Oliver Glasner

Oliver Glasner (born 28 August 1974) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace.

A defender by trade, he spent almost all of his professional career with Austrian Bundesliga club SV Ried, winning the Austrian Cup in 1998 and 2011. Following his retirement, Glasner worked as an assistant manager at Red Bull Salzburg before returning to Ried as manager in 2014. He then spent four seasons as manager of former club LASK, winning promotion to the Austrian top flight, and helping the club finish as runners-up in his final season.

In 2019, he was appointed manager of Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, qualifying for Europe in both seasons at the club. He was then appointed manager of Eintracht Frankfurt, and won the UEFA Europa League in his first season, as well as leading the club to the Champions League knockout stages and DFB-Pokal final in his second and final season. In 2024, he was named manager of Crystal Palace.

Playing career
Glasner started his career at SV Riedau, and joined the second Austrian division team SV Ried in 1993. Ried got promoted to the Austrian Bundesliga in 1995. During the 1997–98 season he won the Austrian Cup with the club. When Ried went down to second division again in 2003, Glasner joined First League team LASK for the next season, but returned to Ried a year later. Ried returned to the Bundesliga in 2005, and in the 2010–11 season, Glasner won the Austrian Cup for the second time. On 31 July 2011, he suffered a cut above the eye and a slight concussion during a header duel in a league match between Ried and Rapid Wien. Nevertheless, he accompanied his team during the Europa League third qualifying round second leg against Brøndby. After the final head ball training session, a brain haemorrhage developed on August 4, 2011. He was operated on the same day. Glasner survived the operation, but ended his career on the advice of the doctors on August 23, 2011. He made more than 500 league appearances in his 16-year career.

Early career
In 2006, Glasner completed Diplomkaufmann at University of Hagen. He was offered an assistant coach role at Ried in 2012. But Peter Vogl, then honorary president of SV Ried and CEO of Red Bull Salzburg, hired Glasner as management assistant, responsible for sports. Glasner asked Ralf Rangnick for an opportunity in coaching, and in July 2012, he became assistant manager for Roger Schmidt in the first-team squad. After the successful two-year spell at Salzburg, finishing Austrian champions, Glasner did not follow Schmid towards Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, but instead was appointed manager at his former club Ried for the 2014–15 season. He started the campaign with two wins: 3–2 against Parndorf in the first round of the Austrian Cup, on 11 July 2014; and 3–1 against Wiener Neustädter in a league match, on 19 July.

LASK


Glasner joined LASK in the 2015–16 season as a director of sport, as well as manager. Over time, vice president Jürgen Werner and Glasner constructed a team with an unmistakable style of play. LASK earned promotion to the first division in Glasners second season, then finished the 2017–18 Austrian Football Bundesliga season in fourth position, earning a place in the 2018–19 Europa League third qualifying round. It was club's first European campaign since 2000. In the 2018–19 season, LASK finished in second place, just behind perennial champions Red Bull Salzburg, which allowed them to participate in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Following his success with LASK, Jörg Schmadtke hired Glasner to manage VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and Valérien Ismaël joined LASK as his replacement.

VfL Wolfsburg
In his first season with Wolfsburg, the club managed to qualify for the Europa League, finishing seventh in the league. Glasner also guided them to the Europa League round of 16 phase, where they lost 5–1 on aggregate against Shakhtar Donetsk. In the 2020–21 Bundesliga, Wolfsburg finished fourth, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. Glasner left Wolfsburg after two seasons despite qualifying for the Champions League, due to a poor relationship with sporting director Jörg Schmadtke and some players including club captain Josuha Guilavogui, who said, "I'm happy he's gone." Mark van Bommel joined to succeed Glasner.

Eintracht Frankfurt


In May 2021, Eintracht Frankfurt announced that Glasner had signed as manager on a three-year deal until 30 June 2024. The start at Frankfurt was challenging. Frankfurt appointed Axel Hellmann as the new chairman of the board, Markus Krösche succeeded Fredi Bobic as managing director for sport, Ben Manga replaced Bruno Hübner as sporting director and the team lost its top scorer, André Silva, to RB Leipzig. The team lost 2–0 in the first round of DFB-Pokal against third tier Waldhof Mannheim. Frankfurt was close to the relegation zone in November, managing to win only one league game during the first months – against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. It was the first time after 21 years, and after 16 matches they did so.

Between November and December, Frankfurt won six out of seven, and was placed sixth at the end of the first round of matches. The second half of the season was inconsistent, Frankfurt finished the league at 11th place. Their continental campaign was successful, they advanced to the Europa League final, for the second time in the club's history (after 1980) – defeating Barcelona and West Ham United en route – and won the match 5–4 on penalties against Scottish club Rangers. Frankfurt stayed undefeated for 13 UEL games, and qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 1960.

The following season, Glasner led Frankfurt to finish second in the Champions League group stage against Tottenham, Sporting and Marseille, but lost in the round of 16 against dominating later Italian champions Napoli. Though they were fourth at the halfway point, Frankfurt only finished seventh, winning two of their last three matches to secure qualification for the Europa Conference League. They also reached the DFB-Pokal final against RB Leipzig, but lost 2–0. Following a poor second half of the league season, Glasner departed Frankfurt at the end of the 2022–23 season, one year earlier than his original contract. Dino Toppmöller was his successor.

Crystal Palace
On 19 February 2024, Glasner was appointed manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace, signing a contract until the end of the 2025–26 season. He replaced Roy Hodgson, who stepped down as manager the same day. He did not take charge of the match against Everton the same day, which was overseen by interim manager Paddy McCarthy; he was instead seen observing the 1–1 draw from the Goodison Park stands alongside chairman Steve Parish.

Glasner won his first game in charge, beating Burnley 3–0 at Selhurst Park on 24 February. On 14 April, Glasner won his first away game with the club, ending Liverpool's 29-game unbeaten streak at Anfield with a 1–0 win. On 6 May, he led Palace to a 4–0 win over Manchester United at Selhurst Park to complete their first ever Premier League double over the club. On the final day of the season, he led Palace to a 5–0 home win over Aston Villa, the joint biggest Premier League win in Palace's history. Palace ended the season with six wins from their last seven games, equalling their highest ever Premier League points tally of 49, having won 4 consecutive home games for the first time and finishing in the top 10 for the second time in the Premier League era, as well as reaching their highest ever points tally in a top-flight season. Only Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea earned more points than Palace since Glasner took charge of the club.

Player
SV Ried
 * Austrian Cup: 1997–98, 2010–11

Manager
Eintracht Frankfurt
 * UEFA Europa League: 2021–22