Harry Linka
Harry Linka (born October 15, 1930 ; † May 29, 2017 ) was a German football player. The offensive player completed a total of 236 league games in which he scored 50 goals at the clubs SpVgg Erkenschwick , SV Sodingen and VfL Bochum in the then first-class Oberliga West from 1951 to 1961. In the 1954/55 season, the attacker won the runner-up in the Western League with the Herne district club SV Sodingen and took part in the final round of the German soccer championship .
Career as a footballer
The young footballer Harry Linka spent the first two rounds in the senior division from 1949 to 1951 with Westfalia Herne in the 2nd League West. The young offensive player gained playing experience in the second division alongside top performers such as Günter Grandt and Ehrenfried Wydra . After 25 league appearances with ten goals, he joined the league club SpVgg Erkenschwick for the 1951/52 season. In the "buddy" -Verein the Ewald coal mine and in the square around the towering captain Julius "Jule" Ludorf grouped met Linka to the fullest the relegation battle. At the end of the round, the Red-Blacks from the Stimberg Stadium took 14th place; Linka had scored eight goals in 20 games. But now there was still - 11 May to 15 June - a relegation round against the two runners-up in the 2nd League West Group 1 and 2 together with STV Horst-Emscher (13th in the Oberliga). The two league clubs prevailed against VfB Bottrop and TSG 80 Vohwinkel and remained in the Oberliga West after six relegation games. In his second year with the Stimberg-Elf, 1952/53, however, with a 1:29 away points balance, relegation could not be realized. Under coach Willy Jürissen Linka had scored seven goals in 20 games. Linka remained in the league, he signed a new contract with SV Sodingen for the 1953/54 season and thus returned to Herne.
The green-whites, playing in the shadow of the Mont Cenis colliery , were promoted to the league in 1952 and were only just able to receive their class membership in the second league year. Linka had scored three goals in 16 missions and was allowed to experience the special processes in Sodingen alongside regular players Alfred Schmidt , Johann Adamik , Josef Bothe , Siegfried Geesmann , Gerhard Harpers , Alfons Nowak , Willi Schumacher and Horst Wenker under coach Walter Ochs . The round ended on April 11, 1954 with a 1: 2 defeat against 1. FC Köln, which won the championship with one point ahead of Rot-Weiss Essen.
In the 1954/55 round, the green-whites started with two opening wins against Dellbrück (1-0) and Duisburger SpV (2-1). From the beginning, Harry Linka was part of the regular formation of coach Ludwig Tretter in the World Cup system , either as a center forward or as a right winger. From the last eight round games, from March 6th to May 1st 1955, Sodingen got 14: 2 points and surprisingly reached the runner-up in the Oberliga West. With 40 goals conceded, the defense around goalkeeper Günter Sawitzki and Leo Konopczynski proved to be the basis of success. Franz Wächter (14 goals), Gerhard Harpers (9 goals), Willi Demski and Linka with eight goals each and Horst Wenker with seven goals provided the necessary goals. In order to take part in the final round of the German championship, the western runner-up needed a qualifying game against SSV Reutlingen; in the 3-0 win, right wing Linka stood out as a goalscorer. In the group matches against Südwestmeister 1. FC Kaiserslautern (with the 54 world champions Fritz Walter, Ottmar Walter, Horst Eckel, Werner Liebrich, Werner Kohlmeyer), Nordmeister Hamburger SV (with the boys Horst Schnoor, Uwe Seeler, Klaus Stürmer and the veteran Franz Klepacz, Josef Posipal, Herbert Wojtkowiak) and the Berlin master Viktoria 1899 Berlin around Helmut Jonas and Werner Nocht, Sodingen played in the home games in the Schalke Glückauf-Kampfbahn . Outstanding were the home games against FCK on May 22nd and against HSV on June 11th. In both games, the audience response was overwhelming: According to eyewitness Landefeld, over 80,000 spectators tried to watch the game in the stadium against the Walter-Elf , 30,000 had to withdraw again, but around 55,000 were in it. At halftime, the game threatened to be abandoned when the crowd stood in crowded flocks about twenty meters (!) On the field. What wonder that Sodingen, whose own place was not ready for the final round, was no longer allowed to play his next home game against Hamburger SV in Schalke, but had to travel to Cologne-Müngersdorf. But there were also 50,000 spectators in the 1-1 draw against the northern champions. Both games against Kaiserslautern ended with 2: 2 and the Palatinate won first place in the group with 9: 3 points. HSV (8: 4) and Sodingen followed with 7: 5 points. Linka had appeared in all seven finals and scored three goals.
The attacker played three more rounds for the "Knappen" -Elf from Sodingen, but it went down in the table. The colliery dying meant the decline of the association. Talents like Hans Cieslarczyk and Josef Marx could n't change that. After the round in 1957/58, Sodingen was one point ahead of Wuppertaler SV, and once again achieved relegation, Linka's time in Sodingen was over. After five rounds with 112 games and 19 goals, he joined the league rivals VfL Bochum.
At VfL, he experienced in his first round, 1958/59, the achievement of the excellent 4th place. With coach Herbert Widmayer and at the side of teammates like Lothar Geisler and Heinz Lowin , Linka played in 29 of 30 league games and scored two goals. But now he was no longer used in attack, his place was now that of right defender. In his third year in Bochum, 1960/61, VfL suffered relegation under coach Fritz Silken . Linka then played for Bochum under coach Hermann Lindemann and teammates such as Dieter Backhaus , Werner Jablonski and Egon Milder for two years in the second-class 2nd division West, before ending his higher-class career in the summer of 1963 after 31 second division appearances (4 goals).
literature
- Lorenz Knieriem, Hardy Grüne : Player Lexicon 1890 - 1963 . In: Encyclopedia of German League Football . tape 8 . AGON, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 , p. 235 .
- Hans Dieter Baroth: “Boys, Heaven belongs to you!” The history of the Oberliga West 1947–1963. Klartext Verlag. Essen 1988. ISBN 3-88474-332-5 . Pp. 79-83.
- Harald Landefeld, Achim Nöllenheidt (ed.): "Helmut, tell me that goal ..." New stories and portraits from the Oberliga West 1947–1963. Klartext Verlag. Essen 1993. ISBN 3-88474-043-1 . Pp. 51-54.
Web links
- Harry Linka in the database of weltfussball.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Landefeld, Nöllenheidt: "Helmut, tell me about the gate ...". P. 53
- ↑ Landefeld, Nöllenheidt: "Helmut, tell me about the gate ...". P. 54
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Linka, Harry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1930 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 29 May 2017 |