It’s time once more to develop into the masses of names that have appeared in the red and white of the Lads. Obviously, we have had many stars excite us over the seasons but then again there’s quite a number that you are left thinking “Who?” And naturally so. The purpose of this series, which will continue next season, is to profile those lesser-known figures. This time sees us head into the early years of the millennium, and profile an import that was just on Wearside for two years. Number eight in the series, right-back Bernt Haas.
Haas might have been born in Vienna, but his football career started in nearby Switzerland with the famous Grasshoppers club from Zurich. He was just 17 when former Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach Christian Gross handed him his professional debut against Lausanne. It was the first step in the road and Haas made another appearance as Grasshoppers won their then 23rd National League Title. The following season, Haas made the first of six sizeable seasonal contributions to the Zurich based side and won a second league title winners medal aged just 18. After a blank season, the season after, Haas won a third winners medal in just four seasons but was also a full international for the national team; an amazing achievement for someone not even aged 21.
Haas won a fourth Swiss Super League medal in 2001 in what was his seventh and final season with the team before a new adventure began in August 2001. His destination was Wearside as the Lads signed him for £800K to fill the void left by Chris Makin’s departure to Ipswich Town and the decision not to sign Patrice Carteron on a permanent deal from French side St. Etienne. Haas was given the number two jersey, and made his debut in the season’s opener against the afore mentioned Makin and Ipswich. Also making his debut that day was the much-maligned Lilian Laslandes, and a penalty from Super Kev gave the Lads an opening day three-point haul. Haas would make 29 appearances for the Lads that season with his last appearance coming in a 4-0 humbling at Stamford Bridge when the Lads conceded three times in the last 17 minutes.
That proved to be his last ever appearance for the Lads as he was frozen out the following season and joined FC Basel on a season long loan with a view to make the deal permanent. He won the Swiss equivalent of the FA Cup, but decided he didn’t want to go on that permanent deal. With been frozen out already, West Bromwich Albion stumped up half a million to make him switch to the Black Country and a divisional drop. He helped the Baggies to promotion but lost his place the following campaign. An end of season loan to Bastia was made permanent, but he was on the move again in 2006 with a switch German Second Division side Cologne for a season. A move back to Switzerland and St. Gallen then materialised but knee injuries reduced him to a single appearance and subsequent retirement in 2010, aged 32. Internationally, Haas obtained 36 caps for Switzerland over a nine-year stint with the Rossocrocati and was a member of their Euro 2004 squad in Portugal.
After his playing days finished, Haas moved into a role similar to that what Kristjaan Speakman does here at the Lads following a dabble in being a player agent. His first role was with FC Vaduz in Liechtenstein where he was in position for three years. Following a two-year sabbatical, he took up a similar role at FC Schaffhausen and similar between 2022 and March 2024 with his first ever club as a player, Grasshoppers. Whilst at Schaffhausen, Haas played ineligible players (that is, players minus a work permit) and was subsequently fined 2000 Swiss Francs for his misdemeanour.
