David Glembotzki

Career
David worked his way through the German 3rd Division team Grossaspach youth system. He gained his professional contract in the 21/22 season but did not play a single first team game. He was released at the end of the season and Gateshead brought him in on a free. During the 22/23 season he was placed in the reserves to build up game time. He was showing great potential so for the next season he was loaned out to Vanarama South team Chelmsford City where he played very well. He helped them to a mid table finish whilst scoring 6 and assisting 3 in 44 games from center back. Once he returned it was obvious that he was a rising star. For the 24/25 season he worked his way into the first team very quickly. Playing 33 games, he was key to Gatesheads impressive defensive form, only letting 39 goals through in the league. The next season was even better for him, playing 44 times and helping to shoot Gateshead into the play-off positions. All season he was trying to get a transfer request through, after much discussions, Ireland managed to get him to sign a new 3 year contract until 2029. After the demotion of Lacey, Glembotzki was promoted to vice-captain for the 26/27 season. Club captain Fuchs had multiple injuries throughout the season, so the 22 year old had to step up and take the armband. He did this very well, leading Gateshead to the top of the table and to Wembely for the Leasing.com trophy final which they also won. He played 34 games and assisted one. It was announced that Fuchs would be leaving at the end of 26/27 season, so Glembotzki would be the club captain for the next season at the age of 23 and over 100 appearances for the club to his name. David looked to be a very good Championship player, with various other sides looking for his signature. Ireland managed to get him to stay with the captaincy and he took this well for the 27/28 season. Playing 36 games and assisting two, he helped take Gateshead to a safe mid table finish. The captain had a another solid 28/29 season, guiding the team to the play-off, narrowly missing out on the final at Wembley. The 29/30 season went very well, securing the Championship League title with David playing an impressive 40 games and averaging a 7.55 rating. The next season saw his first football being played in the Premier League. Interest was still high for his signature, mostly in Europe, but Ireland managed to keep him at the club to prove his worth in the big time. He played 34 games and helped push Gateshead to the Europa League places in their first ever season in Division One. This season also saw him go over the previous highest defender appeared for the club, Alex Lacey (256), with Glembotzki now on 259. Another good year came for David in the 31/32 season. His 37 appearances helped the team reach 6th in the league and take the Europa League Title against fellow British side Liverpool. It also saw him make the Global Team of the Year for the second season in a row. David was showing signs tht he was fancying a move away from the cold English climate. He handed in transfer request after transfer request throughout the 32/33 season. Eventually, Ireland gave in, and granted his wish when a £34,000,000 bid came in from FC Porto, just after the January transfer window shut. This in turn meant he would join them for the start of the 33/34 campaign. With David looking forward to is move to the sunny Iberian coast, he focused well on the rest of the Gateshead season and helped them lift the Premier League trophy as captain. An emotional last day of the season saw him get a standing ovation from the 30,000 people in the crowd for his 9th season of playing for the first team. He handed the captaincy down to Cristian Benedetto and left that summer to Portugal. He is one of the few players to play over 300 (333) games for the north east side over the Ireland reign, although he never did manage to get that goal.