Gernot Trauner

He made his competitive debut for the club on 1 September, coming off the bench in the 84th minute for Nacho Rodríguez in a 1–0 home loss to Sturm Graz.

Gernot Trauner ( born 25 March 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Eredivisie club Feyenoord, which he captains, and the Austria national team.

Trauner started playing football for SV Kematen am Innbach in the Hausruckviertel of Upper Austria in 1997.

Described by his youth coach Karl Karazi as "agile and techically gifted" from early on, he was particularly praised for his ambition to succeed.

The season ended with Ried suffering relegation to the second tier; their first relegation since 2003.

He progressed through the different youth teams of the club until 2006, where he moved to regional football academy of Linz.

He played there from under-15 to the under-19 level, winning the national under-17 championship with the team in the 2008–09 season.

Trauner progressed through different youth teams in Upper Austria, before making his debut in professional football as part of LASK in 2010.

After having impressed with the under-19s of the Linz academy, Trauner was signed by regional powerhouse LASK in February 2010.

He initially played for the second team competing in the Upper Austrian Landesliga.

He made his debut for this team in a 6–1 victory against SV Gmunden on 21 March 2010, scoring a goal.

Teammates on his debut included Lukas Kragl, Thomas Höltschl and Ali Hamdemir.

In his first season he made another ten appearances and scored three more goals.

The reserve team won promotion to the Austrian Regionalliga Central at the end of the season with a second place.

Ahead of the 2010–11 season, Trauner was promoted to the LASK first team, making his Austrian Bundesliga debut under head coach Helmut Kraft as a substitute for René Aufhauser in a 1–0 regional derby loss to SV Ried on 31 July 2010.

Sidelined by injury in the 2011–12 season, he made the move to SV Ried in 2012 where he made his breakthrough in the Austrian Bundesliga.

He made 10 more league appearances that season as his team suffered relegation to the First League, but would miss the entirety of the 2011–12 season with a complicated hip injury.

Trauner joined SV Ried on 12 June 2012, after his contract with LASK had expired.

He signed a three-year contract.

He would suffer a zygomatic bone fracture in October 2013, again sidelining him for an extended period.

However, he managed to establish himself as a starter for the club, switching from a position as central midfielder to centre-back under head coach Oliver Glasner.

On 7 March 2015, Trauner scored his first goal in the Austrian Bundesliga, a powerful shot from distance, to hand Ried a 2–1 victory against SV Grödig.

In May 2015, he signed a contract extension with Ried until 2017.

Trauner suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee in April 2016, which meant that he missed large parts of the 2016–17 season.

He returned to the pitch on 29 November 2016, after a six-month absence, coming on as a substitute in the second half for Clemens Walch in a 1–0 loss to Rheindorf Altach.

He returned to LASK in 2017 under head coach Oliver Glasner where he grew into one of the best centre-backs in the league, and also experienced European success.

In 2021, he joined Eredivisie club Feyenoord, where he reached the UEFA Europa Conference League final in his first season and was voted into the Team of the Season.

On 29 May 2017, Trauner returned to LASK on a three-year contract, as the club had won promotion back to the Bundesliga.

On 15 July, Trauner made his first competitive appearance for the club since his return, in the 1–0 win against FC Kitzbühel in the Austrian Cup.

A week later he also played his first league game since his return, in a 3–0 victory against Admira Wacker.

He made his debut for the Austria national team in 2018 in a friendly against Denmark.

On 17 February 2018, Trauner scored his first goal for LASK, opening the score in a 2–0 win against Rheindorf Altach.

The team finished fourth in the league table at the end of the season, and thus qualified for UEFA Europa League football.

For the 2018–19 season, Trauner was named team captain.

Entering the second qualifying round of the Europa League, Trauner made his European debut in a 4–0 victory against Norwegian club Lillestrøm.

LASK were eliminated in the third qualifying round on away goals by Turkish side Beşiktaş.

He finished the season with three goals scored as LASK finished in second place in the Bundesliga.

In the play-off round of the UEFA Champions League against Club Brugge, Trauner was sent off after receiving two yellow cards and LASK were eliminated, allowing them to enter the group stage of the Europa League.

On 12 December 2019, Trauner scored his first European goal, opening the score against Sporting CP in a 3–0 win.

In the Round of 16, LASK were eliminated by Manchester United.