“It felt good”: Banks makes his Bundesliga debut
First appearance at the WWK ARENA
First Team
13.01.2025, 15:00
Despite the 1-0 defeat to VfB Stuttgart, 12th January 2025 was an unforgettable day for Noahkai Banks. His arrival as a 29th-minute substitute saw the FCA academy product make his Bundesliga debut.
“As everything happened so quickly, I didn’t have much time to feel nervous,” Banks told FCA TV after his Bundesliga debut. Obviously, a win would have made it even better, but the 18-year-old said it was still a great feeling to make his first appearance in the top tier of German football. Banks came on in the 29th minute for Maximilian Bauer, who was suffering from light-headedness. “I was happy to be on the pitch and focused on my game,” said the centre-back, who impressed with a composed performance. A strong tackle on former Augsburg man Ermedin Demirović just after half time was particularly memorable.
The newest FCA academy graduate
Banks is the 15th player from the FCA academy to make a Bundesliga appearance for the Fuggerstädter, after Erik Thommy, Tim Rieder, Julian Günther-Schmidt, Raphael Framberger, Kevin Danso, Marco Richter, Simon Asta, Jozo Stanic, Tim Civeja, Lukas Petkov, Aaron Zehnter, Mert Kömür, Mahmut Kücüksahin and Henri Koudossou. The towering defender had previously been named on the Augsburg bench four times this season. He has also featured 11 times in the Regionalliga Bayern for FCA’s U23 side this campaign.
Banks was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2006, and joined the U10s at FC Augsburg from his hometown club TSV Dietmannsried in 2015. He signed his first professional contract with FCA at the age of 17. Banks holds both German and American citizenship, and currently represents the USA at U20 level.
