Helmut Benthaus

Helmut Benthaus
Helmut Benthaus, 1970
Personnel
birthday	June 5, 1935
place of birth	Herne ,  Germany
position	midfield player
Juniors
Years	station
	Lawn sports Holthausen
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1954-1961	Westfalia Herne	167 (17)
1961–1962	TSV 1860 Munich	18 0(1)
1962-1965	1. FC Cologne	52 0(3)
1965-1971	FC Basel	112 (17)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1958-1960	Germany	8 0(0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1965-1971	FC Basel (player-coach)
1971-1982	FC Basel
1982-1985	VfB Stuttgart
1986-1987	FC Basel
1 Only league games are given.

Helmut Benthaus (born June 5, 1935 in Herne ) is a former German football player and coach . He lives in Switzerland and has also had Swiss citizenship since 1980.

Benthaus was the first footballer to become a champion in the German Bundesliga both as a player and as a coach. He won the German championship as a player in 1964 with 1. FC Cologne and as a coach in 1984 with VfB Stuttgart . He had previously won seven Swiss championships with FC Basel as a player- coach and as a coach from 1965 to 1982. He played eight times for the German national team .

Active career

Benthaus grew up as the son of a bricklayer foreman in Holthausen . He was the only one from his elementary school class who later graduated from high school with a high school diploma. He then studied philology and sports in Münster .

Oberliga (1954–1963)

From his hometown club Rasensport Holthausen he moved to Westfalia Herne , where he was used in 167 games in the Oberliga West from 1954 to 1961. He played his first game in the Oberliga West on February 6, 1955 in the 1: 2 home defeat against Aachen at the side of Werner Hesse and Kurt Sopart. The highlights of this time were the championship in 1959 in the west, the runner-up in 1960 and the subsequent finals for the German championship. Benthaus played a. a. with Hans Tilkowski , Alfred Pyka and Gerd Clement , his trainer was Fritz Langner .

National team 1958–1960

On December 21, 1958, national coach Sepp Herberger appointed him to the national team for the game in Augsburg against Bulgaria. After the 3-0 win at the debut, he was used seven more times. With the game on November 23, 1960 in Sofia, again against Bulgaria, his career in the Herberger-Elf was over after the 1: 2 defeat.

1860 Munich (1961 to 1962)

In the summer of 1961, Benthaus moved to TSV 1860 Munich in the Oberliga Süd . He was trained there by Max Merkel , who was also newly signed. The Austrian's authoritarian team and people management did not agree with the views of the student Benthaus, so that he left the club again after only one season.

1. FC Köln (1962 to 1965)

Benthaus was signed by 1. FC Cologne for the 1962/63 season . The club had won the German championship in the previous season. At the same time, Benthaus began studying at the sports university there . 1. FC Köln moved into the final of the German championship in 1963 as defending champions , but lost 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund . The Benthaus team with their teammates Fritz Ewert , Fritz Pott , Karl-Heinz Schnellinger , Leo Wilden , Hans Sturm , Karl-Heinz Thielen , Hans Schäfer , Anton Regh , Karl-Heinz Ripkens and Heinz Hornig were favorites in the game . In this last round of the league in 1962/63 - the Bundesliga started a year later - Benthaus worked with coach Zlatko Čajkovski . During this season u. a. in the Europa Cup a 1: 8 defeat against Dundee United , whereby Benthaus scored the goal for Cologne.

In 1964, 1. FC Köln won the first championship of the newly founded Bundesliga with Georg Knöpfle, who came from Werder Bremen . The team lost only twice in the entire season. Benthaus was used in 27 games and scored one goal. He was also used in the Exhibition Cities Cup against Sheffield Wednesday , AS Roma and Valencia CF.

For the following season 1964/65 Benthaus could not defend the championship title with his team, the 1. FC Köln finished second behind Werder Bremen ; The highlights of this season include three games in February / March 1965 in the quarter-finals of the European Cup against Liverpool . After separating 0-0 in the first and second leg, the play-off on March 24, 1965 in Rotterdam again ended in a draw, this time 2-2. The toss of the Rotterdam coin finally decided the game in favor of Liverpool FC. Benthaus was used in the first leg.

On March 27, 1965, after a 3-0 home win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern , Benthaus announced his departure from 1. FC Köln.

