Willi Keim

Willi Keim (born July 31, 1927 - † July 15, 2015 ) was a German soccer player who spent most of his career at Kickers Offenbach (OFC). With the team from the Stadion am Bieberer Berg he was first used in 1944 as champion of the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau in the final round of the German soccer championship . From 1945 to 1959, the midfielder - predominantly an outsider in the World Cup system practiced at the time - played 338 league games for the OFC in what was then the first-class football league south and scored seven goals. He won under coach Paul Osswald in the years 1949 and 1955 , the South German championship and overall came in the finals at the German football championship from 1944 to 1959 in 24 games for use. Keim also belonged to the Offenbach final teams for the German football championship in 1950 and 1959 against VfB Stuttgart (1: 2) and Eintracht Frankfurt (3: 5 afterwards). Behind Gerhard Kaufhold (396-112) he takes second place in the record list of Offenbach's upper league players.

Kickers Offenbach, 1940-1959

Gauliga, until 1944

The trained fine bag maker (portfolio maker) made his debut during the Second World War in September 1943 at a game in Hanau in the 1st team of Offenbach. At the age of 17 he was drafted into the Reich Labor Service in Hagenau in Alsace. Nevertheless, the youngster was used for the first time on April 16, 1944 as part of the final round of the German soccer championship: Offenbach lost with right wing Keim 2: 4 against host FC 93 Mülhausen, in whose ranks war guest player August Klingler from FV Daxlanden scored two goals. He spent a short time in the prison camp in Kreuznach, but was able to celebrate his 18th birthday on July 31, 1945 in Offenbach again.

Oberliga Süd, 1945 to 1959

After the end of the Second World War, an Offenbach city selection played in Gießen in October 1945 and lost 2: 4. The players also included Willi Keim and Erich Nowotny from Kickers Offenbach. Under coach Rudolf Keller and with players like Fred Patzl (goalkeeper), Heini Abt, Ferdi Emberger, Erich Nowotny , Fred Harthaus , Heinz "Knorze" Kaster , Anton Picard , Heinrich Keller, Emil Maier , Ludwig Mohler, Willi Weber and Karl Göhlich proved Offenbach 1945/46 with 24:36 points in the debut season of the Oberliga Süd ranked 12th. Early returnees from captivity continuously changed the team image and so it came about that the OFC used around 33 players in this round.

When Paul Oßwald's coaching era began on the Bieberer Berg in the 1946/47 season and Kurt Schreiner stepped up the offensive, the team improved to fifth place. The runner row often formed with Ludwig Mohler, Nowotny and Keim. In the two derbies against Eintracht Frankfurt (November 17, 1946, 1: 1; April 21, 1947, 1: 2), Keim ran as the left wing runner. In the third league season, 1947/48, Anton Picard played an outstanding round: In 34 league games he scored 19 goals, although the kickerself only reached ninth place and Keim completed 35 league appearances. Both players were also active in the 5: 3 away win at Eintracht Frankfurt on March 7, 1948 in front of 35,000 spectators for Offenbach, when the OFC whistled at halftime when the score was 0: 5. At that time, when the currency reform came into force on June 20, 1948, Rodgau tours to obtain bacon, ham, eggs and potatoes in exchange for performances by the Kickers-Elf were still the order of the day.

When winning the title with the OFC in the Oberliga Süd in the 1948/49 season, Keim was accrued in 28 (1 goal) of 30 league games. Now Emil Maier , who had returned from Fulda, stormed again as a center forward at OFC. Offenbach not only won the championship in the Oberliga Süd by eleven points, the team had also scored the most (79) goals and received the fewest (29). The two derbies against Eintracht Frankfurt were won 3-1 and 5-0 respectively. The defense formed mainly with goalkeeper Schepper, the defender couple Keller and Picard, as well as with the runner row Emberger, Nowotny and Keim. After the preliminary round, the Oßwald team led the table with 28: 2 points, but then lost the away game on matchday 18, February 6, 1949, without the prevented germ at 1. FC Nürnberg sensationally high with 1: 8. In the final round of the German football championship in 1949, Keim and his colleagues failed on June 26, 1949 in the Schalke Glückauf-Kampfbahn in front of 55,000 spectators in the semifinals after a 2-1 defeat at the vice-champions of the Oberliga Süd, VfR Mannheim . When the game on July 9, 1949 in Koblenz against 1. FC Kaiserslautern for 3rd place was lost 2-1 after extra time, Keim had it primarily with Fritz Walter , the playmaker of the "Red Devils" had to do.

As defending champion of the Oberliga Süd, Offenbach had to be content with third place in 1949/50; but this was enough to return to the finals, since this was held in 1950 with 16 clubs. In the final round, Schreiner, Picard and Keim formed the row of bishops carrying the game. After the opening success with 3: 1 against Tennis Borussia Berlin , the southern third had to face Hamburger SV on May 4th in Düsseldorf. Jupp Posipal's team led 2-0 at half-time . In the 88th minute, Weber, who was used as the left connector, decided the game for the Hessians with a goal to make it 3-2. In the semifinals against Prussia Dellbrück , Offenbach needed a replay (3-0) to move into the final, which was played on June 25, 1950 against the southern runners-up VfB Stuttgart in Berlin. The protégés of coach Georg Wurzer prevailed in front of 90,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium with 2-1 goals against Offenbach. With a 2-0 lead for Stuttgart they went into halftime. In the second part of the game, the OFC bet everything on one card. Successful, because just two minutes after the restart, Buhtz was able to shorten to 1: 2. Then the Offenbachers pushed their opponent completely into his half. But the Swabian bulwark with the outstanding goalkeeper Otto Schmid prevented further hits from the team from Bieberer Berg.

In the year after the final, 1950/51, Offenbach could not build on the performance of the previous two years and had to be content with the 10th place in the table with 32:36 points. In the next three years, Keim and colleagues were again in 3rd place (1952), 6th (1953) and again 3rd (1954) in the top group in southern Germany. Keim, reliability in person, was part of the line-up year after year. In the 1954/55 season the improvement succeeded and again winning the southern championship. In the final round of the soccer championship, Keim was used in all six games against competitors Wormatia Worms, Rot-Weiss Essen and Bremerhaven 93. In terms of the result and the performance, the group games were not successful: With only 4: 8 points, the OFC took 3rd place behind Rot-Weiss Essen (10: 2) and TuS Bremerhaven 93 (6: 6). In both games, the west champion from Essen prevailed (3: 1, 4: 1), in the first leg on May 19 in the Frankfurt Waldstadion in front of 80,000 spectators, and already indicated that the title win for Helmut Rahn , August Gottschalk and Bernhard Termath was within the realm of the possible. Offenbach and Keim had previously been eliminated in the DFB Cup on April 7, 1955 after a 1: 2 defeat at FC Schalke 04 in the semi-finals.

Keim reached the next finals with the OFC as the southern runner-up in the 1956/57 season. The round was shortened in a simple round on neutral courts and Keim came in the three games against the reigning German champions Borussia Dortmund (1: 2), Hertha BSC (3: 1) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (4: 1) Commitment. Offenbach came second behind Dortmund. When his club came back in second place in the south in the 1958/59 season, Keim only played a league game on February 15, 1959, in a 1: 2 defeat at 1. FC Nürnberg. Offenbach started the final round on May 16 with a 3-2 home win against Hamburger SV and on May 23 in a 2-2 away draw against Tasmania 1900 Berlin without a seed, before the veteran in the third group game on May 30 against Westfalia Herne was first used in Dortmund. The OFC prevailed 4-1 against the team around national goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski and also won the second leg 2-1. In the final on June 28, 1959 in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, he and Ernst Wade formed the runner-up at the side of substitute stopper Heinz Lichtl , since the regular defense chief Helmut Sattler was suspended after the 3-2 home win against Tasmania 1900. Frankfurt won the German championship 5-3 after extra time.

Profession and trainer

Keim worked for the Offenbach Insurance Office for decades until his retirement. From the 1958/59 round he took over the training management at 1. FC Langen in the 1. Amateur League Hessen, he also held the coaching position at FV Sprendlingen , Spvgg. 03 Neu-Isenburg and 1. FC Hochstadt . He later worked as an assistant coach and as a youth coach at OFC.

literature

• Hardy Grüne , Lorenz Knieriem: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 8: Player Lexicon 1890–1963. AGON-Sportverlag, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 , p. 186.
• Werner Skrentny (Ed.): When Morlock still met the moonlight. The history of the Oberliga Süd 1945–1963. Klartext, Essen 1993, ISBN 3-88474-055-5 .
• Klaus Querengässer: The German football championship. Part 1: 1903-1945 (= AGON-Sportverlag statistics. Vol. 28). AGON-Sportverlag, Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-89609-106-9 .
• Klaus Querengässer: The German football championship. Part 2: 1948–1963 (= AGON-Sportverlag statistics. Vol. 29). AGON-Sportverlag, Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-89609-107-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ op-online.de: Kickers mourn Willi Keim (July 21, 2015) , accessed on October 15, 2017
2. ^ Klaus Querengässer: The German Football Championship, Part 1: 1903-1945. AGON Sportverlag. Kassel 1997. ISBN 3-89609-106-9 . P. 225
3. ↑ OFC Kickers 1901 (Ed.): 100 years Kickers Offenbach. Ingra print. Hanau 2001. p. 57
4. ↑ Short biography of Willi Keim , accessed on October 15, 2017