Bert Trautmann - Wikipedia

german football player and coach ( 1923–2013 )

Bernhard Carl “Bert” Trautmann EK OBE BVO ( 22 October 1923 – 19 July 2013 ) was a german professional football player who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. In August 1933, he joined the Jungvolk, the junior department of the Hitler Youth. Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the second World War, and then served as a paratrooper. He was initially sent to Occupied Poland, and subsequently fought on the Eastern Front for three years, earning five medals, including an Iron Cross. Later in the war, he was transferred to the western Front, where he was captured by the british as the war drew to a close. As a volunteer soldier, he was classified a class “ C ” prisoner by the authorities, meaning he was regarded as a Nazi. One of entirely 90 of his original 1,000-man regiment to survive the war, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire. Trautmann refused an crack of repatriation, and following his release in 1948 decided to settle in Lancashire, combining farm work with playing goalkeeper for a local football team, St Helens Town.

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Performances for St Helens gained Trautmann a repute as an great goalkeeper, resulting in interest from Football League clubs. In October 1949, he signed for Manchester City, a club play in the country ‘s highest degree of football, the First Division. The club ‘s decision to sign a former Axis paratrooper sparked protests, and 20,000 people attended a demonstration. Over time, he gained acceptance through his performances in the City goal, playing in all but five of the golf club ‘s following 250 matches. Named FWA Footballer of the year for 1956, Trautmann entered football folklore with his performance in the 1956 FA Cup Final. With 17 minutes of the pit stay, Trautmann suffered a unplayful injury while diving at the feet of Birmingham City ‘s Peter Murphy. Despite his injury, he continued to play, making crucial saves to preserve his team ‘s 3–1 spark advance. His neck was perceptibly crooked as he collected his achiever ‘s decoration ; three days late an x-ray revealed it to be broken. Trautmann played for Manchester City until 1964, making 545 appearances. After his playing career, he moved into management, first with lower-division sides in England and Germany, and late as contribution of a german Football Association development schema that took him to several countries, including Burma, Tanzania and Pakistan. In 2004, he was appointed an honorary officer of the Order of the british Empire ( OBE ) for promoting Anglo-German understand through football. Trautmann died at home near Valencia, Spain, in 2013, aged 89 .

early biography in Germany [edit ]

Trautmann was born on 22 October 1923 in Walle, a work class area in west Bremen, living with his beget, who worked in a fertilizer factory by the docks, and his mother Frieda. [ 1 ] He had a buddy, Karl-Heinz, three years his junior, with whom he enjoyed a stopping point relationship. [ 2 ] The bleak economic climate of the early 1930s forced the Trautmanns to sell their house and affect to an apartment blockage in the working class area of Gröpelingen, where Bernhard lived until 1941. The young Bernhard had a lament matter to in frolic, playing football, handball and völkerball ( a shape of dodgeball ). To this end, he joined the YMCA and football club Blau und Weiss. [ 3 ] He took to playing for the football baseball club with enthusiasm, but the YMCA activities did not pastime him to the lapp extent. [ 4 ] In August 1933, he joined a newfangled arrangement, the Jungvolk, the junior segment of the Hitler Youth. [ 5 ] The comply year, he won respective local junior athletics events and was awarded a certificate for athletic excellence signed by Paul von Hindenburg, the President of Germany. [ 6 ] At the attack of the Second World War, Trautmann was working as an apprentice motive mechanic. [ 7 ]

second World War [edit ]

Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe as a radio operator in 1941. During train, he showed little aptitude for radio work, and transferred to Spandau to become a Fallschirmjäger ( paratrooper ). [ 8 ] He first served in Occupied Poland, although being stationed far behind the front man line meant experiencing prolong bouts of monotony ; consequently, Trautmann and the rest of his regiment resorted to sports and hardheaded jokes to pass the time. One such hardheaded joke involving a car backfired on Trautmann, resulting in a staff sergeant burning his arms. Trautmann was court-martial, and received a three-month prison sentence. At the starting signal of his restriction, Trautmann came down with acute appendicitis, and spent the end of his prison term in a military hospital. [ 9 ] In October 1941, he rejoined the 35th Infantry Division at Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where the german advance had halted. Over-winter hit-and-run attacks on soviet Army provision routes were the whole ‘s main focus and in leap, Trautmann was promoted to Unteroffizier ( bodily ). Gains were made in 1942, but the soviet counter-offensive hit Trautmann ‘s unit hard, and by the clock time it was withdrawn from the Eastern Front, merely 300 of the original 1,000 men remained. [ 10 ] Trautmann won five medals for his actions on the Eastern Front, including an Iron Cross First Class. [ 7 ] Promoted to Feldwebel ( serjeant-at-law ), Trautmann was part of a whole formed from the remnants of several others that had been decimated in the east, and moved to France to guard against an have a bun in the oven Allied invasion of France. In 1945, he was one of the few survivors of the Allied bombard of Kleve, [ 11 ] and decided to head home to Bremen. [ 12 ] By this steer, german soldiers without valid leave papers were being shot as deserters, so Trautmann sought to avoid troops from either side. however, a few days late, he was captured in a barn by two Allied soldiers. Deciding that Trautmann had no utilitarian news to give them, the soldiers marched him out of the barn with his hands raised. [ 13 ] Fearing he was about to be executed, Trautmann fled. After evading his captors, he jumped over a fence, only to land at the feet of a british soldier, who greeted him with the words “ Hello Fritz, fancy a cup of tea ? ” [ 14 ] [ 15 ] Earlier in the war, he had been captured by the Soviets and later the french, but escaped both times. [ 12 ] He was imprisoned near Ostend, Belgium, then transferred to a theodolite camp in Essex, where he was interrogated. As a unpaid soldier who had been subject to indoctrination from a young senesce, he was classified a class “ C ” prisoner by the authorities, meaning he was regarded as a Nazi. [ 16 ] Trautmann, one of merely 90 of his original regiment to survive the war, [ 11 ] was then transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp at Marbury Hall, near Northwich, Cheshire, and interned with other category “ C ” prisoners. He was soon downgraded to non-Nazi “ B ” status, [ 17 ] after which he was taken to Fort Crosby in Hightown near Liverpool where he stayed for a short-change while working on local farms and mixing with the locals ; from hera he was sent to PoW Camp 50 ( immediately Byrchall High School ) in Ashton-in-Makerfield in Lancashire between St Helens and Wigan, where he stayed until 1948. [ 16 ] football matches were regularly held at the camp, in which Trautmann played outfield. however, in a equal against amateur team Haydock Park, Trautmann was injured while playing centre-half. He swapped positions with goalkeeper Günther Lühr, and from that day forward played as a goalkeeper. [ 18 ] During this time he became known as “ Bert ”, as the English were unfamiliar with “ Bernd ”, the abridge translation of his name. [ 19 ]

early years [edit ]

With settlement of the PoW camp at hand, Trautmann declined an offer of repatriation and stayed in England, [ 20 ] working on a farm in Milnthorpe then subsequently working on fail administration in Huyton. [ 16 ] In August 1948, he started playing amateur football for the non-league Liverpool County Combination clubhouse St Helens Town, through which he met the baseball club secretary ‘s daughter, Margaret Friar, whom he subsequently married. [ 21 ] Over the course of the 1948–49 season, Trautmann ‘s goalkeeping reputation steadily grew and a series of large crowds were attributed to his performances, [ 20 ] including a record 9,000 attendance in the final examination of a local cup competition, the Mahon Cup. [ 22 ] The success of that season elevated the club into Division Two of the Lancashire Combination League for the start of 1949–50. [ 23 ]

Manchester City [edit ]

Performances for St Helens gained Trautmann a reputation as an able goalkeeper, resulting in interest from Football League clubs. As the following season commenced, a number of League clubs showed interest in signing him. The first to offer him a abridge was Manchester City, a golf club play in the highest flat of football in the nation, the First Division. On 7 October 1949 Trautmann signed for the golf club as an amateurish and turned professional curtly after. [ 24 ] Trautmann became the beginning sport in Britain to wear Adidas, thanks to his friendship with Adolf Dassler. [ 25 ] [ 26 ]

Supporter discontent and initial menstruation [edit ]