Career as a (player) coach

FC Basel (1965 to 1982)

In 1965, Benthaus moved from Cologne to play at FC Basel. He formed the midfield with the players Jürgen Sundermann and Karl Odermatt . For the first six years he successfully exercised this dual function, only to act as a trainer from 1971 onwards. There he discovered Ottmar Hitzfeld and developed it further.

Benthaus, who met his wife in Basel and received his Swiss passport in 1980, won the Swiss championship seven times , the cup twice and the league cup once by 1982 . During this time he saw the change of four club presidents and trained a total of three generations of players. Nevertheless, he always managed to stay on the master class.

VfB Stuttgart (1982 to 1985)

In the summer of 1982, Benthaus moved to VfB Stuttgart as Jürgen Sundermann's successor . Sundermann, who played with Benthaus at FC Basel from 1968 to 1971, took over the training of the Stuttgarter Kickers . Under VfB President Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder , a “cool, intellectual type with championship experience” was asked for. The media and fans initially had reservations about Benthaus. In addition, the conditions for a successful start in the Bundesliga were not ideal; Benthaus took over the ninth of the previous 1981/82 season at the moment when Hansi Müller moved to Inter Milan and Dieter Müller to Girondins Bordeaux . VfB had no chance in the preseason against champions Hamburger SV and the pursuers 1. FC Köln and FC Bayern Munich and did not perform well in the away games. However, the commitment of the new playmaker Ásgeir Sigurvinsson proved to be a sporting upgrade . With the transfers of experienced players such as Kurt Niedermayer and Thomas Kempe and the talents Hans-Peter Makan and Peter Reichert , the squad was brought to a good level. The new coach Benthaus exuded authority from the start. The Förster brothers were top performers in the defense in the following games , Karl Allgöwer scored many important goals, Hermann Ohlicher did good midfield work and Ásgeir Sigurvinsson made good appearances in his role as a playmaker.

At the end of the season, Benthaus, the “intellectual” as he was often described in the media, led VfB to third place in the final table.

Champion title 1984 and almost national coach

Benthaus sorted out striker Didier Six from the squad before his second season in 1983/84 and brought in the storm hope Dan Corneliusson from IFK Gothenburg . Furthermore, the talents Guido Buchwald , Rainer Zietsch and Andreas Müller got a contract. Favorites for the championship included the defending champion and European Cup winner from 1983, Hamburger SV, as well as FC Bayern Munich. In fact, during the season Hamburg and Bavaria were alternately at the top of the table; but at the beginning of 1984, VfB Stuttgart, together with the surprisingly strong Borussia Mönchengladbach under coach Jupp Heynckes, came close to the top ranks and delivered a balanced race for the championship title until the end of the season.

Finally, the Benthaus team won the German championship in May 1984 with 48:20 points and 79:33 goals. Defender Guido Buchwald in particular played a strong season and was appointed to the EM squad for the DFB team in the summer of 1984 . In addition, the strikers Peter Reichert and Allgöwer as well as Ohlicher, the captain of the team, alongside Sigurvinsson were the players who stood out for their performances.

Years later, Benthaus himself commented on this title win as follows:

“Do you know what this event means for me? It was more than a victory. For me it was something like the last confirmation of my work as a coach - I had been Swiss champion a few times before , good. But in the back of their minds the Swiss are always plagued by this complex: real football only begins beyond the barrier - over there, in the Bundesliga. As I said, I was Swiss champion seven times - as a German. Then I went over and became German champion - as a Swiss. Perhaps you now guess what this victory is worth to me. "

Following this season, in the summer of 1984, the 1984 European Football Championship was held in France . In the tournament, the German national team disappointed under national coach Jupp Derwall and was eliminated early; then Derwall stepped back. As his successor, Benthaus was shortlisted for the DFB. Since VfB Stuttgart did not want to release Benthaus from his contract, the plan fell through and Franz Beckenbauer was appointed team boss.

At the beginning of the 1984/85 season the striker Jürgen Klinsmann was signed and regularly set up and promoted by Benthaus. Klinsmann later described his time under Benthaus as formative, as he had kept him in balance, both athletically and personally.

