Günther Fuchs (soccer player, 1947)

Günther Fuchs (born March 1, 1947 ) is a former German soccer player who, as an active member of the Karlsruher SC, played 33 games in the 2nd Bundesliga South in the 1974/75 season and scored six goals and with the KSC in the Bundesliga has risen.

career

Saarbrücken and Schweinfurt, until 1969

Günther Fuchs grew up directly on the Saarland-Rhineland-Palatinate border in Waldmohr . At the local VfB he started in the C-youth and moved in the A-youth to 1. FC Saarbrücken , where he could also play in the south-west selection via the Saarland selection. Under coach Bernd Oles , the 18-year-old defensive player made his debut on February 6, 1966 at the home game of 1. FC Saarbrücken against SC Ludwigshafen in the Southwest Regional Football League . From the 19th to the 30th matchday he was then continuously in the Ludwigspark-Elf, which qualified as runner-up for the Bundesliga promotion round. With his teammates Dieter Haßdenteufel , Albert Port , Horst Remark , Erich Rohe , Walter Gawletta , Winfried Richter , Emil Poklitar , Horst Schauß and Karlheinz Vogt , he sat in the promotion round with the competition from 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 , Rot-Weiss Essen and St. Pauli apart. Saarbrücken took third place with 5: 7 points and Günther Fuchs had played all six games for the Saarlanders. Also in his second year in the Regionalliga Südwest, 1966/67, 1. FC Saarbrücken again won the runner-up and again moved into the promotion round. Fuchs had played his fifth group game under Bernd Oles on December 4, 1966 in the 3-0 defeat at SV Alsenborn . Coach Oles was sacked after the game in Alsenborn, and his successor Pelke did not rely on the ambitious young player's qualities until the end of the round and in the promotion round. In the "playless" first half of 1967, buyers from the North American "Wild League" made contact with Fuchs, his call-up to the German armed forces and the short-term offer from the southern regional league team FC Schweinfurt 05 - at Mainfranken, coach Oles took over the training in the second half of the season and brought his former Protégé to the green-whites - then destroyed these plans.

No sooner had Günther Fuchs arrived in Schweinfurt than Oles had already been replaced by the Hungarian Jenő Vincze , and Fuchs also had to cope with the double burden of serving at the Federal Border Police. On the seventh match day - on September 24, 1967 in a 3-2 home win against Waldhof Mannheim - he made his debut in the Vincze-Elf and made 27 appearances in his first round in Schweinfurt. The experienced coach Vincze turned out to be a stroke of luck for the newcomer, he encouraged and trained him to improve his performance in training and the personal speeches made a lasting impression on the young player. Schweinfurt took fifth and sixth place in 1968 and 1969 and Günther Fuchs had scored two goals in 53 regional league appearances. Due to his performance, larger clubs had now become aware of the defender, he received offers from 1. FC Nürnberg, 1860 Munich, Arminia Bielefeld and VfL Bochum for the round in 1969/70, but decided on the offer from the regional division Karlsruher SC, where Coach Kurt Baluses had strongly advocated the commitment of the player who can be used in defense and midfield.

Karlsruher SC, 1969 to 1976

In Baden, Fuchs immediately belonged to the regular line-up of the Wildpark-Elf and was the top performer of the respective blue-white teams that moved into the Bundesliga promotion rounds as runners-up in 1970, 1971 and 1973. In the first attempt in 1970, Fuchs and his defensive colleagues Rudi Wimmer , Eugen Ehmann , Jürgen Weidlandt and Friedhelm Groppe only narrowly missed the ascent, one point behind Arminia Bielefeld . In 1971 and 1973, the representatives from the West, VfL Bochum and SC Fortuna Köln , clearly prevailed. Fuchs completed all 24 promotion round matches in the three years for Karlsruhe and scored three goals. From 1969 to 1974 - for the 1974/75 round, the old second-class regional league was replaced by the 2nd Bundesliga in the south and north seasons - he played 169 league games for Karlsruhe and scored nine goals.

