Eduard Francke (soccer player)

Eduard "Eddi" Francke (born February 8, 1918 in Erfurt-Daberstedt ; † September 1, 2010 in Erfurt ) was a German football player who played for BSG KWU / Turbine Erfurt in the zones / major league of GDR football between 1949 and 1953 played.

Athletic career

Francke began playing football as a teenager in his hometown at the Sportring Daberstedt. He later moved to the Spielvereinigung Erfurt , and as a soldier he played during the Second World War with Karlsruher SC , Eintracht Frankfurt and Hessen Kassel . After the end of the war Francke returned to Erfurt. The SpVgg Erfurt had since been dissolved and Francke joined the newly founded SG Henry Pels.

In November 1949 he moved to the company sports community (BSG) KWU Erfurt, which played in the East German soccer zone league , which was held for the first time in September . He played his first game in the highest East German division on November 20, 1949 in the encounter Vorwärts Schwerin - KWU Erfurt (2: 6) and successfully introduced himself with two goals. Although he only played twelve of 26 league games by the end of the season, he was the team's most successful shooter with ten goals. In two games he was able to excel with three goals each. The Erfurt closed the season with the final of the GDR soccer cup . They met the BSG EHW Thale , but lost 4-0. Francke had worked as a right winger.

In the mammoth season 1950/51 with 34 point games Francke could only be used three times in the first half of the season due to injury. Only in the second half of the season did he complete all 17 championship games in the now DS-Oberliga (Oberliga des Deutschen Sportausschusses ) designated game class. In five missions he scored one hit each. After the end of the season, the Erfurt team, now running under the name Turbine Erfurt, was tied at the top of the table with BSG Chemie Leipzig . It came to a playoff for the GDR championship , which Erfurt lost 2-0. Francke had again been called up as a right winger.

The 1951/52 season began again without Francke. He only got into the point games on the 10th matchday, and then played the other eight league games until the winter break. This time he was without a goal. On New Year's Eve 1951 he caused a serious traffic accident under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to six months in prison. For the 1952/53 season Francke was back in the squad of the BSG Turbine Erfurt, but was only used three times in the league. Francke played his last league game on February 1, 1953 in the match on the 20th match day Lokomotive Stendal - Turbine Erfurt (1: 1) over 69 minutes as a substitute. It was his 45th championship game in four seasons. He had 16 goals.

Even after his career as a football player, he remained connected to Erfurt football. Most recently, until his death, he was an honorary member of the FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt , the successor to the soccer section of the BSG Turbine Erfurt.

literature

• German sport echo : born 1952–1953. ISSN  0323-8628 .
• Hanns Leske : Encyclopedia of GDR football . Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89533-556-3 , p. 141.
• Andreas Baingo, Michael Horn: The History of the GDR Oberliga. 2nd Edition. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89533-428-6 , pp. 28, 310.
• DFSF (ed.): GDR Chronicle - GDR Football 1949–1991 (Volume 8). Berlin 2010.

(In the print media the name of the player is often given as "Franke")

Web links

• Eduard Francke in the database of weltfussball.de
• zcontent.de: Erfurt veteran Eddi Francke is 90 years old
• Obituary of FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt