Rolf Paetz

Rolf Paetz (* 24. November 1922 ; † 19th April 1994 ) was a German footballer who as Active from Hannover 96 in 1954 , the German football championship has won. The technician, mostly employed as a half right in the World Cup system at that time , completed 127 league games from 1952 to 1958 at Hannover 96 in the Northern Football League and scored 43 goals.

career

At the age of 31 Paetz came from Erle 08 from the Westphalian amateur football team to the Hanover 96 league team for the 1952/53 season. The "Reds" had signed a new coach in Helmut "Fiffi" ​​Kronsbein and tried to join the league squad with other newcomers such as Rolf Gehrcke , Herbert Helfenbein , Wolfgang Piechotta and Hannes Kirk to give a breath of fresh air. The late-calling contract footballer from Erle made his debut on August 31, 1952 in the 1: 2 away defeat at Werder Bremen on half right in the Oberliga Nord. At the end of the round he had played 29 games and scored 13 goals. He trained with Heinz Wewetzer (30-17) a dangerous right wing and the 96ers took seventh place in coach Kronsbein's first season.

In the 1953/54 season Hannover 96 surprisingly won the championship of the Oberliga Nord and qualified for participation in the final round of the German soccer championship . The 96ers opened the league round on August 9, 1953 with a 1-0 home win against the northern series champions Hamburger SV. After the eleventh game day, November 1, 1953, Paetz and colleagues led the table with 22-0 points, nine points ahead of their pursuers. The main line-up of the north champion consists of Hans Krämer (goalkeeper), the defender couple Helmut Geruschke and Hannes Kirk, the runner row with captain Werner Müller, center runner and defender Heinz Bothe and the left wing runner Willi Hundertmark , as well as the attack row with Heinz Wewetzer, Rolf Paetz ( 25-7), striker Hans Tkotz , Klemens Zielinski and the two left wingers Wolfgang Piechotta and Helmut Kruhl together. Substitute players were the second goalkeeper Werner Schadly and the two field players Heinz Elzner and Rolf Gehrcke. Coach Kronsbein described the outside runners Müller-Hundertmark and the two half-strikers Paetz and Zielinski as the “magic square” of his team.

The first game of group I against Berliner SV 92 won "96" with 2-1 goals; But outside runner Willi Hundertmark was injured and was out for the rest of the finals. The 21-year-old Gehrcke joined the team for him. The decisive group game against the southern champions VfB Stuttgart took place on May 16 in Düsseldorf. In front of 40,000 spectators, Paetz put the Nordmeister in the lead with two goals and Hanover finally prevailed with 3-1 goals against the team of coach Georg Wurzer . Paetz and colleagues were in the final.

In the final on May 23, 1954 in Hamburg, Hanover 96 met defending champions 1. FC Kaiserslautern , whose ranks included numerous national players who were to win the World Cup a little later . The team around Fritz Walter , the outstanding German soccer player of his time, was the declared favorite. The outsider from the capital of Lower Saxony won against the high favorites from the Palatinate 5-1 and became German football champion for the second time after 1938 . The decision was made after the 1-1 half-time score in the second half. Paetz scored in the 84th minute to make it 5-1.

As the North runner-up in the 1955/56 season , Paetz moved into the finals a second time. But now the performance was no longer comparable to 1954; With 3: 9 points, the “96ers” took fourth place in the group.

In his last league season, 1957/58 , the 35-year-old half-forward came again to 18 missions in which he scored three goals. He played his last league game on March 30, 1958 in the 2-0 away defeat at Eintracht Braunschweig. He and Heinz Wewetzer formed the right wing.

job

Paetz, who originally worked as a locksmith at Continental, first worked as an insurance agent after the end of his playing career, before he was able to take up a position at the “Pelikan” factory in Hanover in 1963. From this point on, he also worked as a youth or amateur trainer at his old club Hannover 96.

literature

• Notbrense, Hardy Greens: The Reds. The story of Hanover 96. Verlag Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 2006. ISBN 3-89533-537-1 .
• 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. ^ Emergency brake, Hardy Greens: The Reds. The history of Hanover 96. p. 97.