Some Manchester City fans were infelicitous about signing a early member of the german Army. Season ticket holders threatened a boycott, and respective groups in Manchester and around the nation bombarded the club with protest letters. In addition to this difficulty, Trautmann was replacing the recently retired Frank Swift, one of the greatest keepers in the baseball club ‘s history. [ 27 ] Though privately expressing doubts about the sign, [ 28 ] the club captain, Eric Westwood, a Normandy veteran, made a public display of welcoming Trautmann by announcing, “ There ‘s no war in this dress room ”. [ 29 ] Trautmann made his first team debut on 19 November against Bolton Wanderers, [ 24 ] and after a competent display in his first base base match, protests shrivel as fans discovered his endowment. [ 30 ] Before his foremost home game, Alexander Altmann, the community rabbi of Manchester, had written a remarkable open letter to the Manchester Evening Chronicle appealing to City fans and the Jewish community to treat Trautmann with deference. [ 31 ] He continued to receive misuse from crowd at aside matches, which affected his concentration in some early games ; in December 1949, he conceded seven goals at Derby County. [ 32 ] [ 33 ]
Trautmann ‘s visit to Craven Cottage in 1950 resulted in widespread media attention. City ‘s match against Fulham in January 1950 was Trautmann ‘s first visit to London. The match received widespread media attention, as most of the british press were based there ; several leading sportswriters watched Trautmann in action for the first time. The damage caused to the city by the Luftwaffe meant former paratrooper Trautmann was a target of hatred for the crowd, who yelled “ Kraut ” and “ nazi ”. [ 34 ] City were struggling in the league, and wide expected to suffer a heavy get the better of but a string of saves from Trautmann meant the final score was a narrow-minded 1–0 loss. At the final whistle, Trautmann received a standing ovation, [ 34 ] and was applauded off the pitch by both sets of players. [ 35 ] The Manchester City team struggled throughout the season, and was relegated to the Second Division. Manchester City returned to the lead flight at its first attempt, and in the comply years Trautmann established himself as one of the best keepers in the league, playing in all but five of his club ‘s future 250 league matches. [ 24 ] By 1952, his fame had spread to his home nation, leading Schalke 04 to offer Manchester City £1,000 for his services. [ 30 ] The offer was refused ; the club responded that they thought Trautmann to be deserving twenty times more. [ 36 ] In the mid-1950s, the Manchester City coach Les McDowall introduced a new tactical system using a deep-lying centre-forward, which became known as the Revie Plan after Don Revie who played centre-forward. [ 37 ] The system depended on maintaining possession of the ball wherever possible, which required Trautmann to make use of his throwing ability. For goalkeepers of Trautmann ‘s earned run average, it was usual to kick the ball a far as potential downfield after making a save. By contrast, Trautmann, influenced by the hungarian goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, sought to start attacks by throwing the ball to a wing-half, typically Ken Barnes or John McTavish. The wing-half then passed to Revie to develop the attack. [ 38 ]

1955 and 1956 FA Cup Finals [edit ]

Wembley Stadium, the venue for the 1955 and 1956 FA Cup finals Using the Revie Plan, Manchester City reached the 1955 FA Cup Final, in which Trautmann became the first german to play in an FA Cup concluding. [ 14 ] City faced Newcastle United, winners of the cup in 1951 and 1952. Nerves affected the City players, and they went behind to a Jackie Milburn goal after only 45 seconds. far problems were caused by the loss of Jimmy Meadows to injury after 18 minutes, leaving City with 10 men, [ 39 ] a disadvantage that meant Trautmann ‘s ability to start attacks from throws was limited. Though Bobby Johnstone equalised in the first half, they struggled in the irregular, and after 57 minutes Trautmann was outwitted by Bobby Mitchell, who scored Newcastle ‘s second gear goal. [ 40 ] The couple finished as a 3–1 get the better of for City, giving Trautmann a runner-up decoration. [ 14 ] Manchester City had a strong temper in 1955–56, finishing fourth in the league and reached the FA Cup concluding against Birmingham City. Trautmann, one of the team ‘s most big performers, won the FWA Footballer of the Year Award concisely before the match, [ 41 ] the first goalkeeper to win the award. Two days late, Trautmann stepped out onto the Wembley pitch for the match that would gain him cosmopolitan acclaim. [ 41 ] During the previous final examination, nerves had contributed to the opposition scoring an early goal, but the City team was more settled on this occasion. Under the influence of Don Revie who was outstanding on the day, [ 37 ] City scored an early finish, a left-footed strike by Joe Hayes. Birmingham equalised on 14 minutes. The match remained charge until center through the irregular half, when Jack Dyson and Bobby Johnstone scored two goals in arsenic many minutes to give Manchester City a 3–1 lead. Birmingham attacked powerfully in the future ten minutes. In the 75th minute, Trautmann, diving at an incoming ball, was knocked out in a collision with Birmingham ‘s Peter Murphy in which he was hit in the neck by Murphy ‘s right stifle. No substitutes were permitted in those days, thus Trautmann, dazed and unfirm on his feet, carried on. For the remaining 15 minutes he defended his net income, making a crucial interception to deny Murphy once more. Manchester City held on for the victory, and Trautmann was the hero because of his dramatic saves in the last minutes of the equal. Trautmann admitted late that he had spent the final part of the couple “ in a kind of fog ”. [ 42 ] His neck continued to cause him pain, and Prince Philip commented on its asymmetrical express as he gave Trautmann his achiever ‘s decoration. [ 43 ] Trautmann attended that evening ‘s post-match banquet despite being unable to move his head, [ 44 ] and went to bed expecting the wound to heal with respite. As the pain did not recede, the follow day he went to St George ‘s Hospital, where he was told he merely had a crick in his neck which would go away. [ 45 ] Three days late, he got a second opinion from a doctor at Manchester Royal Infirmary. An x-ray revealed he had dislocated five vertebrae, the second of which was cracked in two. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] The third base vertebra had wedged against the second, preventing far price which could have cost Trautmann his life. [ 46 ]

recovery from wound [edit ]

Trautmann ‘s convalescence took several months, resulting in him missing a large separate of the 1956–57 season. Jack Savage deputised during his absence. [ 47 ] At the begin of December, Trautmann played two reserve matches, but lacked confidence. He was restored to the inaugural team on 15 December for a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but conceded three goals. He struggled to regain his class in the remainder of the season, leading to calls from some fans and media for him to retire. Others criticised the club, believing that Trautmann had been forced to play while placid not fully recovered from wound. [ 48 ] The 1957–58 temper was an strange one for Manchester City, which became the lone English team both to score and to concede 100 goals in a season. [ 49 ] Trautmann played in 34 matches, and though he did not play in the 9–2 frustration to West Bromwich Albion, an 8–4 frustration to Leicester City was a record for the most goals conceded by Trautmann in a meet in his career, [ 50 ] and in the entire season he kept only two clean sheets. [ 51 ]

testimonial [edit ]

Trautmann appeared in 545 matches for City during the 15-year period between 1949 and 1964. On 15 April 1964, he ended his career with a testimonial in movement of a crowd formally numbered at 47,000, [ 52 ] though the true trope was estimated to be closer to 60,000. [ 53 ] Trautmann captained a combine Manchester City and Manchester United XI that included Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, against an International eleven that included Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews and Jimmy Armfield. [ 54 ]

later career [edit ]

After leaving City, Trautmann played, for a calendar month, for Wellington Town, who offered him £50 per meet, signing in September 1964 to replace an hurt regular keeper. [ 55 ] Age had diminished his abilities, but his debut at Hereford United showed he silent had the ability to draw herd. [ 56 ] however, he was sent off at Tonbridge for violent conduct in his second catch, and never played again. [ 57 ] For Wellington, he had saved two matches and been on the miss side in five. [ 55 ]

International career [edit ]

Though recognised as one of the leading goalkeepers of his earned run average, Trautmann never played for his native state. Trautmann met with the german national coach, Sepp Herberger, in 1953, who explained that travel and political implications prevented him from selecting a musician who was not promptly available, and that he could entirely consider including Trautmann if he were playing in a german league. [ 58 ] Consequently, Trautmann ‘s international isolation prevented him from playing in the 1954 World Cup, in which his countrymen were victorious. Trautmann ‘s only experience of international football came in 1960, when the Football League decided to include non-English players in the Football League representative team for the foremost time. Trautmann captained the League against the Irish League, and besides played against the italian League. [ 59 ]

Coaching career [edit ]

After a match of months pondering his future career plans, Trautmann received a call call from the Stockport County chair, Victor Bernard, who offered him the position of general coach. Stockport was a struggling lower league club with a minor budget, and Trautmann ‘s appointment was an attempt to improve its prototype. many people in the local area supported one of the two Manchester clubs, thus to stimulate pastime Trautmann and Bernard decided to move matches to Friday evenings, when neither Manchester club would be playing. [ 60 ] This improved tax income, but the team continued to struggle. Trautmann resigned in 1966 following a disagreement with Bernard. [ 61 ] From 1967 to 1968, he was the coach of the german team Preußen Münster, taking them to a 13th-place eat up in the Regionalliga West, [ 62 ] following which he had a short spell at Opel Rüsselsheim.

manner of meet [edit ]

Trautmann excelled at shot-stopping, particularly penalties, saving 60 % of those he faced over the course of his career. The Manchester United coach Matt Busby mentioned Trautmann ‘s anticipation in his pre-match team talks : “ Do n’t stop to think where you ‘re going to hit it with Trautmann. Hit it first and think afterwards. If you look up and work it out he will read your thoughts and stop it. ” [ 34 ] similar sentiments were expressed by the Manchester City forward Neil Young, who recalled that “ the alone manner to beat him with a shoot in trail was to mis-hit it ”. [ 64 ] As a early handball actor, Trautmann was adept at throwing the ball long distances, an impute he used to start attacking moves, [ 20 ] peculiarly after witnessing the hungarian goalkeeper Gyula Grosics consumption such tactics to good effect in Hungary ‘s 6–3 victory over England in 1953. [ 38 ] Trautmann found it unmanageable to accept criticism, and allowed only close friends to suggest changes to his game. He occasionally dwelt on mistakes to the detriment of his concentration, a inclination his ally Stan Wilson called “ pick at daisies ”. [ 65 ] A light temper besides caused occasional problems ; he was sent off on more than one affair. [ 65 ]

bequest and influence [edit ]

There have only been two world-class goalkeepers. One was Lev Yashin, the other was the German boy who played in Manchester – Trautmann.

— Lev Yashin
Over the course of his career, Trautmann received many plaudits from leading football figures. The russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin, himself considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all prison term, believed that Trautmann and himself were the “ merely … two first goalkeepers ”. [ 20 ] Trautmann ‘s idiosyncratic vogue of play besides had an charm on budding unseasoned goalkeepers at the altitude of his career. The former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson named Trautmann as his boyhood hero, [ 66 ] and Gordon Banks cited him as an charm on his play expressive style. [ 67 ] Media outlets have since recognised Trautmann ‘s repute. ESPN consider Trautmann as one of the greatest FA Cup goalkeepers, with Trautmann representing Manchester City in two back-to-back FA Cup finals in 1955 and 1956 [ 68 ] while his lunge at Peter Murphy ‘s feet to grasp the ball in the 1956 FA Cup Final is rated as the greatest FA Cup save ; a save that broke Trautmann ‘s neck. [ 69 ] In November 1995, Trautmann returned to Maine Road to open the rebuild Kippax Stand. [ 70 ] however, the point of view was gone within a ten : in May 2003 the club moved to the City of Manchester Stadium, Maine Road was closed [ 71 ] and its stadium demolished the stick to year. [ 72 ] He was portrayed by german actor David Kross in the 2018 biopic The Keeper. [ 73 ] [ 74 ] [ 75 ]

Awards [edit ]

In 1997, Trautmann received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. [ 76 ] He was appointed an honorary OBE in 2004 for his work in Anglo-German relations, [ 77 ] and received the award at the british Embassy in Berlin, making him possibly the merely person to have won an OBE and an Iron Cross. The pursuit night, at a concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he met the Queen. “ Ah, Herr Trautmann. I remember you ”, she said. “ Have you hush got that pain in your neck ? ” [ 78 ] In 2005, he was inducted into the National Football Museum ‘s Hall of Fame. [ 34 ] He continued to follow Manchester City and visited Manchester to watch them play, with his last visit in April 2010. [ 79 ] In 1999, he had besides appeared in the BBC Timewatch program episode “ The Germans We Kept ”, recounting the experiences of german prisoners of war who decided to remain in the UK. [ 80 ]

personal life [edit ]

Trautmann’s Journey: From Hitler Youth to FA Cup Legend by Catrine Clay at Bert Trautmann ‘s third gear wife Marlis during the introduction of the german translation of the biographyby Catrine Clay at Frankfurt Book Fair, 12 October 2013. Trautmann married a St Helens womanhood, Margaret Friar, in 1950, but they divorced in 1972. The match had three children, John, Mark and Stephen. John, his firstborn son, was killed in a car accident a few months after the FA Cup Final in 1956, aged five. According to Trautmann, his wife ‘s struggle to come to terms with the loss ultimately resulted in the dissolution of their marriage. [ 14 ] [ 81 ] He besides had a daughter from a previous relationship, from whom he was estranged for many years. He reunited with his daughter in 1990, and with her beget, Marion Greenhall, in 2001. [ 82 ] He married Ursula von five hundred Heyde, [ 14 ] [ 83 ] a german national, while live in Burma in the 1970s, but divorced in 1982. [ 84 ] From 1990, Trautmann lived with his third base wife Marlis in a small bungalow on the spanish coast near Valencia. He later helped found the Trautmann Foundation, [ 85 ] which continues his bequest by fostering courage and sportsmanship. [ 86 ] Trautmann ‘s autobiography Steppes to Wembley was published in 1956. [ 87 ]

end [edit ]

Trautmann died at home in Spain on 19 July 2013 at the age of 89. [ 88 ] He had suffered two heart attacks earlier in the year. [ 89 ] The president of the German Football Association, Wolfgang Niersbach, said that Trautmann was “ an perplex sport and a genuine gentleman … a caption ”. [ 89 ] Bob Wilson, a erstwhile Arsenal goalkeeper, tweeted, “ perplex man who helped bring our warring countries closer together ”. [ 90 ] Joe Corrigan, a early Manchester City goalkeeper, said Trautmann was “ a fantastic man and was one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time ”. [ 91 ]

career statistics [edit ]

Sources : Rowlands, Trautmann: The Biography, p. 252 ; James, Manchester City: The Complete Record, pp. 367–395 .

Honours [edit ]

Manchester City
Individual

References [edit ]

Notes [edit ]

bibliography [edit ]

Trautmann, Bert (1956). Steppes To Wembley. London: Robert Hale Limited.
Rowlands, Alan (2005). Trautmann: The Biography. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 1-85983-491-4.
James, Gary (2005). The Official Manchester City Hall of Fame. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-61282-1.
James, Gary (2006). Manchester City: The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 1-85983-512-0.
Clayton, David (2002). Everything Under the Blue Moon: The Complete Book of Manchester City FC – and more!. Edinburgh: Mainstream publishing. ISBN 1-84018-687-9.
Penney, Ian (1995). The Maine Road Encyclopedia. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-710-1.
Penney, Ian (2008). Manchester City: The Mercer-Allison Years. Derby: Breedon. ISBN 978-1-85983-608-8.
Brandon, Derek (1978). A–Z of Manchester Football: 100 Years of Rivalry. London: Boondoggle.

farther read [edit ]

Harris, N. (2006). The Foreign Revolution: How Overseas Footballers Changed the English Game. London: Aurum Press Ltd.
Ramsden, J. (2006). Don’t Mention the War: The British and the Germans since 1890. London: Little, Brown Book Group.
Streppelhoff, R. (2009). Zwei Deutsche in England: Die Fußballkarrieren von Bernd Trautmann und Alois Eisenträger. In Peiffer, L. (Hrsg.), SportZeiten. Sport in Geschichte, Kultur und Gesellschaft. (S. 33–51). Göttingen: Werkstatt
Clay, Catrine (2010). Trautmann’s Journey: From Hitler Youth to FA Cup Legend. Yellow Jersey.