Werner Fricker

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Werner Fricker (born January 24, 1936 in Banatski Karlovac , Vojvodina , Kingdom of Yugoslavia , † May 30, 2001 in Horsham , Pennsylvania ) was a German-born American football player and football official. Associated with the Philadelphia United German-Hungarians as a defensive midfielder , he was President of the US Football Association from 1984 to 1990 . During his tenure, the 1994 World Cup was awarded to the USA; his tenure was marked by the professionalization and commercialization of the US association. The women's national team was founded in 1985, and he founded the US U-20 program as vice-president of the association and the U-17 program as president.

At the end of the Second World War, the eight-year-old Fricker emigrated to Vienna with his family, in 1952 the family emigrated to Horsham , greater Philadelphia . From 1958 to 1969 he was captain of the Philadelphia United German-Hungarians , he led the team to victory in the US Amateur Cup in 1965 , with the team he also lost the final of the tournament in 1964 and 1970. Although he belonged to the extended circle of the US national team , he did not make an A international match, but was only used in the unsuccessful attempts to qualify for the Olympic football tournaments in 1964 and 1968 .

However, Fricker was more important as a football official. In the early 1980s he was first Vice President of the US Federation, as such he was responsible for the introduction of the US Federation's first junior program. As Vice President he was also responsible for the unsuccessful attempt to bring the 1986 World Cup to the USA after Colombia renounced 1983. After the failed application he took over the management of the US association in 1984, which was heavily in debt and structurally on the ground. Within four years he managed to help the association to a cash fortune of 1.8 million USD and also to make the US national team competitive again in CONCACAF. In order to give all national players the opportunity to fully concentrate on football, he developed a program in which national players without a professional contract were hired by the US association and, if possible, loaned out to strong teams. In 1990, for the first time in 40 years, qualification for a World Cup finals was achieved. The greatest success of his tenure, however, was the successful application to host the 1994 World Cup; in the dispute over the marketing and television rights of the tournament, however, he came into opposition with the FIFA under João Havelange . The support of the opposing candidate Alan Rothenberg in the presidential election in 1990 by FIFA led to the end of Fricker's term of office. In addition to his work for the US association, he was also a member of the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee of CONCACAF .

Fricker was inducted into the three most important soccer hall-of-fames in North America: in 1992 the National Soccer Hall of Fame of the US Association, in 1996 in the CONCACAF , and in 2006 in the United States Adult Soccer Association .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e " Werner Fricker (1936-2001, Yugoslavia) ", In: 2006 Hall of Fame Members, United States Adult Soccer Association .
  2. ^ A b c d e Leonard P. Oliver: "Fricker, Werner". In: George B. Kirsch, Othello Harris, Claire Elaine Nolte (Ed.): "Encyclopedia of ethnicity and sports in the United States", 2000, ISBN 0313299110 , pp. 170f.
  3. ↑ a b " Werner Fricker ". In: National Soccer Hall of Fame .
  4. ↑ Steve Holroyd, “ The Year in American Soccer - 1963 . In: American Soccer History Archives. "
  5. ↑ Steve Holroyd, “ The Year in American Soccer - 1967 . In: American Soccer History Archives. "
  6. ^ A b Ed Farnsworth: " Great Philly teams: United German Hungarians ". In: The Philly Soccer Page, July 29, 2010.
  7. ^ Rainer Schlösser: "The development of FIFA under President Havelange", GRIN Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3638713092 , p. 118.
  8. ^ " Werner Fricker ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ". In: "CONCACAF Hall of Fame", CONCACAF . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.concacaf.com
personal data
SURNAME Fricker, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Vojvodina , Yugoslavia
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 2001
Place of death Horsham , Pennsylvania