Happy birthday to Joe Gelhardt, who was born on this day in 2002! The Leeds loanee joined Sunderland in January and has started regularly in the absence of any other striker...
Gelhardt began his career at Wigan, coming through the Latics' academy, and the Scouser made his senior debut against Rotherham in August 2018, where he came on as a substitute. He then went on to sign his first professional contract at the club 10 days later, and made his league debut against Birmingham City. On the 14th of September 2018, Joe Gelhardt scored his first senior goal, in a 2-2 draw against Hull City. It would be his only senior goal for the club in 20 appearances (although he was mostly limited to late substitute appearances).
His time at Wigan came to an end in the summer of 2020, when Wigan were hit with a 12 point deduction that saw the Tics controversially relegated to League One.
In August 2020, Joe Gelhardt signed a four-year contract at newly promoted Premier League side Leeds United. He played in the Leeds youth teams for over a year, until he eventually made his senior debut for the club in September 2021 in the EFL Cup. He scored the seventh of Leeds’ eight penalties in a shootout against Fulham, helping the Peacocks advance to the fourth round of the competition. He made his league debut against Southampton on the 11th of December that same year.
He scored his first goal for Leeds at Stamford Bridge, where Leeds suffered a 3-2 defeat to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. His most memorable moment in a Leeds shirt was against Norwich, where he scored a dramatic stoppage time winner. Leeds won the game 2-1 and went on to secure Premier League survival a few games later. He received plaudits for stepping up during Patrick Bamford's injuries and, even though he hasn't been a prolific goalscorer, always played a part in the team as a whole. Gelhardt has struggled for gametime this season though, partly due to Rodrigo’s fine form and the arrival of Luis Sinisterra. Quite surprising as many expected him to kick on and become a regular in this Leeds team.
'Joffy' was granted a move to Wearside in January, and he has three goals and two assists so far. Originally signed to play with Ross Stewart, injuries have meant that Gelhardt has had to play up top on his own. Despite taking a little while to settle in, Gelhardt's form has really picked up recently. Perhaps his most memorable moment (other than the goals) is pushing over West Brom full back Darnell Furlong, this came after Furlong had been shoving Gelhardt before Sunderland's equaliser!
