Frank Neumann (soccer player)

Frank Neumann (born August 21, 1956 in East Berlin ) is a former German football player who was active in 1977 for 1. FC Union Berlin in the GDR Oberliga , the top division in GDR football .

Athletic career

Frank Neumann came to 1. FC Union Berlin at the age of 19 in the summer of 1975 through the youth departments of FC Vorwärts Berlin and BFC Dynamo . In the previous season he had already played in the men's area in the third-class district league for the 3rd team of the BFC. Also at Union he was initially used in the district league, in which Union II was represented. There Neumann quickly became a regular player as a midfielder and distinguished himself as a multiple goalscorer. For the 1976/77 season, the 2nd team of 1. FC Union was integrated into the junior team and the junior league . Neumann also played the most point games there and stood out for his goal-scoring potential. During this season he also came to his only two appearances in the league. He was substituted on as a striker on both the 15th and 16th matchdays during the second half. After he was used exclusively in the youth team in 1977/78, he moved to the East Berlin Company Sports Association (BSG) rotation in the second-rate GDR league for the 1978/79 season . Neumann had a good debut there with three goals on the first day of the league. Up to the 9th day of play, Neumann played all the point games and scored a remarkable nine goals, with which he was the team's top scorer at the end of the season. In November 1978 he was called up for 18 months for military service in the National People's Army . After his release he returned to the BSG rotation, where he was able to take part in the last two GDR league games in April 1980. Rotation then descended and Neumann moved within the GDR league to the East Berlin BSG Kabelwerk Oberspree . There he was able to play a full season again after two years in 1980/81. He missed only one game of the 22 league games, and with his ten goals he was also the top scorer at KWO. In the 1981/82 season Neumann was only used in the first two GDR league games and the following cup game. In December 1981 he signed up again with the BSG rotation. As a successful goalscorer, he helped the district league team to return to the GDR league and win the Berlin district cup. In the 4-1 victory in the cup final, he contributed three goals. In the following two GDR league seasons Neumann was one of the assets of the BSG rotation. 1982/83 he was used in all 22 league games and was again top scorer with eight goals. In the 1983/84 season he was absent from only two league games and scored six goals. After the end of the season Neumann signed up for the BSG rotation and joined the BSG Motor Ludwigsfelde in the Potsdam district league. He did not return to higher-class football afterwards. There he had played two league games and 77 GDR league games within seven seasons. While he remained goalless in the league, Neumann scored 33 goals in the GDR league.

literature

• German sport echo : born 1974–1984. ISSN  0323-8628
• Berliner Zeitung : Years 1974–1984. ISSN  0947-174X
• Andreas Baingo, Michael Horn: The History of the GDR Oberliga. 2nd Edition. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89533-428-6 , p. 297.
• DFSF (Ed.): GDR Chronicle - GDR Football 1949–1991 (Volume 8). Berlin 2011, p. 276.

Web links

• Frank Neumann in the database of the German Football Association
• Frank Neumann in the database of weltfussball.de
• Frank Neumann at .immerunioner.de