Franz Nicodem

Franz Nikodem (born March 22, 1932 in Marienwerder , † September 22, 1984 in Cologne ) was a German hockey player .

Career

After the end of the Second World War, Nikodem first moved to Flensburg. There he played for the Flensburg Hockey Club (FHC) until 1950. Together with Detlef Okrent (silver medalist in field hockey 1936) and Hermann Wätge (US national hockey player) he moved to the Marienburger Sport-Club (MSC) Cologne.

It was there that he achieved his greatest sporting successes as a player, team captain and coach. On April 28, 1956, he made his international debut in Germany - Spain (4-0, in Munich) and scored the 2-0 goal there.

He played field hockey three times for the German national team: In addition to the international match against Spain, he played on May 19, 1956 in Hanover against France (1-0 win; assisted Wolfgang Nonn's winning goal) and on June 3, 1956 with the National team in Amsterdam against the Netherlands (3-0 defeat). Franz Nikodem took part in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, where he won the bronze medal with the national hockey team. The success is to be assessed even higher, as only 15 players could be sent on the long journey to Australia for cost reasons.

On January 29, 1956, MSC Cologne was the first club from Cologne to take part in the West German indoor championships in Dortmund and won them straight away. In the small Dortmund Westfalenhalle, MSC Cologne won 4: 3 in the semifinals against Düsseldorfer SC 99 (with Hugo Budinger) and in the final 7: 2 against Gladbacher HTC. Franz Nikodem scored 8 goals for MSC Cologne in these 2 finals alone. At the end of the 1950s, the MSC Cologne was the only team from the Middle Rhine to take part in the league games of the Rhine District Association. Immediately in 1960, the promotion from the Association League to the West German Oberliga was achieved under the team captain and coach Franz Nikodem. After the 1966/1967 season, Franz Nikodem ended his active career as a hockey player in the West German Oberliga.

Life

Franz Nikodem was married and has two children. He died in Cologne on September 22, 1984.