Paul Scharner

Born in Scheibbs, Scharner grew up in Purgstall an der Erlauf, where he also started his playing career with local site SVG Purgstall at the age of seven, playing for the club's U-8 team. He stayed with the club until 1993, when he transferred to FCN St. Pölten, which he left in 1996 for Austria Wien, the club where he would receive his first professional contract in 1999. He played for their U-17 and U-18 and later for the club's amateurs, while also getting vocational education in the field of electrical engineering.

After rising through the youth ranks of the club and playing for the U-17, U-18 and amateur squads, he made his debut for the first team as a substitute on the third of March in 1998 in a friendly match against Hellas Kagran, which Austria Wien won 5:1 and received his first professional contract in May 1999.

1998/1999 and 1999/2000 seasons Before receiving his first professional contract with the club, he again took part in two friendly matches in February 1999, before making his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga on 24 April in a home game against SV Ried, which the Austria won 3:0. In May, he took part in three games for the remainder of the season, playing against Salzburg, GAK and Innsbruck, respectiveley. The latter also marked his first time in the starting line-up and his first yellow card.

Scharner started playing for Austria at the under-21 level, debuting against Spain in 2000. He played a total of twelve matches on that level, scoring no goals.

To further develop his skills and to give him more minutes, Scharner was loaned to then-Austria affiliate club SG Untersiebenbrunn in the Erste Liga from July to October 2001, where he scored five goals in 16 league matches and also played in the ÖFB-Cup. He returned to his club in November and started getting minutes by the end of the month, playing against Rapid Wien, SV Salzburg and FC Kärnten. In the second half of the season he developed himself as a starter, seeing the kick-off in twelve of his 13 games, while seeing four yellow cards that season. He made his first goal for Austria Wien in a professional competition, opening the scoring in a Bundesliga match against Sturm Graz on 30 March. His strong away round also brought him into the Austrian national football team, debuting in a 0:0 against Cameroon on 17 April 2002.

Scharner debuted for the Austrian national football team in a 0:0 against Cameroon on 17 April 2002. He played the qualification round for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but Austria failed to qualify. Scharner retired in August 2006 after a 2-1 defeat to Hungary, criticising "unprofessional structures" within the ÖFB. Coach Josef Hickersberger banned him from the team and stated that he will never play for Austria as long as he manages it. He tried to make a comeback in 2008, when Austria co-hosted the 2008 UEFA European Championship but Hickersberger remained hard, not picking him. After Hickersberger was replaced, his successor Karel Brückner started nominating him again after the tournament and he was even promoted to team captain from 2009 to 2010. After then-coach Dietmar Constantini was fired, he tried to become player-coach but this was rejected. In August 2012 he was banned from the team permanently after leaving the team hotel when coach Marcel Koller refused to give him a leading role in the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. The chairmanship of the ÖFB has stated that he will never play for Austria again, no matter who coaches it. He played a total of 40 matches, scoring no goals.

Scharner's disputes with coaches at both club and international level have brought him media attention: a 2012 feature in Österreich described him as "still an awkward customer" (German: Er ist und bleibt ein Querkopf). In 2003, his refusal to come on as a substitute to play on the right of midfield led Austria Wien coach Joachim Löw to suspend him from the team. After Scharner announced his retirement from international football in 2006, citing the ÖFB's lack of professionalism, national coach Josef Hickersberger said that as long as he was in charge, Scharner would not play for Austria again. He made a comeback under Dietmar Constantini, but criticised the retention of Constantini as coach after failure to qualify for Euro 2012, proposing himself as a better alternative. His final breach with the national team came in August 2012, when the ÖFB banned him permanently for leaving the team hotel after unsuccessfully demanding a guaranteed key role throughout the World Cup qualifiers and publicly criticising coach Marcel Koller.

2004 and 2005 seasons Having transferred to Brann late in the season, Scharner made only a few games for his new club, scoring one goal. Brann won the Norwegian Cup that season, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup qualification, where they overcame AC Allianssi, but lost both games against Lokomotiv Moscow the next round.

The following year, he developed himself into a starter for the Norwegian site, playing 29 games while scoring five goals and receiving four yellow cards. When he left the club after the 2005 season, he had played 32 league matches, scoring seven goals. Scharner was elected Brann's Player of the Year in 2005.

After finishing the 2005 season with SK Brann, Scharner signed a 3.5-year deal with Wigan Athletic on 22 December 2005, and joined the squad after the holidays. Wigan agreed to pay a fee of £2,500,000 (€3,700,000, 29,500,000 NOK), making it the biggest transfer in Brann's history.

Aside from reaching the third round in the FA Cup and the fourth in the League Cup, Scharner made a total of 27 league games the following season, scoring no goals while receiving three yellow cards, lifting Wigan Athletic to a solid eleventh place, having earned 45 points. On 22 March 2009, he became the first Wigan player to play 100 Premier League games, playing an outstanding 77 minutes in a 1–0 win at home to Hull City.

In his final season for Wigan, he played in all 38 league games, scoring four goals while receiving six yellow cards. Wigan lost to Blackpool in the second round of the League Cup and to Notts County in the fourth round of the FA Cup. On 30 August 2009, he scored his first goal of the season against Everton. After a 5–0 defeat to Manchester United, Wigan manager Roberto Martínez preferred to use Scharner in an attacking midfield role. Scharner was a part of the team in November 2009 that suffered a historical 9–1 loss at the hands of Tottenham, scoring Wigan's only goal in the fixture although, when controlling the ball prior to shooting, he appeared to handle it. On 19 April 2010, he announced his decision to leave Wigan Athletic at the end of the 2009–10 season.

After four senior league appearances in the 2012-13 season with Hamburg, Scharner was signed on loan by former club Wigan Athletic, on transfer deadline day. He helped the club to reach the FA Cup final after they beat Millwall FC 2-0 at Wembley. Scharner said it was his "best moment in football". On 11 May 2013 Scharner won the FA Cup with Wigan, playing the whole game in a 1-0 upset win against Manchester City. However, only 3 days later, Wigan were relegated from the Premier League following a 4-1 defeat against Arsenal.