Gerhard Poschner

Gerhard Hans Poschner (born 23 September 1969) is a German retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
He appeared in 286 games in the Bundesliga during 12 seasons, scoring 22 goals for VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund. He also played professionally in Italy, Spain and Austria.

Club career

Poschner was born in Dumitra, Romania. At the age of five, his family fled the country to escape the communist regime and moved abroad to Bietigheim-Bissingen, West Germany. He began his professional career in 1987–88 with VfB Stuttgart, where he played three seasons with little impact in the first team (an average of 15 Bundesliga appearances).

Poschner emerged as a top flight player with Borussia Dortmund, scoring 14 league goals from 1990 to 1994 and losing, for the second time, the UEFA Cup. He returned to Stuttgart for four and a half additional campaigns, helping the side win the 1997 edition of the DFB-Pokal and moving to S.S.C. Venezia from Italy in January 1999; additionally, whilst with the former club, in the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Chelsea, he was sent off for dissent late on to put both teams down to ten men, with Dan Petrescu having been ejected beforehand in a 0–1 loss in Stockholm.

Subsequently, Poschner played with Rayo Vallecano, SK Rapid Wien, Polideportivo Ejido and TSV 1860 München, before retiring at the age of almost 35. In 1999–2000, he helped Madrid's Rayo to its best-ever classification in La Liga (ninth), and the club was eventually awarded a place in European competition via the Fair Play award, after which it reached the quarterfinals with the midfielder being an important element.

Poschner was named Real Zaragoza's general manager in August 2009. He left the post at the end of the season, and went to work in the same capacity with 1860 Munich.

Honours

Stuttgart

• DFB-Pokal: 1996–97
• UEFA Cup: Runner-up 1988–89
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Runner-up 1997–98
• DFB-Ligapokal: Runner-up 1997

Borussia Dortmund

• UEFA Cup: Runner-up 1992–93

• "(West) Germany – DFB Cup History 1990–97". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 November 2015. 
• "Stuttgart 3–3 Napoli". UEFA.com. 17 May 1989. Retrieved 11 November 2015. 
• "Ligapokal 1997 » Finale » Bayern München – VfB Stuttgart 2:0" [League Cup 1997 » Final » Bayern Munich – VfB Stuttgart 2:0] (in German). Weltfussball. Retrieved 17 November 2015. 
• "Juventus 3–0 Dortmund". UEFA.com. 19 May 1993. Retrieved 11 November 2015.