Otmar Groh

Otmar Groh (born March 31, 1933 ; † August 4, 2014 ) was a German soccer goalkeeper who played 1956 in the Oberliga Süd for Viktoria Aschaffenburg and Kickers Offenbach between 1956 and 1963 .

career

Amateur and Aschaffenburg, until 1960

Groh, who came from Rödermark in southern Hesse , initially played for the amateur league clubs Germania Ober-Roden (until 1953) and Viktoria Urberach (1953-56). His achievements led him to the Hessian association selection, with which he won the DFB country cup in 1956 with 3-1 against the Lower Rhine. At the age of 23 he joined Viktoria Aschaffenburg for the 1956/57 season , making the leap into the Oberliga Süd , the top division in Germany at the time. Groh made his debut on August 19, 1956 in a home game at the Schönbusch stadium against Eintracht Frankfurt, which was lost 3-1 in the Oberliga Süd. The white and blue Main Franconia finished eighth at the end of the round and the new goalkeeper had completed all 30 league games under coach Hans Tauchert and at the side of club legend Heinz Budion . In the four rounds from 1956/57 to 1959/60 the goalkeeper was absent only in one league game; he played 119 rounds for Aschaffenburg during this time. Due to his confident appearance in the goal of Aschaffenburg, Groh was soon considered one of the best goalkeepers in southern Germany. This is also documented by the inclusion in the kicker ranking list , where it was listed for the first time in 1958 as a whole under the heading “In the wider circle of the national team” next to Heinz Kubsch and Fritz Ewert . During his time in Aschaffenburg, he was also three times in the provisional DFB squad before the international matches on December 21, 1958 in Augsburg against Bulgaria, on November 8, 1959 in Budapest against Hungary and on December 20, 1959 in Hanover against Yugoslavia by national coach Sepp Herberger called. He was in the goal of the southern selection on November 18, 1959 in Saarbrücken in the game against the southwest, on March 19, 1960 in Frankfurt in the game of southern Germany against West Germany, and on April 26, 1960 in Karlsruhe in the game of southern Germany against a DFB selection .

Offenbach, 1960 to 1964

After Viktoria was relegated from the league in 1960 tied with Ulm in 1846, Groh moved to Kickers Offenbach . The OFC was one of the top German teams at that time and in 1960 it had just reached the final of the German soccer championship for the second time. Groh succeeded Walter Zimmermann there and was the reliable support of the team from Bieberer Berg for the next four seasons, although they could no longer build on the great successes of the 1950s. The newcomer from Aschaffenburg made his debut at OFC in the major league on August 14, 1960 in a 3-3 draw at Jahn Regensburg. The team from the Stadion am Bieberer Berg finished fourth in 1961 and 1962. The culmination of Groh's career would certainly have been the Bundesliga, but the Offenbachers just missed qualifying for the new league introduced in 1963. Groh's career as a contract player ended after the 1963/64 season in the second-rate Regionalliga Süd , in which the Kickers under coach Hans Merkle and newcomer Sigfried Held narrowly missed the promotion round to the Bundesliga as third in the table. Groh played his last regional league game on January 12, 1964 in a 4-5 away defeat against ESV Ingolstadt.

Groh completed a total of 195 league games, 119 for Aschaffenburg and 76 for Offenbach, as well as 22 regional league games for the OFC.

After his active career, Groh worked as a trainer in his home region. With Spvgg. 03 Neu-Isenburg , he reached the semifinals of the German Amateur Championship in 1967 . He was also a coach at FV 06 Sprendlingen. He last lived in Weiskirchen , where he was buried in 2014.

literature

• Christian Karn, Reinhard Rehberg: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 9: Player Lexicon 1963-1994. Bundesliga, regional league, 2nd league. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2012, ISBN 978-3-89784-214-4 , p. 168.
• Hardy Greens : Legendary football clubs. Hesse. Between FC Alsbach, Eintracht Frankfurt and Tuspo Ziegenhain. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-89784-244-0 .

Web links

• Obituary in the Offenbach-Post