Erich Nowotny

Erich Nowotny (* 15. October 1918 ) is a former German football player 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 Was used. In the course of the Second World War, the other final rounds followed in 1941 (Südwestmeister), 1942, 1943 and 1944 with Offenbach as master of the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau . From 1945 to 1950, the central and central point of the kickers game for the OFC, now acting as head of defense, played 135 league games in what was then the first-class Oberliga Süd and scored 17 goals. He won the southern German championship under coach Paul Oßwald in 1949 and played a total of 20 games in the finals for the German soccer championship from 1940 to 1949, in which he scored eight goals. The final eleven against VfB Stuttgart (1: 2) on June 25, 1950 in Berlin was "Kolbe" Nowotny no longer, with the league game on April 2, 1950 at SpVgg Fürth (2: 2) he had ended his career.

Kickers Offenbach, 1937 to 1950

Gauliga, until 1945

Before the 1937/38 season, Erich Nowotny came from Spvgg 05 Frankfurt-Oberrad to Kickers Offenbach in the Gauliga Südwest. In his debut round, the OFC took fourth place and the newcomer from Oberrad was mostly a half-striker. This was also the case when Offenbach won the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2 on January 2, 1938. In his second year in Offenbach, 1938/39, it was again enough in the league round to 4th place and Nowotny was also part of the team that clearly defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 on November 27, 1938 on the local Bieberer Berg Eintracht Frankfurt. In the second half of the season he and his team took part in an Easter tournament in Brandenburg, which the OFC-Elf successfully designed with a 7: 1 in the final against Freiburg FC and was then showered with praise in the press.

From the 1939/40 season, Nowotny and colleagues started a five-year successful move: As a result, Kickers Offenbach won five championships in the Gauliga from 1940 to 1944 and thus made it into the finals of the German football championship five times. Nowotny played the first game in the finals on May 19, 1940 in Stuttgart against the Stuttgarter Kickers. Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, seven OFC players were assigned to the front and the Swabians prevailed 4-0. Nowotny formed the left wing with Jakob Mondorf on the left wing. In the 1941 finals, the OFC was much more competitive in terms of sport. With 8: 4 points, the Hessians took second place behind group winners VfL Köln 1899 (9: 3). The decisive factor was the 1: 3 away defeat on May 4, 1941 in Cologne, when Nowotny, Harry Staab and Karl Göhlich could not prevail decisively against the Cologne defense around the brothers Alfons and Ernst Moog . In the final round of 1942 Nowotny ran in all four matches against VfL Köln 1899 (3: 1), Werder Bremen (4: 3), in the semifinals against FC Schalke 04 (0: 6) and in the game for third place against Blau- White 90 Berlin (0: 4) for the champions of the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau. In the finals in 1943 and 1944, the two games against 1860 Munich (0-2) and FC Mülhausen (2-4) were added. In total, "Kolbe" Nowotny played sixteen final rounds of the German championship with Kickers Offenbach during the Second World War, scoring eight goals.

During this period, the tall player was also active with Offenbach in the Tschammerpokal . In the competition in 1940 against SV Dessau 05 (2: 2 a.s., both goals by Nowotny; 4: 0 in the replay, one goal) and 1. FC Nürnberg (2: 3). Also in 1942 in three games against 1. FC Kaiserslautern (3: 2), FC Hanau 93 (3: 1) and Werder Bremen (1: 6). In 1943 he contributed two goals to the 5: 3 win against the Stuttgarter Kickers and also in the 1: 2 defeat on September 12 against FV Saarbrücken with the winning goal scorer Herbert Binkert in the 75th minute Nowotny distinguished himself as Offenbacher Goalscorer out.

In the Reichsbund Cup the Offenbacher was on December 3, 1939 in the game of the Hessen selection against the Southwest Representation (0: 3) in Kassel in the ranks of the victorious South West eleven as a left wing runner. On January 14, 1940, the Southwest lost 2-1 in Frankfurt against eventual cup winner Bavaria. Nowotny again ran as the left wing and Fritz Walter , Albert Wirsching and Peter Momber formed the host's inner storm.

Oberliga Süd, 1945 to 1950

After the end of the Second World War, an Offenbach city selection played in Gießen in October 1945 and lost 2: 4. The representatives of the OFC included the players Emil Wenzel , Karlo Funk , Hans Seiter , Karl Göhlich, Willi Keim and Erich Nowotny. The newly founded Oberliga Süd started on November 4th. Under coach Rudolf Keller and with players like Fred Patzl (goalkeeper), Heinrich "Heini" Abt , Ferdinand "Ferdi" Emberger , Anton Picard , Fred Harthaus , Heinz "Knorze" Kaster , Willi Keim, Heinrich Keller , Emil Maier , Ludwig Mohler , Willi Weber and Karl Göhlich took Offenbach in 1945/46 with 24:36 points in the debut season of the Oberliga Süd in 12th place. Early returnees from captivity continuously changed the team image and so it happened that the OFC used around 33 players in this round, including Erich Nowotny.

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. The long middle runner, a Kickers legend as "Kolbe", needed young people who were keen to run at his side and Oßwald provided the outside runners Ludwig Mohler and Willi Keim for this. In the second half of the season, the men around 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, Anton Picard, who came to Offenbach from neighboring Hausen, played an outstanding round: In 34 league games he scored 19 goals, although the kickerself only reached ninth place. Defense conductor Nowotny completed 37 league appearances and scored three goals.

Nowotny experienced the title win with the OFC in the Oberliga Süd in the season 1948/49 as the center of the best defense in the south: In 30 league games, the defense against Nowotny had only allowed 29 goals. Offenbach not only won the championship in the Oberliga Süd by eleven points, the team had also scored the most (79) goals and conceded the fewest (29). The two derbies against Eintracht Frankfurt were won 3-1 and 5-0 respectively. In the OFC anniversary book it is noted: “'Kolbe' was the actual predecessor of Hermann Nuber , because his playing facilities were similar and he was also appointed honorary captain.” The defense was mainly formed with goalkeeper Josef “Bubi” Schepper , the defender couple 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 February 6, 1949, the 18th matchday. In the final round of the German soccer championship in 1949, Nowotny and his colleagues failed on June 26, 1949 in the Schalke Glückauf-Kampfbahn in front of 55,000 spectators in the semi-finals after a 2-1 defeat at the vice-champions of the Oberliga Süd, VfR Mannheim . He directed the Offenbach defense, as well as in 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. However, captain Nowotny only played five league appearances. His long career as a player at Kickers Offenbach ended with his use on April 2, 1950 in what would later become the southern champion SpVgg Fürth, a 2-2 draw. Once again he measured himself against attackers from the south. The Fürth attack with Horst Hoffmann , Otto Brenzke , Horst Schade , Max Appis and Hans Nöth scored the most goals in southern Germany this season with 77 goals. In the successful finals in 1950 Nowotny was no longer used at OFC; the row of runners was occupied by Schreiner, Picard and Keim.

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. 280.
• 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. ↑ OFC Kickers 1901 (Ed.): 100 years Kickers Offenbach. Offenbach a. M. 2001. pp. 40/41.
2. ^ Klaus Querengässer: The German Football Championship, Part 1: 1903-1945. AGON Sportverlag. Kassel 1997. ISBN 3-89609-106-9 , p. 192.
3. ↑ OFC Kickers 1901 (Ed.): 100 years Kickers Offenbach. Offenbach a. M. 2001. p. 263.