Kurt Sopart

Kurt Sopart (born August 24, 1924 in Herne ; † June 17, 1990 ) was a German football player . The offensive player won with his club Westfalia Herne in the 1958/59 season the championship in the football Oberliga West . From 1954 to 1962 he played 146 league games and scored 21 goals for the team from the Stadion am Schloss Strünkede .

career

Youth and 2nd League West, until 1954

Kurt Sopart grew up in Herne with six siblings, the son of a miner. As early as the beginning of August 1940 he was used in the senior team and therefore gained experience in the Gauliga Westfalen at a young age . On August 11th, the junior also took part in the Tschammer Cup competition against Eintracht Frankfurt. An outstanding sporting event was the success with the Herne ban selection in the 1940/41 season. First, the juniors from Herne prevailed in the group games against Kurhessen and Thuringia and were regional group winners. They could then take part in the final round of the German Youth Championship in Breslau in August 1941. Against Ostland and Rhine Franconia (with Max Morlock ) the Westphalia prevailed to win the group and thus moved into the final. That was then won with a clear 5-1 win against Vienna. The competition experience he gained in the Gauliga Westfalen paid off for Sopart. The left-footed player, who was strong at dribbling and fighting - mostly used as a left half or winger - was the outstanding player of the championship eleven from Herne.

In 1942 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht. He fell into Soviet captivity on the Eastern Front and was brought to Siberia. He came back to Herne on the last transport of prisoners of war in April 1950.

After eight years of war and imprisonment, the returnees made his debut in the 1st team of Westfalia in the 2nd League West in August 1950. Overall, he made it to eleven league appearances in 1950/51 - physically he was still weakened by the privations of war and long imprisonment - and scored four goals. When the round matches of the substructure of the Oberliga West for the round 1952/53 were played on a single track for the first time and Westfalia took eighth place, he was already a member of the leading players. In the game year 1953/54 Sopart completed all 30 league games and scored three goals. But more important were his flanks and passes to goal scorer Günter Grandt , who with 28 goals had a significant share in second place in the 2nd division West , with which Westfalia Herne achieved promotion to the Oberliga West. From 1950 to 1954, the tireless driver had completed 68 games in the 2nd League West and scored ten goals.

Oberliga West, 1954 to 1962

The first year in the upper house of West German football, 1954/55, was completely dominated by the Herne fight against relegation. With 27:33 points the blue-whites reached the 13th place. With two points behind the Meidericher SV rose in the 2nd League West. The debut in the league took place on September 22, 1954 in Munster against the native Prussians . Herne's start failed, there was a 1: 7 away defeat. The 30-year-old Sopart acted on half left. The decisive game for relegation took place on matchday 30, May 1, 1955, at Duisburg SpV . With a goal scored in the 89th minute, Herne won the game 3-2 and with the simultaneous 0-2 defeat of Meidericher SV at local rivals SV Sodingen , the "Zebras" from Duisburg and Bochum were relegated to the second division . Due to the so-called "Gerd Rappenberg case", the relegation situation was only officially clarified in September 1955. The DFB Federal Court decided the eligibility to play in favor of Herne and thus the relegation of Herne was secured and the relegation of Meiderich final.

In 27 missions, the indefatigable driver had scored six goals - thanks to his enthusiasm for running and never-ending fighting strength, but also because of his ready presence of verbal commands - and counted alongside Alfred Pyka , Ehrenfried Wydra , Werner Hesse , Günter Grandt, Alfred Ilmer and Willi Overdieck is one of Westfalia's indispensable top performers. The two local derbies against local rivals and Herne district club, SV Sodingen, were also outstanding.

For the second league round in 1955/56, Fritz Langner and Hans Tilkowski, two new people came to Westfalia who were to have a major impact on the development of the next few years. Langner as an ambitious and suitable coach and Tilkowski as an outstanding goalkeeper and guarantor of an excellent defense. At the side of the veteran Sopart, Alfred Pyka and Helmut Benthaus also developed into top performers and when there was also a scorer with the young self-made Gerhard Clement , Herne played for the championship in the Oberliga West in 1958/59. With 45:15 points and a goal difference of 60:23 points, the completely surprising championship win in the Oberliga West succeeded. 1. FC Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf followed six points behind in the places. The 34-year-old Kurt Sopart was part of the Langner team with 24 league appearances and four goals. He was still a tireless driver from midfield, a dangerous dribbler and a feared flanker on the left wing. Top scorer Clement (28 goals) increasingly benefited from the classic car's flanking skills. In the first half of the season there was a 2: 3 away defeat in Düsseldorf and a 1: 0 victory in Cologne. In the second half of the season they returned the favor with a 3-1 home win against Düsseldorf and shared the points with a 1-1 draw against Cologne. In the final round of the German championship, Sopart played four games against Tasmania 1900 Berlin, Kickers Offenbach and Hamburger SV. For the runner-up in 1959/60 in the Oberliga West, he contributed three goals in 19 league appearances. This was followed by the qualifying game on May 7, 1960 in Hanover against Offenbach (1-0) and the first group game in the final on May 14 in Baden against the South German champions Karlsruher SC . In the 39th minute, Sopart had achieved the interim equalization to 2-2 before he was sent off with a red card and suspended for the rest of the final round.

In his seventh league round, 1960/61, only 13 league appearances with four goals were possible for the passionate footballer due to injuries and the young Jürgen Koch took over his role on the left wing. On May 15, 1961, he made his official farewell game. He actually played his last competitive game for Westfalia at the age of 37 in the catch-up game on February 14, 1962 in the 2-0 defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Now with Jürgen Bandura and Rudolf Pöggeler, other young players had moved up into the league team.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gilbert Bringmann (ed.): Football Almanach 1900–1943. 2nd Edition. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1994, ISBN 3-928562-13-4 , pp. 124-125.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ralf Piorr (Ed.): Much more than just a game. P. 224
3. ↑ Ralf Piorr (ed.): Much more than just a game. P. 301
4. ↑ Ralf Piorr (ed.): Much more than just a game. P. 227

literature

• Hans Dieter Baroth : Boys, Heaven is yours! The history of the Oberliga West 1947–1963. Klartext, Essen 1988, ISBN 3-88474-332-5 .
• Hardy Grüne , Lorenz Knieriem: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 8: Player Lexicon 1890–1963. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 .
• Ralf Piorr (Ed.): Much more than just a game . 100 years of SC Westfalia Herne. FRISCHTEXTE Verlag, Herne 2004. ISBN 3-933059-38-0