Anton Picard

Anton Picard (* 4. May 1922 ) is a German footballer who most of his career at Kickers Offenbach played with the team from the stadium Bieberer mountain for the first time in 1940 as a master of Gauliga Southwest in the final round of the German football championship for use came. In the course of the Second World War, the other final rounds followed in 1942, 1943 and 1944 with Offenbach as master of the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau . From 1945 to 1951, the footballer, who can be used both as a defensive and an offensive player, played 179 league games for the OFC in what was then the first-class football league south and scored 66 goals. He won the southern German championship under coach Paul Oßwald in 1949 and played a total of 16 games in the finals of the German soccer championship from 1940 to 1950 and was also part of the final against VfB Stuttgart (1: 2) on June 25, 1950 in Berlin. At the VfR Kirn joined in the 1952/53 season in the football Oberliga Südwest at the end of his career another eight games with two goals in the Oberliga Südwest.

Kickers Offenbach, 1940–1951

Gauliga, until 1944

The young Anton Picard was first noted in a list at Kickers Offenbach during the final round of the German football championship in the summer of 1940: The 18-year-old made his debut in preliminary group IV on June 16 in the home game against the Gauliga champions in the team of the Gauliga Südwest champions Württemberg, the Stuttgarter Kickers, with a 1-0 home win. Picard ran as half-left on the side of teammates such as Karl Göhlich (goalkeeper), Heinrich Abt and Kurt Schreiner against the Kickers team led by Edmund Conen . On the last group match day, June 30th, the youngster played his second final round in a 4-0 defeat away from SV Waldhof Mannheim. In the finals in 1941 Picard was a short-term war guest player with the clubs FV Saarbrücken, LSV Hamburg, Victoria Hamburg and Hannover 96 not available for the OFC. In the final round in 1942, however, he ran again in three matches against VfL 99 Cologne (3: 1), FC Schalke 04 (0: 6) and Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin (0: 4) for the champions of the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau. In the finals in 1943 and 1944, the two games against Munich 1860 (0-2) and FC Mülhausen (2-4) were added. In total, Picard played seven finals for the German championship with Kickers Offenbach during the Second World War.

Oberliga Süd, 1945 to 1951

Under coach Rudolf Keller and with players like Fred Patzl (goalkeeper), Heinrich Abt , Ferdinand Emberger , Erich Nowotny , Fred Harthaus , Heinz "Knorze" Kaster , Willi Keim , Heinrich Keller, Emil Maier , Ludwig Mohler, Willi Weber and Karl Göhlich proved Offenbach 1945/46 with 24:36 points in the debut season of the Oberliga Süd ranked 12th. Early returnees from captivity continually changed the team image and so it came about that the OFC used around 33 players in this round, including Anton Picard.

When Paul Oßwald's coaching era began on the Bieberer Berg in the 1946/47 season and Kurt Schreiner stepped up the offensive, the team improved to fifth place. Initially, Picard ran in the attack, in the further course of the round, in the defense. On November 10, 1946, he distinguished himself as a center forward as a winning goal scorer in the 1-0 away win against SV Waldhof Mannheim. Picard was accused in both games against Eintracht Frankfurt: On November 17, 1946 in a 1-1 home draw in front of 15,000 spectators as a center forward and on April 21, 1947 in the 1: 2 defeat in front of 35,000 spectators in Frankfurt as a left defender. In the second half of the season, the men around Picard and Nowotny defied a 1-1 draw on March 9, 1947 in the home game of the superior league leaders and later champions 1. FC Nürnberg.

In the third league season, 1947/48, Picard, who came to Offenbach from neighboring Hausen and became the son-in-law of Koffer-Wahl, played an outstanding round: he scored 19 goals in 34 league games, although the kickerself only reached ninth place. The first goal was only scored on matchday 10 in a 2-0 home win against Spfrde. Stuttgart and the second goal was scored by the powerful attacker on matchday 15, December 14, 1947 in a 1: 1 against SV Waldhof Mannheim. After his first double, on February 29, 1948 in a 4-2 win against FC Schweinfurt 05, he scored in a row. In the catch-up game on June 27, 1948 against Munich 1860, he even distinguished himself as a four-time goalscorer in a 6-0 home win. The ability of the strong players on the offensive such as Gerhard Kaufhold, Horst Buhtz, Willi Weber, Kurt Schreiner, Heinz Kaster and Max Tappe helped Picard to this round achievement.

