Leo Zimmermann

Leo Zimmermann (born July 6, 1927 , † April 20, 1987 ) was a German football player . From 1958 to 1963, the offensive player played 129 league games for VfV Hildesheim in what was then the first-class Oberliga Nord , scoring 15 goals. By 1967, another 85 competitive games with two goals followed for the senior in the second-rate Regionalliga Nord .

career

At the age of 19, the later record player made his debut in the first team of the Hildesheim Association for Volkssport. The red-whites from the "Johanneswiese" played in the Lower Saxony- East amateur league until 1957/58 . The VfV, referred to as "Aunt Hilde" by the press, celebrated their first championship in 1954/55, but the promotion only succeeded in the 1957/58 season. Under the new coach Paul Bornefeld , the team around the 31-year-old captain Leo Zimmermann won the championship ahead of Union Salzgitter and VfB Peine . In the promotion round, Hildesheim prevailed against Heider SV , VfB Oldenburg and Union 03 Altona and thus rose to the then first-class Oberliga Nord.

In the same season, the Hildesheim football idol par excellence, a fast midfield strategist with an eye for the brilliant pass, also made it to the final in Hanover against the Lower Rhine on June 1, 1958 with the association selection of Lower Saxony in the regional cup after successes over North Baden and Württemberg . With teammates Jürgen Moll , Werner Olk and Gerhard Gollnow , the final was lost with 0-2 goals.

The Bischofsstädter started with a 0-1 home defeat on August 17, 1958 against VfL Wolfsburg in the league. At the age of 31 Zimmermann tackled the league chapter. At the end of the round, the captain had scored three goals in 29 missions and VfV had just managed to stay in the league with 24:36 points. The change of coach in December 1958 had contributed significantly to this; Ludwig “Pipin” Lachner replaced Paul Bornefeld. In his second league year, 1959/60, the head of the Hildesheim team was not missing in any of the 30 league games and scored seven goals. The goals of the young attacker Dieter Thun (30-17) and the direction of the indestructible carpenter led Hildesheim to seventh place in the table. The 2-1 home win on August 30, 1959 in front of 18,000 spectators in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stadion against the northern series champion Hamburger SV stood out in the round. In the third league season, 1960/61, the performance of the previous year could be confirmed with the eighth place in the table, although the HSV had succeeded in revenge against VfV with an 8-2 swat in Hildesheim. But the home wins against runner-up Werder Bremen (2: 0) and third place in the table VfL Osnabrück (3: 1) were signs of an intact Hildesheim team.

The highlight of the VfV success story was the round 1961/62 . Zimmermann and colleagues started the 1962 world championship year on August 6, 1961 with a 3-1 away win at Concordia Hamburg . The captain acted in the right wing position in the World Cup system practiced at the time and the striker Heiner Klose , who had recently come from VfR Osterode , introduced himself with two goals. At the latest after the 1-0 away win against Werder Bremen on September 10, 1961 through a hit by the 33-year-old captain, Hildesheim was one of the aspirants for the fight for the top spots in the north. After six match days, Hamburger SV led the table with 12: 0 points, followed by Hildesheim with 11: 1 and Holstein Kiel with 10: 2. There were then two unplanned double point losses against Altona 93 and VfR Neumünster, but on matchday 13, November 5, 1961, Hildesheim received the championship leaders Hamburger SV with 22: 0 points with 18: 6 points as second in the table . With 26,000 spectators, the attendance record was set in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stadion. Leo Zimmermann brought his team 2-0 ahead with two goals and Fred Winkelmann scored the 3-0 final score. It was a sensation against the HSV defensive with Horst Schnoor (goal) and Gerd Krug , Jürgen Kurbjuhn , Jochen Meinke , Lothar Kröpelin and Dieter Seeler . At the end of the round, VfV were two points short of being runner-up in the final round of the German championship. With 29: 1 home points, the foundation for 3rd place in the table was laid. In addition to the leading figure Leo Zimmermann, the players Werner Gerstle (goal), Horst Kuschenberg , Dieter Thun, Heiner Klose and Manfred Hufgard stood out.

As a reward, the Bischofsstädter competed in the Intertotocup of the 1962/63 series against Pécsi Dózsa, Blauw Wit Amsterdam and Velez Mostar. In the last year of the old first-class league system, 1962/63, VfV took eighth place. The last league match day was on 28./29. Conducted April 1963. Hildesheim won with 3-2 goals at Altona 93 and Zimmermann had again directed half right. After the new division into the 1963/64 series, Hildesheim then had to compete in the second-rate regional football league North.

The big days were over at VfV. The idol Zimmermann continued to play at the age of 36, but the regional league was all about avoiding relegation. After the fourth year, 1966/67, the time had come, Hildesheim was relegated to the amateur camp in Lower Saxony. Zimmermann, who had already been awarded the golden club pin for 750 appearances in the VfV first team in 1961 and had over 1,400 games to show at the end of his playing career, had played 85 competitive games in the regional league from 1963 to 1967 and scored two goals achieved.

Professionally, carpenter was employed as a pipe layer by the Hildesheim municipal utilities.

literature

• Hardy Grüne , Christian Karn: The big book of the German football clubs . AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-89784-362-2 .
• 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 .
• Lower Saxony Football Association (Hrsg.): Football in Lower Saxony. 50 years of the Lower Saxony Football Association. Schlaeger GmbH. Peine 1996.