Friedhelm Wenzlaff

Friedhelm Wenzlaff (born October 10, 1940 ; † May 1998 in Hennef ) was a German football coach who looked after the Bundesliga team of MSV Duisburg from 1980 to 1981 .

Career as a coach

At MSV Duisburg

His entry with the Bundesliga club from Duisburg took place in the youth department. In the 1977/78 season he trained the A-youth and reached with this the final of the German championship of this age group. The team met Hertha Zehlendorf's U-19s , for whom the future national player Pierre Littbarski was on the field, and secured the title with a 5-2 win.

On November 25, 1977, he sat on the bench of the MSV Bundesliga team for the first time, albeit only as an interim for a game. MSV won 5-0 against 1. FC Saarbrücken at home . Ronald Worm scored three goals. Wenzlaff was later promoted to assistant coach of the professional team and, after head coach Heinz Höher had been dismissed, he took over his post on February 11, 1980.

After taking over the team around the national players Bernard Dietz and Rudi Seliger , the "Zebras" initially continued to tumble towards relegation, but a winning streak shortly before the end of the season ensured membership in the Bundesliga. Accordingly, he was also allowed to exercise his position as head coach in the 1980/81 season, and experienced a mixed year with ups and downs, which ultimately ended in twelfth place. Since his contract expired at the end of the season, his continued employment was not guaranteed, but thanks to the efforts of Bernard Dietz, the employment relationship was extended.

In the autumn of 1981, however, the situation for Duisburg came to a head again: They lost 7-0 to Hamburger SV , and the team was even defeated by SV Darmstadt 98 , bottom of the table . The bankruptcy of the Darmstadt team gave rise to Wenzlaff being replaced by 59-year-old Kuno Klötzer on matchday 15 at the end of November . Klötzer blasphemed after four more defeats in a row: "Sometimes I think my young predecessor only held recitals with the team." In the end, however, Klötzer's statistics were even a little worse than Wenzlaff's, and the team was relegated. For the first time since 1956, the MSV was second class again.

Wenzlaff sat on the bench in a total of 63 Bundesliga matches, of which MSV won 21, drew 13 and lost 29.

Later work

Wenzlaff, who at the same time wrote hit texts under the name Franco Wenzera , was looking for work at another professional club after his dismissal at MSV. In the spring of 1982 he got in touch with SV Darmstadt 98 as a potential successor to Werner Olk , but was unsuccessful. His further coaching career was therefore limited to amateur stations, including working for SC Eintracht Hamm in the mid-1980s . In August 1987 he took over the first division club 1. FC Bocholt , but only stayed in office until January 1988. Engagements at FC Geislingen and TuRa Hennef are also known from the later 1980s and early 1990s .

He died in 1998 at the age of 57.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Friedhelm Wenzlaff , kicker.de
2. ↑ Dagmar Dahmen, Hermann Kewitz, Bernd Bemmann: MSV Duisburg - the chronicle: where Meiderich wins ... published by MSV Duisburg GmbH & Co. KGaA. Duisburg: Mercator-Verlag, 2nd edition, 2005; ISBN 3-87463-391-8 ; P. 125
3. ↑ Dagmar Dahmen, Hermann Kewitz, Bernd Bemmann: MSV Duisburg - the chronicle: where Meiderich wins ... published by MSV Duisburg GmbH & Co. KGaA. Duisburg: Mercator-Verlag, 2nd edition, 2005; ISBN 3-87463-391-8 ; P. 127
4. ↑ Dagmar Dahmen, Hermann Kewitz, Bernd Bemmann: MSV Duisburg - the chronicle: where Meiderich wins ... published by MSV Duisburg GmbH & Co. KGaA. Duisburg: Mercator-Verlag, 2nd edition, 2005; ISBN 3-87463-391-8 ; P. 129
5. ↑ The last attack, Der Spiegel, 7/1982
6. ↑ Season 1980/81 ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , revierkick.de 
7. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 14/1982 - We're still alive , spiegel.de
8. ↑ The Club history , scealteherren.de
9. ↑ Reutlinger General-Anzeiger of May 9, 1998, page 41