Nikolaus Feldhofer

Football runs in the family for Nikolaus Feldhofer: his father, Ferdinand Feldhofer, is a well-known coach in Austrian football, and the son's own path started early, moving through SV Pirka-Windorf and JAZ GU-Süd before Red Bull Salzburg took him into its academy in 2020. He spent five years there, working his way up through the club's age groups, from the under-16s to the under-18s, before leaving in 2025.

Rather than a direct step into a first team, Feldhofer's route to Bundesliga football went through Hartberg's reserve side. He joined TSV Hartberg II on a free transfer in July 2025 and spent a season in the Landesliga Steiermark, the fourth tier, making 20 appearances as the team pushed for promotion to the Regionalliga Süd — a target the side achieved. That season doubled as his audition for the senior squad.

It worked. Hartberg promoted him into the first-team squad for the 2026/27 season, and Feldhofer wasted little time making it count: he made his professional debut in the ÖFB Cup in July 2026, then followed it a month later with his first appearance in the Austrian Bundesliga. Since then he has featured five times in the league and once in the cup, picking up a yellow card along the way but yet to open his account in goals or assists.