David Wagner (soccer)

David Wagner (born October 19, 1971) is a German-American soccer coach and former professional player, who is the current manager of Football League Championship side Huddersfield Town in England.
Wagner grew up in Germany and made his professional debut with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1990 and played as a forward for several clubs in the first and second divisions of German soccer. The son of an American father and German mother, Wagner played for the United States national team, earning 8 caps between 1996 and 1998.

On the recommendation of Wagner's Schalke 04 teammate Thomas Dooley, also a German of American descent playing for the US national program, Steve Sampson brought Wagner into the US national team in 1996 despite never having seen him play. Wagner had a U.S. passport, but had played for Germany’s U-18 and U-21 teams. This gave him additional credibility with Sampson but posed a problem as he could be considered ineligible to play for the United States.

In April 1997, after Canada lost to the U.S. in a World Cup qualifying match in which Wagner played, the Canadian Soccer Federation complained to FIFA that Wagner should be ineligible to play for the U.S. based on his appearances for Germany's youth teams. On May 2, 1997, FIFA announced that Wagner was eligible to play for the U.S. because his games with the German teams were exhibitions, not official matches.

Wagner was appointed as Borussia Dortmund II manager with effect from July 1, 2011. He left the role on November 1, 2015, amidst rumors that he was going to join Jürgen Klopp's backroom staff at Liverpool. However, on November 5, 2015, he was appointed head coach of Huddersfield Town following the departure of Chris Powell. Wagner brought Christoph Bühler, who also left Borussia Dortmund on November 1, 2015, with him as his assistant.

In the summer of 2016, Wagner brought in 13 players from across the continent - with Danny Ward, Chris Löwe and Aaron Mooy amongst these. Wagner took his players on a bonding tour of Sweden, where they had to survive with only basic equipment for a few days. The team's success in the early 2016/17 season was largely accredited to the squad's tight bond, something that Wagner claimed was a direct result of this Sweden trip. A few weeks later, they visited Austria and kept two clean sheets for matches against Bundesliga sides Werder Bremen and FC Ingolstadt 04.

After an unbeaten start to the 2016/17 season, Huddersfield Town were top of the table at the start of September, including a win at St James' Park against Newcastle United, and Wagner was awarded the Sky Bet Championship manager of the month.

As of match played January 22, 2017

As a player

FC Schalke 04

• UEFA Cup: 1996–97

Individual awards

• Football League Championship Manager of the Month: August 2016

• Threlfall-Sykes, David (November 5, 2015). "Learn more about the new arrival". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Retrieved November 6, 2015.