Herbert Wojtkowiak

Herbert Wojtkowiak (* 11. January 1922 in Hamburg , † 23. November 1990 ) was a German footballer who as a striker of Hamburger SV in the Round 1950/51 with 40 goals the "eternal" record in the Oberliga Nord erected Has.

career

Beginnings until 1948

At his home club Rothenburgsorter FK 08, Herbert Wojtkowiak was already a 16-year-old in the league team. The young goalscorer was already used in the Reichsbund Cup of the 1940/41 season in the Gauwahl Nordmark in two games. On October 6, 1940 in Danzig in the preliminary round match against Danzig / West Prussia and on November 3 in Hamburg in the quarter-final against the Southwest. After the Second World War , he rose in 1945/46 with the FK 08 in the Hamburg city league and took seventh place there in the 1946/47 season with the fusion club TuS Hamburg 80. With the introduction of the Oberliga Nord from the 1947/48 round Wojtkowiak stayed with his TuS in the Alster relay in Hamburg's amateur football. The goal-threatening attacker - he was not considered a technician of class, but a player who mastered scoring goals and was equipped with strong shooting power in his left foot - signed with Eimsbütteler TV and was promoted to the Oberliga Nord in 1948 with ETV. Wojtkowiak nevertheless moved to Hamburger SV in September 1948. As a result, he was initially banned (because of the acceptance of 5000 Reichsmark cash) until the end of 1948, only to be eligible to play for HSV from September 1948.

Oberliga Nord, 1948 to 1956

Coach Hans Tauchert brought the newcomer from the Rothenburgsort district - but Erich Ebeling , Manfred Krüger and Hellmut Schmeißer also came to the "Rothosen" - on the fourth match day, September 19, 1948, at the home game against VfB Lübeck for the first time in the Oberliga Nord used. The HSV attack consisted of Heinz Trenkel , Schmeißer, Wojtkowiak, Heinz Bung Bottle and Erich Ebeling in a 2-2 draw . After the 22 round games, there was a tie at the top of the table between HSV and FC St. Pauli with 32:12 points each. On May 22, 1949, the playoff for the North German championship was held. Herbert Wojtkowiak, nominated on the half-left, scored two goals for HSV's 5-3 success and was thus able to celebrate his first title win in the Oberliga Nord. In the final round of the German soccer championship in 1949 , however, he experienced the bitter 0: 5 defeat against the later new German champions VfR Mannheim on June 12th.

From the second season at HSV, 1949/50 , coach Georg Knöpfle swung the scepter in the training operations of the north champion. Although the new championship was won with the newcomers Josef Posipal , Rolf Rohrbach and Werner Harden and the 20 goals from Wojtkowiak in the north with nine points ahead of St. Pauli, but in the final round the Hamburg team failed again due to a southern representative. “Woit” had scored four goals in the previous 7-0 win against Union Oberschöneweide and also hit the net once against Kickers Offenbach , but the team from Bieberer Berg prevailed with a 3-2 win in Düsseldorf. The finals were preceded by an interesting and exhausting trip to America in May 1950, where HSV played six games between May 7th and 23rd and only returned to Hamburg on the evening of May 26th. The games against Union 06 Berlin and Offenbach took place on May 28 and June 4, respectively. HSV was the first German team to play in England in April 1950 after the Second World War. "Woit", the man with the "left glue" scored all three goals for a 3-1 win over Burnley FC . His exemplary commitment and willingness to perform was also evident on the island.

Around 1950/51 the HSV strengthened itself with Rolf Börner , Fritz Laband and Karl-Heinz Liese . After 32 match days, the Hamburg team won the championship in the north again with a record goal difference of 113: 54 goals with three points ahead of runner-up FC St. Pauli - the Millerntorelf prevailed in both duels against the Rothosen. Herbert Wojtkowiak triumphed in the top scorer list with 40 goals and thus holds the "all time" record of the Oberliga Nord. Adolf Vetter (30), Günter Schlegel (28) and club mate Edmund Adamkiewicz with 26 goals followed in 1951 in the ranks. "Woit" excels in the games against Concordia, Hannover 96 and Werder Bremen as a triple and in the 9-0 success against relegated Itzehoer SV as a four-time goal scorer. In the final round , he played a major role in the 5-1 home win against the eventual finalist Preußen Münster when he contributed two goals.

His outstanding goal rate - 60 hits in the rounds of 1949/50 and 1950/51 in the Oberliga Nord - brought Wojtkowiak to a selection appointment for the northern team alongside Herbert Burdenski , Hans Haferkamp , Josef on March 18, 1951 in the representative game between North Germany and South Germany Posipal, Heinz Bung Bottle and Willi Schröder . Consideration for the first international matches after the Second World War - November 22, 1950; April 15 and June 17, 1951 - but this did not result in the national soccer team. National coach Herberger bet on the players Bernhard Klodt , Max Morlock , Ottmar Walter , Fritz Balogh , Richard Herrmann , Felix Gerritzen , Josef Röhrig , Fritz Walter and Horst Schade in the DFB attack .

The 30-year-old striker contributed 26 goals to defending his title in 1951/52 , ranking third on the scorers list in the north behind Ernst-Otto Meyer (29) and Fred Boller (28), together with club mate Werner Harden. In the final round he failed with HSV at the eventual finalist 1. FC Saarbrücken , although on May 25, 1951 they were able to beat the Saarlanders with 4-1 goals in Hamburg in the second leg. In 1953 Wojtkowiak won his fifth northern title with HSV, before slipping to eleventh place with the series champion in 1954, the year of the soccer world championship. In the debut year of Uwe Seeler and Klaus Stürmer , 1954/55 , the fiercely convincing veteran played all 30 league games on the left wing and was able to secure his sixth title win with his teammates six points ahead of Bremerhaven 93. But now Uwe Seeler, Günther Schlegel and Klaus Stürmer were responsible for the goals of HSV. In the final round , the Walter team of 1. FC Kaiserslautern prevailed with one point ahead of the Hamburg team and advanced to the final. The 1: 2 home defeat on June 5 against the Betzenbergelf had a decisive effect.

From 1949 to 1955 Herbert Wojtkowiak had played 25 final round matches for Hamburger SV and scored 15 goals.

With his use on January 29, 1956 in the 1: 4 defeat at Göttingen 05, the 34-year-old Wojtkowiak ended his playing career. From 1948 to 1956 he had completed 188 games in the Oberliga Nord and scored 134 goals. He is in the north - behind Uwe Seeler (237 games), Karl-Heinz Preuße (277 games), Günther Schlegel (294 games), Addi Vetter (171 games) and Werner Erb (285 games) - in sixth place of the eternal Goalscorer ranking.

After the playing career

The passionate skat player and Wojtkowiak, who is known as a mood cannon, worked as a coach at TuS Hamburg 80, Rasensport Harburg and Viktoria Harburg after his playing career in Hamburg amateur football .

literature

• Jens Reimer Prüß (Ed.): Bung bottle with flat pass cork. The history of the Oberliga Nord 1947–1963. Klartext, Essen 1991, ISBN 3-88474-463-1 .
• Werner Skrentny, Jens Reimer Prüß: Hamburg sports club. Always first class. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-89533-220-8 .
• Hans Vinke: Football legends. The golden era of Hamburger SV. 1947 to 1963. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-89784-338-7 .
• Hardy Grüne , Lorenz Knieriem: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 8: Player Lexicon 1890–1963. AGON-Sportverlag, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jankowski / Pistorius / Prüss: Football in the north. 100 years of the North German Football Association, p. 360/361.

Web link

Players A – Z (bung bottle) , visited on March 17, 2020