diff --git a/app/models/player.rb b/app/models/player.rb
index 525afa5..27e1e20 100644
--- a/app/models/player.rb
+++ b/app/models/player.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@ def only_have_nationality
 		self.place_of_birth = ""
 	end
 
+	def removes_pob_region
+		# avoid entries where place of birth is deliberately set to empty string because TransferMarkt doesn't provide one to us yet
+		if self.place_of_birth == ""
+			return
+		else
+			self.place_of_birth = self.place_of_birth.split(',')[0]
+			self.save
+		end
+	end
+
 	def strip_nationality
 		deprecated_nations = ["Jugoslawien (SFR)","CSSR","UDSSR","Yugoslavia (Republic)"]
 		# we can update nationality from another source
diff --git a/lib/tasks/get_gps_coords.rake b/lib/tasks/get_gps_coords.rake
index 5ecb1ce..242a8c5 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/get_gps_coords.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/get_gps_coords.rake
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ namespace :app do
         start = Time.now 
 
         club_players.each_with_index do |player, i|
+            player.removes_pob_region
             pob = player.place_of_birth
+
             player.strip_nationality    # replaces specified nationalities with ""
             nat = player.nationality