THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

German & English football mourn the death of Bert Trautmann

Bert Trautmann

German and English football is mourning the death of Bernhard Carl “Bert” Trautmann who passed away on Friday morning.

The 89-year-old Trautmann passed away at his home in the Spanish town of La Llosa nearby Valencia. He suffered two heart attacks earlier this year, but he recuperated well from them according to his family. The news of his death has reached the football community with a shock.

“Bert Trautmann was a geat sportsman and a real gentleman. He came to England as a soldier and therefore as a war prisoner, but he turned into a celebrated hero over there,” Wolfgang Niersbach, President of the German FA DFB, told. “He was was already a legend during his lifetime. His outstanding career will always remain in the history books.”

The German goalkeeper became a legend of the beautiful game, when he won the 1956 FA Cup final for his his Manchester City FC team with a broken neck. Trautmann suffered the serious injury after diving at the feet of Birmingham City’s Peter Murphy with 17 minutes remainig on the clock. He continued to play despite the injury and displayed several superb saves to guarantee a 3-1 win for the Citizens.

Trautmann was born in Bremen and he was brought up during times of inter-war strife in Germany. He joined the Luftwaffe, the German air force, early in the Second World War serving as a paratrooper. The young German earned five medals including an Iron Cross, before he was captured by the British. Trautmann was transferred to the prisoner-of-war camp in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire and he was released from there in 1948.

Trautmann started to run a farm and he combined his farm work with playing as a goalkeeper for local football team St. Helens Town AFC. His great performances rised the interest of various clubs and the German signed a contract with Manchester City FC in October 1949. Trautmann’s signing raised protests in the country with 20,000 people attending a demonstration against the new player, a former Nazi Germany soldier.

But Trautmann was able to gain acceptance through his performances for Manchester City, whom he left in 1964 after serving the club for 15 years! The career highlight was for sure the 1956 FA Cup final and the FWA Footballer of the Year award in the same year.

The keeper never represented the German national team despite his talent, which received many plaudits from leading football figures. Legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin once told: “There have only been two world-class goalkeepers. One was Lev Yashin, the other was the German boy who played in Manchester – Trautmann.” Trautmann met German national coach Sepp Herberger in 1953 to discuss a national call-up, but Herberger explained that travel and political implications prevented him from selecting a player who was not readily available, and that he could only consider including Trautmann if he were playing in a German league.

After his playing career, Trautmann continued as a coach in England and Germany, while coaching Stockport County, Preußen Münster and Opel Rüsselsheim. His journey took him also to Asia and Africa, where he coached the national teams of Myanmar, Tanzania, Liberia and Pakistan.

Trautmann was appointed an honorary Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004 for his work in Anglo-German relations.

The German keeper is still a legend at Manchester City and the club presented a sculpture of Bert Trautmann to honour his services for the club several years ago. It is really rare honour for a German footballer in England…

WATCH A DOCUMENTARY ON BERT TRAUTMANN

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3