Fabian Schär Biography

Swiss footballer (born 1991)

Fabian Lukas Schär (German pronunciation: ; born 20 December 1991), known as Fabian Schär, is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Switzerland national team. He is known for his powerful free kicks, long shots and long p*es.

Beginning his career at his hometown club of Wil, Schär transferred to Basel in 2012, winning the Swiss Super League in all three of his seasons there before his move to Hoffenheim.

After playing at the 2012 Olympics, Schär made his senior debut for Switzerland in 2013. He represented the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, as well as the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020.

Club career

Wil

Born in Wil, in the Canton of St. Gallen, Schär began his playing career at hometown club Wil and rose through the youth ranks, soon playing regularly for Wil's reserve team. He eventually made his league debut on 29 November 2009 against FC Stade Nyonnais, coming on as a late subs*ute. He scored his first Swiss Challenge League goal in an away win against Yverdon-Sport on 30 October 2010.

Basel

On 4 July 2012, Schär transferred to Basel on a three-year contract with the option of a fourth. He made his Swiss Super League debut on 29 September in a 1–1 away draw against Lausanne-Sport. He scored his first goal for his new club on 7 October in the St. Jakob-Park during the 3–2 home win against Servette, heading an equaliser following a corner from Fabian Frei.

At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Schär won the Championship *le and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel. In the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Basel advanced as far as the semi-finals, there being matched against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea, but they were knocked out losing both matches and being beaten 2–5 on aggregate.

At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season Schär won his second league championship with Basel. They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time. During the 2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached the group stage and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified for Europa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals.

The 2014–15 season was a very successful one for Basel and Schär. Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row that season. In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final, but for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout stages, with a 1–1 away draw against Liverpool enough to take them through. Basel later lost to Porto in the Round of 16.

Hoffenheim

On 4 June 2015, Schär signed for Hoffenheim. On 16 April 2016, he scored his only goal at the club from a header in a 2–1 victory over Hertha BSC.

Deportivo La Coruña

On 21 July 2017, Schär signed a four-year deal with Deportivo de La Coruña. He made his La Liga debut on 20 August, starting in a 3–0 home loss against Real Madrid. He scored two goals in the 2017–18 season, which ended in relegation for the Galician team.

Newcastle United

On 26 July 2018, following Deportivo de La Coruña's relegation from La Liga, Schär signed a three-year deal with Newcastle United after the club had activated his £3 million buy out clause in his contract.

He made his debut for the club on 26 August 2018 in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea. Schär scored his first goals for Newcastle against Cardiff City on 19 January 2019, netting twice in a 3–0 victory at St James' Park. He scored his third Newcastle goal against Burnley in a 2–0 win, opening the scoring with a 30-yard strike that would win Premier League and Match of the Day's February Goal of the Month compe*ion. His fourth goal came in the final game of the season, and eventual 4–0 win over Fulham.

On 4 October 2023, Schär scored his first Champions League goal for Newcastle United against Paris Saint-Germain in a 4–1 home victory during the 2023–24 season group stage.

On 8 January 2024, Schär extended his contract with Newcastle until the summer of 2025.

On 13 April 2024, Schär netted his 50th career goal during United's 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

International career

Youth

Schär was a Switzerland youth international having played at under-20 and under-21 level. Schär made his international debut for the Swiss U-20 team in a game against Poland U-20 on 17 November 2011. He played his first game for the Swiss U-21 on 29 February 2012 in the 2–1 defeat against the Austrian U-21. He scored his first goal for the Swiss U-21 during his fourth appearance for them on 10 September 2012 in a match against Estonia U-21 This was the final game in the qualification to the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Switzerland finished in second position and entered the play-offs. In the first leg of the qualification play-offs on 12 October 2012 against the German U-21 team Schär was shown the red card after he fouled Sebastian Polter as last man. Despite the goal from the penalty spot the game ended in a 1–1 draw.

He was selected to represent Switzerland in the men's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Swiss under-23 team. He played over 90 minutes in the first two games of the tournament, but the team were knocked out, finishing in fourth position of their Group.

Senior

Schär with Switzerland in 2015

On 8 August 2013, Schär was called up to Swiss senior team for the first time and made his debut on the friendly match vs Brazil on 14 August 2013.

On 6 September 2013, scored his first goal for the Swiss senior team in a 4–4 home draw against Iceland. Four days later, on 10 September, Schär scored two more goals in a 2–0 away win over Norway.

On 13 May 2014, Schär was named in Switzerland's squad for the 2014 World Cup. He made his tournament debut as a starter in the team's third match, replacing the injured Steve von Bergen and helping Switzerland to a clean sheet in a 3–0 defeat of Honduras.

In Switzerland's first game of Euro 2016, Schär headed Xherdan Shaqiri's corner kick after five minutes for the only goal against Albania in Lens.

He was included in the Swiss team 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup.

In May 2019, he was named to the national team for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League final matches and played in all two matches but finished 4th.

In 2021, he was called up to the national team for the 2020 UEFA European Championship, where the team created one of the main sensations of the tournament reaching the quarter-finals.

In November 2022, he was selected in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Personal life

Schär has a girlfriend, Alexandra Munger. In 2023 he completed a degree in Sports Management.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 April 2024

International

As of match played 26 March 2024As of match played 26 March 2024. Switzerland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Schär goal.

Honours

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15

Newcastle United

• EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23

Individual

• Premier League Goal of the Month: February 2019
• North East FWA Player of the Year: 2019
• Swiss Super League Team of the Year: 2013–14, 2014–15

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fabian Schär.

• Fabian Schär at the Newcastle United F.C. website
• Fabian Schär at Premier League
• Fabian Schär at Swiss Football League
• Fabian Schär – UEFA compe*ion record (archive)
• Fabian Schär at WorldFootball.net