Cup final with his new club. Unfortunately he carried away a serious face injury in the quarter-final against FC Basel, so that he was forced to watch the match from the stands.

During his second year, Emanuel finally established himself as a regular player. Instead of playing left-wing defender, he was moved into the centre back position, in which he felt more comfortable. At last, he was voted ?Player of the Year? by the Official Supporters Club and his teammates. Right now, Emanuel is looking forward to a new and hopefully successful season with Middlesbrough FC?

Spartak Moscow is one of five established clubs in Russia?s capital, and the one with the most (and arguably the best) fans. Of course Emanuel could not withstand the offer to play for one of Europe?s most prestigious clubs. Although he only played for four months in Moscow, it became a great life experience for Emanuel, and due to his convincing performances for the team under coach Alexander Starkov, an offer from Middlesbrough FC came up?

The return to Graz also meant a reunion with Schachner and Gorenzel, his former managers at FC Kärnten, and once again the relationship proved to be productive: In his first year, Emanuel won both the Austrian championship and Cup with GAK, and Emanuel made his first appearance in an European club competition, even scoring a goal against highly-favoured opponent Ajax Amsterdam. In the following matches against European top teams such as Liverpool FC, Glasgow Rangers and finally Middlesbrough FC, Emanuel was able to demonstrate his strength and talents, which would eventually lead to a transfer to the English premiership. But not too fast, one more station was waiting for Emanuel in Moscow?

Aarau is a small town in the north of Switzerland, and the football team was in danger of relegation at the time Emanuel moved there. Luckily the team won their relegation matches under the eyes of Coach Alain Geiger, and prevented the impending descent to second league. For the first time in his young career, Emanuel collected match practice in a first league club, and he even managed to attract the attention of Austrian team manager Hans Krankl: Emanuel gave his international debut in the last minutes against Germany in 2002, but he could not prevent the painful 2-6 defeat.

Although Emanuel regularly practiced with the professional team in Leverkusen, he was only allowed to play for the amateur team in the 3rd German League. Leverkusen was the most successful German team during that season, reaching both, the final of the Champions League and the German Cup, and losing the German championship only by a hair?s breadth. Hence, it was even harder to get a starting position in the first team. Nonetheless, the short stay at a European top club turned out to be an important experience for Emanuel, but in order to gain more match practice, he went on a loan spell to FC Aarau in the first Swiss league.

The transfer to FC Kärnten turned out to be an important and successful move for Emanuel. With only 17 years of age he developed into a regular player under the eyes of Walter ?Schoko? Schachner and Günter Gorenzel. The team was closely-knit, and everyone worked hard to be promoted to the Austrian Bundesliga. Additionally, the team won the Austrian cup in an exciting final against FC Tirol with 2-1 in overtime. After the successful season Emanuel took the opportunity to try his luck at the German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.

Sturm Graz ? the early bird catches the worm...

With merely six years of age, Emanuel Pogatetz started to play football in the youth team of Sturm Graz. Initially playing just for fun, he soon realized his talents, while he made his way up to the amateur team. In his first years he learned plenty from youth coach Dietmar Windisch, and with 14, after joining the BNZ in Graz, a centre for talented youth players, he became the protégé of Alfred Werner. Two years later, Emanuel was granted his first appearance in Sturm Graz?s first team under Ivica Osim, while playing simultaneously for the amateur team.

During his youth at Sturm Graz, Emanuel was voted several times into different selections. He proved his talents under the eyes of Fritz Jalitsch for the Steiermark selection (the Austrian state where Graz is located), as well as for the U16-U21 national teams; even being promoted to captain in the former under16 manager Paul Gludovatz.

Despite his early achievements, it was tough for Emanuel to get a starting position in the professional team of Sturm Graz, which was on a roll during that time, playing both the European Champions League as well as the Austrian championship. As a result, he left Graz to join FC Kärnten, which used to be one of the up-and-coming teams in the second league in Austria at that time.