Until October 2007, however, he only played for Schalke's second team in the Oberliga (fourth division).
Manolas was a key figure for AEK Athens in the season 2010-11, playing very impressive performances in the Superleague Greece but also in the Europa League which drew interest to many European teams such as Genoa, Udinese, Getafe and Schalke.
With the Gelsenkirchen club, Goossens notably scored in the quarterfinals of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup against F.C. Internazionale Milano, but the defending champions were eventually ousted after losing 1–0 away and a 1–1 home draw; with three goals, he was the best scorer in European competition for Schalke, but only netted five times in two and a half seasons combined in the Bundesliga.
On 22 September 2011, Rangnick stepped down as Schalke's manager due to exhaustion syndrome, stating that he currently does not have "the necessary energy to be successful and to develop the team and the club".
Abramczik, whose younger brother Volker later became also a professional footballer for FC Schalke 04, joined the ranks of the city's biggest club, Schalke 04, from native SV Erle 08 at the age of ten after former German international Bernhard Klodt spotted him.
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Schalke lost, with Stuttgart's Hermann Ohlicher's hat-trick the only goals in the game, but Abramczik's appearance on that 11 August made him the youngest ever player used on Bundesliga level at that time.
The stadium's greatest moment came when it hosted a 2003-04 UEFA Cup first round match between Kamen Ingrad and German side Schalke 04 (the result was a 0:0 draw in Velika, while the away leg in Gelsenkirchen ended 1:0 in Schalke's favour).
Schalke was only convinced by Dubbin to rejoin the band when Dubbin agreed to drop the "Huyton" from the band's name as he was now living in Croxteth.
Besides there is every year a big charity race day called "Schalke hilft!" in corporation with the world famous local football club FC Schalke 04.