At the end of the season, the defending champion was only tenth; then Benthaus and VfB Stuttgart separated. Benthaus returned to FC Basel, where he could no longer build on his earlier successes. In 1987 he was replaced by Urs Siegenthaler .

philosophy

During his time as a player and coach in Basel, Benthaus lectured at the local university. Before that, he had already studied philology for a few semesters in Cologne , alongside English and studying to become a certified sports teacher. In Cologne in 1965 he had also passed the soccer teacher examination under course leader Hennes Weisweiler . His course colleagues were u. a. Heinz Hornig , Udo Lattek , Gyula Lóránt , Eckhard Krautzun and Willi Holdorf . Characterized by the Ruhr area , the war years, the period of reconstruction, the school years up to the Abitur, the studies and the club stations as a player, Helmut Benthaus brought these experiences - together with his curiosity for improvements - into the coaching profession.

The sentence attributed to him, “I really enjoy being with people who know more than I do, because only from them can I learn something”, shows an essential trait of Benthaus, who thinks and lives outside the box of football.

He embodied the modern coach, the educator and psychologist on the soccer field, who rejected coercion and super-discipline. For him, a teacher function has always been integrated into the coaching profession and this resulted in the view that a "coach should not only talk to his players about tactics or stopping the ball".

He publicly admitted that he thought a lot about Sepp Herberger ("that was another who used the word football teacher when he spoke of coaches") and that he wanted to be a teacher himself, conveying his expertise. He also loathed “ charlatans ” in his branch. VfB President Mayer-Vorfelder once said about his coach: “He's one of the intellectual coaches. He thinks further than others. His sovereign nature distinguishes him. Benthaus lives from its rationality. He would certainly have problems motivating a young team to carry them away emotionally ”. The then VfB managing director Ulrich Schäfer articulated: “Our coach is cool, thoughtful, intelligent. And that's exactly how the team is now playing! "

Life after football

After working as a trainer, Benthaus worked as an insurance agent in Basel for ten years. Benthaus now lives in the Basel suburb of Riehen , right on the German border near Lörrach . In May 2010 he was made an honorary member by FC Basel.

successes

As a player

• Champion of the Oberliga West 1959 with Westfalia Herne
• Champion of the Oberliga West in 1963 with 1. FC Cologne
• German champion in 1964 with 1. FC Cologne

As a trainer

• German champion 1984 with VfB Stuttgart
• Swiss champions with FC Basel 7 times, 1967 , 1969 , 1970 , 1972 , 1973 , 1977 , 1980
• Swiss cup winners with FC Basel, 1967 and 1975
• Alpine Cup winner with FC Basel, 1969, 1970 and 1981

literature

• Jürgen Bitter : Germany's football. The encyclopedia. Sportverlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00857-8 .
• Jürgen Bitter : Germany's national soccer player: the lexicon . SVB Sportverlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00749-0 .
• Matthias Weinrich: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 3: 35 years of the Bundesliga. Part 1. The founding years 1963–1975. Stories, pictures, constellations, tables. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1998, ISBN 3-89784-132-0 .
• Hans Dieter Baroth : Boys, Heaven is yours! The history of the Oberliga West 1947–1963. Klartext, Essen 1988, ISBN 3-88474-332-5 .
• Harald Landefeld, Achim Nöllenheidt (ed.): Helmut, tell me dat Tor… New stories and portraits from the Oberliga West 1947–1963. Klartext, Essen 1993, ISBN 3-88474-043-1 .

Web links

• Helmut Benthaus in the database of the German Football Association
• Helmut Benthaus in the database of fussballdaten.de
• Helmut Benthaus in the database of weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Interview with Helmut Benthaus , Badische Zeitung, June 23, 2010.
2. ↑ Ralf Piorr : The grayest of all gray mice. In: derWesten.de. January 2, 2009, accessed May 12, 2010 . 
3. ↑ table on www.transfermarkt.ch
4. ↑ http://de.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=1964/matches/round=937/match=62025/index.html
5. ↑ Table for the 1983/84 season on www.transfermarkt.de
6. ↑ Dominik Bardow: Winning is not enough. (No longer available online.) In: 11Freunde.de. March 17, 2010, archived from the original on March 22, 2010 ; Retrieved May 12, 2010 . 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.  
7. ↑ Interview with Jürgen Klinsmann, blick.ch from July 7, 2019
8. ^ Andreas Hennings: Helmut Benthaus, the ex-master trainer. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten. April 15, 2010, accessed May 12, 2010 . 
9. ↑ Helmut Benthaus and Peter Ramseier appointed honorary members ( Memento from August 2, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )