Wolfgang Breuer (soccer player)

Wolfgang Breuer , called "Bobby" (born May 24, 1944 ) is a former German football player who won the championship and the cup in the Austrian National League in the 1972/73 season with the SPG WSG Swarovski Wattens - Wacker Innsbruck and also won the cup 22 hits top scorer. With 156 goals, Breuer is the record scorer in the then second -rate regional football league south .

career

Youth, 1954 to 1965

Wolfgang Breuer went through all age groups in the youth department of Tuspo Bayreuth, starting with the D youth. In 1962 he moved up to the 1st team and celebrated promotion twice with Tuspo as a multiple goalscorer. When he was doing his military service in 1964, he played several selection games in the military and also played with the same age talent from SpVgg Bayreuth, Manfred Großerler . After serving in the armed forces, he dared to say goodbye to his hometown club in 1965 and gave in to advertising by the regional division FC Bayern Hof.

FC Bayern Hof, 1965 to 1972

In the 1965/66 round, the 21-year-old Wolfgang Breuer moved from the B division Tuspo Bayreuth to FC Bayern Hof in the Regionalliga Süd . Geographically, this was just a change from the Red Main to the upper Saale within Upper Franconia, but the young striker's hope was athletic. From the anonymity of the lower-class amateur football with two weekly training sessions, he jumped straight into the regional league contract football , which in 1965 represented the foundation of the Bundesliga . The goal scorer's hope immediately demonstrated its qualities in this class. He scored 27 of Hofer's 71 goals in this round. With 34:34 points Hof landed in ninth place in the table, the new center forward in second place in the striker rankings in the south behind Willibald Mikulasch from ESV Ingolstadt, who scored 29 goals.

In his second season in 1966/67 , his 28 goals contributed significantly to winning the runner-up and thus making it into the Bundesliga promotion round. Coach Heinz Elzner , who recently came to Hof from VfB Helmbrechts, led the team with goal scorer Breuer and midfield technician Siegfried Stark together with game committee chairman Armin Möbius to this surprising success. In the promotion round, however, the “yellow-blacks” from the Green Au stadium paid a lot of money. Behind Borussia Neunkirchen, SW Essen and Arminia Hannover, it was only fourth.

In the third season, 1967/68 , the team from the border area - Hof was only 3½ km from the former GDR border - and won the championship in the Regionalliga Süd ahead of Offenbacher Kickers with 27 Breuer goals . “Bobby” had 82 goals in three rounds of the Regionalliga. He then impressively demonstrated his outstanding class in the promotion round against rivals Hertha BSC , Rot-Weiss Essen , SV Alsenborn and Göttingen 05 with eight goals. So he had scored the most goals in this competition; The striker succeeded in doing this with a team that only finished fifth in Group 2 and recorded a total of 12 goals on the credit side. In the next two seasons, the goal producer had 39 more hits, but his team had to be content with ranks three and four. When the lightning-fast, agile and above all accurate center forward was only able to play 18 games with eight goals for the "black and yellow" in the 1970/71 season due to illness and injuries, the team slipped to 13th place. With a healthy “Bobby” Breuer, Bayern Hof got back on the road to success the following year.

In the 1971/72 season the runner-up behind Offenbach was celebrated and TSV 1860 Munich was relegated to third place. In the top game on April 22, 1972 against Kickers Offenbach - Hof scored 2: 2 against the star ensemble of the OFC with Winfried Schäfer , Horst Gecks , Erwin Kostedde and Sigfried Held in the "Grünen Au" - brought "Bobby" Breuer with two In the first half, Hofer scored a 2-0 lead. In the round, the striker had a total of 27 hits. He scored four goals in the 1972 promotion round, but in that year the opposing troops of coach Horst Buhtz , Wuppertaler SV , were in a class of their own and moved into the Bundesliga. The game on June 25, 1972 at VfL Osnabrück was Breuer's last appearance for FC Bayern Hof. After eight years, Wolfgang Breuer had scored 156 goals in 221 league games in the Regionalliga Süd, making him the record scorer in the Regionalliga Süd. In his 22 promotion round games, another 14 goals were added for Hof.

Now, having previously offered by Bayern Munich, 1. FC Köln, VfB Stuttgart and the massive advertising 1. FC Kaiserslautern (honorary captain Fritz Walter had had several telephone conversations with the sought-after striker) knocked out, he agreed to move to Austria to Wacker Innsbruck a . There were several reasons for this: Breuer knew the Innsbruck players from friendship encounters, those in charge patiently maintained contact with the reluctant striker for months, his contract expired in Hof and the jump to the highest Austrian league seemed to him rather successfully feasible at the age of 28, as the entry into the national soccer league of the year 1972, which provided the current European champions and in the election for European soccer player of the year 1972 with Franz Beckenbauer , Gerd Müller and Günter Netzer took the first three places.

SPG Swarovski Wattens - Wacker Innsbruck, 1972 to 1974

When Wolfgang Breuer moved to the capital of the Austrian state of Tyrol in 1972 to join the fusion club SPG Swarovski Wattens - Wacker Innsbruck, this sporting new beginning was the challenge par excellence. The Innsbruck double championship in 1971 and 1972 was just as much of a burden for him as coming out of the German second division and taking the top scorer position in this successful team. In addition, the syndicate was a collection of local national players (F. Koncilia, Eschlmüller, Skocik, Eigenstiller, Kriess, Hattenberger, Wolny, Siber and Jara), reinforced by the Dane Ove Flindt-Bjerg (1975-77 Karlsruher SC; 41 BL- Games with eight goals) and ex-national player Hans Rebele , who also moved to Innsbruck from 1860 Munich in the summer of 1972. The high hurdles for the 28-year-old Upper Franconia were to prove himself as a goalscorer in this top-class personnel framework, to defend the title in the national league and to win the European Cup .

After initial turbulence in the coaching area - Egon Herlan had thrown in the towel after a weak start and "Bobby" Breuer was also in the autumn round sand in the gear, Branko Elsner jumped in as a "fireman" and "Zapf" Gebhardt took over the game community in winter - rolled the Wacker train back on the road to success in the spring of 1973. In the second half of the 1972/73 season, the double win was celebrated: In the championship, as in the cup final, Rapid Vienna was kept in check. The initial skepticism as to whether a man from the second-rate Regionalliga Süd would be able to assert himself as a goal scorer in the Innsbruck championship team soon vanished. "Bobby" Breuer was at the top of the top scorer list with 22 goals ahead of Lothar Emmerich from Austria Klagenfurt . He had not lost his goal danger by moving from Hof ​​to Innsbruck. All four games won 1-0 against Grazer AK, Rapid Vienna, VÖEST Linz and Admira Wr. Neustadt decided Breuer with his hits. Three goals each contributed to the successes against Austria Klagenfurt (5: 0) and Donawitzer SV Alpine (7: 1). In the Austrian football championship in 1972/73, Wacker's indoor trio with Flindt-Bjerg, Breuer and Jara (13 goals and multiple assists) became a trademark of their offensive game.

In the European Cup, however, the Dynamo Kiev hurdle was a size too big. Oleg Blochin and his comrades-in-arms Yevgeny Rudakov and Vladimir Muntjan won both games in September 1972. In the Tivoli Stadium the Tyroleans lost 0-1 and in Kiev 0-2 goals. Also in the 1973/74 season, when Breuer slowly began to retreat into the offensive midfield and he scored 11 goals in the championship round, no success in the European Cup was possible. Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia won both games. To save the honor of the Austria champions, it must be mentioned that Sofia knocked out defending champions Ajax Amsterdam in the round of 16 and was only eliminated in the quarter-finals by the new cup winners FC Bayern Munich .

Innsbruck missed winning the title again in the 1973/74 season through the goalless draw on the final day of the round at Sturm Graz. Since at the same time the pursuers SK Vöest Linz won 2-0 goals against Vienna, the team of coach Helmut Senekowitsch and Libero Hans Reich (previously 1860 Munich) became the new champions in Austria with one point ahead of Wacker Innsbruck. The runner-up was not celebrated as a success in Innsbruck. Thereupon Breuer moved back home. It did not go to Hof, but his hometown Bayreuth won the race for the prodigal son.

SpVgg Bayreuth, 1974 to 1982

Hans Walter Wild , Lord Mayor of Bayreuth from 1958 to 1988 and a great supporter of football, was one of the main initiators of the successful return of “Bobby” Breuer to Bayreuth in 1974. The popularity of the player, the construction of his own home in the district of Birken and the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga allowed the forces to join Breuer and lead to success. Due to the competition with FC Bayern Hof, which still existed in 1974, there was additional fuel in this personnel. On the ninth game day, the first encounter of the 1974/75 season between the two Upper Franconian rivals took place in the municipal stadium on Ellrodtweg in Bayreuth in front of 10,000 spectators. Bayreuth won 1-0 goals. In Hof, the teams separated goalless 0-0. To the disappointment of the Hofer fans, “Bobby” Breuer was unable to take part in this game at his old place of work. Hof finished fourth at the end of the lap, Bayreuth ninth. The returnees had played 36 games with nine goals for Bayreuth. He now played more as a "playmaker" behind the tips.

Together with his congenial combination partners Manfred Größler who also like the vintage Breuer belonged to 1944, he attended henceforth for the Spielvereinigung that in the newly introduced second Bundesliga established Group South. Center forward Uwe Sommerer , who developed into the goal scorer of the “Oldschdoder”, particularly benefited from the playful class of the Breuer- Großesler duo. When the former Hof coach Heinz Elzner also came to Bayreuth for the 1977/78 round - thanks to the support of meat manufacturer Wölfel, the game association had not only become competitive in terms of sport - Bayreuth even advanced to the top of the 2nd Bundesliga . The black and yellow got off to a brilliant start. After the end of the preliminary round, the Upper Franconians were sensationally leaders with a home record of 31: 3 goals and 20: 0 points! Due to a series of defeats from the 21st to the 24th matchday (without a goal), a lot of ground was then lost. At the end of the round, the old townspeople ranked 4th. "Bobby" Breuer scored 12 goals in 34 appearances. He scored four goals in the 5-1 home win on December 4, 1977 against VfR Oli Bürstadt. Breuer's club from the regional league, FC Bayern Hof, was relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga.

In the 1978/79 season , SpVgg Bayreuth was runner-up in the 2nd Bundesliga South and played two playoffs against Bayer 05 Uerdingen , second in the north , to qualify for the Bundesliga. In front of 22,000 spectators, the first leg ended 1: 1 in Bayreuth on June 14, 1979 and Bayer 05 prevailed 2: 1 in the second leg. At the age of 35 Breuer had contributed 14 goals in 35 games to the runner-up, in the two relegation games Breuer was in the attacking midfield. In the further history of Bayreuth, the 1-0 success in the 3rd DFB Cup main round on January 12, 1980, "on rolled snow" against FC Bayern Munich, with Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge , is also well ahead the ranking of achievements. Breuer had formed the midfield with Klaus Brand and Herbert Horn .

Up to and including 1982 - in the 1981/82 season he played again in 15 games for Bayreuth at the age of 38 - he laced the football boots for the game association, most recently in the libero position. The last game Breuer played on May 29, 1982 at home against SC Freiburg . From 1974 to 1982 he played 198 games with 58 goals in the 2nd Bundesliga.

Stations

• 1962 to 1965: Tuspo Bayreuth
• 1965 to 1972: FC Bayern Hof
• 1972 to 1974: FC Wacker Innsbruck
• 1974 to 1982: SpVgg Bayreuth

farewell

On May 1, 1983, Wolfgang Breuer and his long-time sports comrade Manfred Großesler were bid farewell in a game against the German world championship team from 1974 in Bayreuth.

Breuer has not been forgotten both in Hof and in Bayreuth and is revered as a true icon of northern Bavarian football. Looking back, Wolfgang Breuer regrets that he could not play five or six years earlier with Manfred Großesler at the zenith of skill for promotion to the Bundesliga.

Profession / friendships / insights

Professionally, Wolfgang Breuer worked for the Bayreuth city administration for 29 years. Even during the time of his football career, he was always employed. Without professional security, it would not have been possible at Bayern Hof or at SpVgg Bayreuth to make a living from football alone. Every year, before the Christmas holidays, there is a cozy get-together with the old Hofer playmates. Contacts to Innsbruck were also cultivated through participation in senior games of FC Wacker. Most recently, the still slim "Bobby" Breuer played in Jenbach in autumn 2006 on the occasion of a Wacker revival on the Tyrolean Achensee.

Personally, Wolfgang Breuer does not want to focus on his sporting career. He thinks that since he never played in the Bundesliga or the national team, he has no right to be promoted. In addition, the active years would have long been over, the times and circumstances were completely different and today's football enthusiast could no longer do anything with this happening.

literature

• Ulrich Merk, André Schulin: Bundesliga chronicle 1967/68. Volume 5: Nuremberg's ninth championship. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-087-1 .
• 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 .
• Ulrich Homann (Hrsg.): Höllenglut an Himmelfahrt, The story of the promotion rounds to the Bundesliga. Klartext Verlag, Essen 1990, ISBN 3-88474-346-5 .
• Matthias Weinrich: 25 years 2nd division. The second division almanac. All players. All clubs. All results. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-89784-145-2 .
• Raphael Keppel: Chronicle of the 2nd Bundesliga 1974–1989. Sport- und Spielverlag Hitzel, Hürth 1990, ISBN 3-9802172-7-2 .
• Lorenz Knieriem: goalscorer. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-89784-264-5 .
• Libero. No. D2, Wiesbaden 1991; No. D5, 1992; IFFHS.
• 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. 74.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Christian Karn, Reinhard Rehberg: Spiellexikon 1963–1994. P. 74
2. ^ Matthias Weinrich, Hardy Greens : Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 6: German Cup history since 1935. Pictures, statistics, stories, constellations. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-89784-146-0 , p. 345.