In addition to the good sporting record, the early years at KSC were burdened by a bad relationship with the then managing director Erich Fehlberg. Fuchs was employed by the Karlsruher Lebensversicherung (KLV) and was supposed to have salary increases there immediately deducted from his KSC salary. As a result, Fuchs only conducted future contract negotiations in the presence of his wife and a lawyer and immediately changed jobs. The young president Roland Schmider, from February 1974 first chairman of the club, had a different management style that was more positive towards the players and significantly improved the relationship between the club's management and the team.

When in the first season in the 2nd Bundesliga - 1974/75 - with the two Heilbronn entrants Bernd Hoffmann and Martin Kübler under coach Carl-Heinz Rühl, performance-enhancing reinforcements for the offensive were successful, the KSC won the first championship in the group south and rose after seven years in the second division straight to the Bundesliga. Fuchs - alongside Martin Kübler and Wilfried Trenkel , he had mostly played his 33 round games with six goals in defensive midfield - and his teammates had laid the foundation for the championship in the home games in front of an average of 17,156 spectators with 34: 4 points. For the Bundesliga round 1975/76 , Hermann Bredenfeld , Jürgen Kalb and Winfried Schäfer came to the Wildpark in the summer of 1975, with three types of players who could be used in defense and midfield with a similar ability and variability in defense and midfield as Fuchs. Fuchs defended successfully together with Siegfried Kessler , Jürgen Kalb, Ewald Schäffner and Rainer Ulrich in the 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on August 9, 1975 and Kübler, Schäfer and Trenkel were responsible for the midfield. Since KSC was in 16th place after the first half of the season with 13:21 points, Karl-Heinz Struth and Ove Flindt-Bjerg were signed up for the second half of the season . Fuchs was only substituted on in the 2-0 away defeat at Eintracht Braunschweig in April 1976 and said goodbye to Karlsruher SC and the Bundesliga on the 34th matchday after being substituted in Bochum. In 16 missions he had scored a goal in the Bundesliga season 1975/76 and the KSC held the class with 30:38 points. Since the relationship of trust between coach Rühl and Fuchs was severely disturbed, the only option for him was to leave Karlsruhe.

Since an almost perfect change to the Stuttgarter Kickers did not materialize because of the excessive KSC transfer fee, he joined FC Germania Friedrichstal in the Karlsruhe district in the 2nd Amateur League North Baden for the 1976/77 round . From 1969 to 1976 Günther Fuchs had played 218 league games for KSC in the Regionalliga Süd, 2nd Bundesliga South and Bundesliga, scoring 16 goals.

End and new beginning

From 1977 to 1979, Günther Fuchs returned home for two years as a player at FC St. Wendel in the 1st Amateur League Saarland. During this time, Fuchs successfully completed his degree in real estate management at the University of Freiburg. His playing career ended from 1979 to 1981 as a player-trainer at FV Steinwend in the Ramstein-Miesenbach community. This was followed by coaching engagements at FC St. Wendel and other clubs, before he ended his coaching time in 2003 after a brief mission at FK Pirmasens .

Today (2009) he is active in further training at the Association of German Football Teachers (BDFL), Association Group Southwest and in the committee of the Sports Court of the Saarland Football Association. The now enthusiastic volleyball player lives with his family in his Palatinate home Waldmohr.

literature

• Uwe Nuttelmann (Ed.), Regionalliga Südwest 1963–1974, 2002, ISBN 3-930814-28-5
• Uwe Nuttelmann (Ed.), Regionalliga Süd 1963–1974, 2002, ISBN 3-930814-28-5
• Matthias Weinrich: Second League Almanac. All players. All clubs. All results. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-89784-190-8 .
• Matthias Weinrich: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 4: 35 years of the Bundesliga. Part 2. Goals, crises & a successful trio 1975–1987. Stories, pictures, constellations, tables. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-89784-133-9 .
• "Auf, ihr Helden", magazine for football time stories, KSC special issue No. 14, 2008, pages 82–85