Jérome Polenz is a retired German footballer who mostly played as a defender.
Career
Youth career
Polenz was born in Berlin, Germany, to an Algerian father and a German mother. Polenz first began his youth career with SC Siemensstadt at the age of seven before advancing through the youth systems of CFC Hertha 06 and TeBe Berlin.
In 2002, Polenz joined SV Werder Bremen. After three years on Bremen's reserve team he made his first team debut on 4 February 2006, beating Mainz 4–2. Following his debut, Polenz signed a new contract, keeping him until 2009. He appeared in three matches without scoring. During his football career, Polenz attended the Gymnasium Obervieland and graduated with an Abitur diploma.
Polenz went to Alemannia Aachen in summer 2007. On 10 August 2007, Polenz made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Carl Zeiss Jena and made 24 appearance in his first season despite injuries. Later on the season, Polenz was featured less, due to recurring injuries.
On 11 May 2010, he signed for Union Berlin for the 2010–11 season. After half a season at Union Berlin, Polenz, along with Kenan Şahin, was barred from the first team squad and instead, the duo trained in the reserve squad. After that, Polenz did not play again and just made six appearances. After nine months without playing in the first team, Polenz was called back into the first team and after being yet used in the substitute bench for the last four games, Polenz made his first appearance, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Eintracht Braunschweig. However, Polenz did not manage to become a regular player at the club and at the end of the season, he was released by the club.
On 21 August 2012, Polenz signed a contract to be an inaugural squad member of Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia. The club made their debut in a 0–0 draw against Central Coast Mariners, where Polenz played in the right-back position on 6 October 2012. At Western Sydney Wanderers, Polenz established himself in this position in the starting eleven and led the club in first position on the table in their inaugural season. Polenz scored his first ever senior goal in the Western Sydney Wanderers 1 all draw with Wellington Phoenix in Round 2 of the 2013–14 A-League season.
On the eve of the summer transfer window in 2014, Sarpsborg 08 signed Polenz for the remainder of the season.
Brisbane Roar
At the beginning of the A-League transfer window in 2015, Polenz was signed by Brisbane Roar as their last foreign player. He had been trialing with the club since the middle of December 2014 and signed a deal which binds him until the end of the 2016–17 season. After playing only 75 minutes during the 2015–16 season, he was released a year early from his contract. He retired that summer.
