Sven Sprangler went from starring in the Europa League to being advised to get a “normal job” by friends in just two years.
Now the Austrian star is loving “every single moment” of life at St Johnstone.
Sprangler was part of a Wolfsberger side that recorded back-to-back Europa League wins over CSKA Moscow and Feyenoord in December 2020.
The midfielder also faced Dinamo Zagreb and Tottenham Hotspur in the same tournament.
But after an injury lay-off that coincided with a change of manager, Sprangler found himself out of favour, then dropping down to the Austrian second tier for a spell with Verwarts Steyr.
Saints fans who have watched the 28-year-old in action will find it all-but inexplicable that his subsequent search for a new club bore no fruit until a conversation with an agent led to a trial in Perth.
His tough-tackling yet cultured displays in a team struggling for fluency have made him an instant favourite at McDiarmid Park.
And he is just as happy to be a St Johnstone player as the club’s fans are to have him in their side.
“It was a very strange situation to go from playing in the Europa League to having no club,” he told the Perthshire Advertiser.
“I thought after that I would get opportunities, but it never happened.
“Some of my friends told me I should just give up, get a normal job working 40 hours a week somewhere and play football part-time in the lower leagues.
“But I told them ‘no way, never’ because I believed in myself. That was never going to happen.
“I know that time will come in the future, hopefully in ten years or something, but I wasn’t ready for that. I knew I was capable of playing in a big country.
“It was frustrating being without a team but I didn’t give up.”
Sprangler has settled into life in Scotland quickly, despite enduring a red tape wrangle ahead of his Saints debut, and is loving his football just as much as the culture.
“I have enjoyed every single moment since I arrived here, it is different to back home in Austria,” he said.
“The intensity of the training here is higher, the games have more pressure on them and the quality is high.
“The people here are amazing, Scottish people are very nice and my team-mates have welcomed me.
“It has been very easy for me to come to a foreign country for the first time. I feel blessed to be here and want to give the club something back.”
#SaintsTV spoke to Sven Sprangler after our game today. pic.twitter.com/5sGxKMeIT6
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) September 23, 2023
Sprangler is fully committed to helping St Johnstone in their Premiership basement battle.
But having tasted European football – and victories at that level – he believes he can get back there.
“Playing in Europe against Spurs, Feyenoord and Dinamo Zagreb was an amazing experience,” he recalled.
“I had always wanted to play at that level in Europe and once you have done that you want to be there all the time.
“Can I get back to that sort of level? Of course. I can always improve and I want to improve.
“I think I will learn a lot from the experience here in Scotland. When you get the ball there is instant pressure on you and there are a lot of duels.
“It suits my game and I think I will be a better player for moving here.”
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