The title win with the OFC in the Oberliga Süd in the season 1948/49, Picard experienced mostly in the role of left defender; in 23 league games he scored seven goals. Now Emil Maier , who had returned from Fulda, stormed again as a center forward at OFC. Offenbach not only won the championship in the Oberliga Süd by eleven points, the team had also scored the most (79) goals and received the fewest (29). The two derbies against Eintracht Frankfurt were won 3-1 and 5-0 respectively. For the 3: 1 away win on October 24, 1948 in the local derby against Eintracht, the following is noted in the Kickers anniversary book for the 100-year-old: “Eintracht led, Picard once again converted two penalties and scored a field goal. A Picard Victory! When Picard was nominated for the national team in later years, but was not used, he was honored as an 'almost international' during the atmospheric Offenbach Carnival procession. "The defense was mainly formed with goalkeeper Schepper, the defenders Keller and Picard, as well as with the runner series Emberger, Nowotny and Keim. In the attack, Offenbach mostly played with Kurt Schreiner, Horst Buhtz , Emil Maier, Albert Wirsching and Willi Weber. After the preliminary round, the Oßwald team led the table with 28: 2 points, but then lost the away game at 1. FC Nürnberg sensationally high with 1: 8 on matchday 18, February 6, 1949. In the final round of the German football championship in 1949, Picard and his colleagues failed on June 26, 1949 in the Schalke Glückauf-Kampfbahn in front of 55,000 spectators in the semifinals after a 2-1 defeat at the vice-champions of the Oberliga Süd, VfR Mannheim . He formed the defender pair with Ferdi Emberger, as well as the game for third place on July 9, which was lost 2-1 after extra time against the new football power from the southwest, 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

As defending champion of the Oberliga Süd, Offenbach had to be content with third place in 1949/50; but this was enough to return to the finals, since this was held in 1950 with 16 clubs. Picard had scored six goals in 25 league games. In the final round he played on the stopper position and formed the row of runners that supported the game with Schreiner and Keim. After the opening success with 3: 1 against Tennis Borussia Berlin , the southern third had to face Hamburger SV on May 4th in Düsseldorf. Jupp Posipal's team led 2-0 at half-time . In the 88th minute, Weber, who was used as the left connector, decided the game for the Hessians with a goal to make it 3-2. In the semifinals against Prussia Dellbrück , Offenbach needed a replay (3-0) to move into the final, which was played on June 25, 1950 against the southern runners-up VfB Stuttgart in Berlin. The protégés of coach Georg Wurzer prevailed in front of 90,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium with 2-1 goals against Offenbach. With a 2-0 lead for Stuttgart they went into halftime. In the second part of the game, the OFC bet everything on one card. Successful, because just two minutes after the restart, Buhtz was able to shorten to 1: 2. Then the Offenbachers pushed their opponent completely into his half. But the Swabian bulwark with the outstanding goalkeeper Otto Schmid prevented further hits from the team from Bieberer Berg.

In the year after the final, 1950/51, Offenbach could not build on the performance of the previous two years and had to be content with the 10th place in the table with 32:36 points. Picard had played all 34 rounds and scored seven goals. With the catch-up game on May 1, 1951, a 6-0 home win against FC Singen 04, he said goodbye to Bieberer Berg after a total of 179 league games with 66 goals.

For the round 1951/52 he joined the southwest second division VfR Kirn and was able to celebrate the championship and promotion to the Oberliga Südwest with the team from the Kyrau stadium in the summer of 1952. Picard played the first eight first round games in a row in 1952/53 in the Oberliga Südwest and scored two goals for the newly promoted team before a protracted injury prevented him from continuing his career.

Selection games, 1941–1951

Under Reich trainer Sepp Herberger , the 18-year-old talent took part in a viewing course in Berlin from March 17 to 21, 1941. In the competition for the Reichsbund Cup 1941/42 , Picard represented the colors of Hessen-Nassau at the game on October 5, 1941 in Frankfurt against Lower Silesia (2: 2 n.V.). Like his club colleague Erich Nowotny, he distinguished himself as a goalscorer. After the end of the Second World War, Picard was again invited by Herberger to a seminar in Duisburg from November 14th to 19th, 1949, and again in Duisburg in early August 1950. On November 12, 1950, he played alongside his club colleagues Gerhard Kaufhold and Kurt Schreiner in the representative game of southern Germany against western Germany (5: 4) as a defender. Ten days later, on November 22, 1950, Picard was part of the first international squad after the Second World War in Stuttgart against Switzerland. But it was not used. On March 18, 1951, he represented the colors of southern Germany as a defender in a regional selection game in Hamburg against a northern selection (2: 4). It was a screening match before the national team's second leg against Switzerland on April 15, 1951 in Zurich.

literature

• Hardy Grüne , Lorenz Knieriem: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 8: Player Lexicon 1890–1963. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 , p. 292.
• Werner Skrentny (Ed.): When Morlock still met the moonlight. The history of the Oberliga Süd 1945–1963. Klartext, Essen 1993, ISBN 3-88474-055-5 .
• Klaus Querengässer: The German football championship. Part 1: 1903-1945 (= AGON Sportverlag statistics. Vol. 28). AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-89609-106-9 .
• Klaus Querengässer: The German football championship. Part 2: 1948–1963 (= AGON Sportverlag statistics. Vol. 29). AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-89609-107-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Klaus Querengässer: The German football championship. Part 1: 1903-1945 (= AGON Sportverlag statistics. Vol. 28). AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-89609-106-9 , pp. 193-194.
2. ↑ OFC Kickers 1901 (Ed.): 100 years Kickers Offenbach. Offenbach a. M. 2001. p. 62
3. ^ Raphael Keppel : Germany's international soccer games. Documentation from 1908–1989. Sport- und Spielverlag Hitzel, Hürth 1989, ISBN 3-9802172-4-8 , p. 180.