Manfred Burgsmüller
Personal information
Date of birth (1949-12-22)22 December 1949
Place of birth Essen, West Germany
Date of death 18 May 2019(2019-05-18) (aged 69)
Place of death Essen, Germany
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker, midfielder
Youth career
0000–1967 VfB Recklinghausen
1967–1968 Rot-Weiss Essen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1968–1971 Rot-Weiss Essen 12 (0)
1971–1974 Bayer Uerdingen 101 (80)
1974–1976 Rot-Weiss Essen 64 (32)
1976 Bayer Uerdingen 7 (1)
1976–1983 Borussia Dortmund 224 (135)
1983–1984 1. FC Nürnberg 34 (12)
1984–1985 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 50 (36)
1985–1990 Werder Bremen 115 (34)
Total 607 (330)
International career
1975–1978 West Germany B 8 (8)
1977–1978 West Germany 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Manfred Burgsmüller
No. 10
Position:Placekicker
Personal information
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career history
Career highlights and awards

Manfred "Manni" Burgsmüller (22 December 1949 – 18 May 2019) was a German professional footballer who played mainly as a striker; he also occasionally operated as a midfielder.[2]

He appeared in 447 Bundesliga games over the course of 17 seasons, mainly for Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen, scoring 213 goals.[3] After retiring professionally in his 40s, he played as a kicker in American football.

Football career

During his early career, Burgsmüller played in two different spells for local Rot-Weiss Essen and Bayer Uerdingen alike. In his first stint with the latter club, in the regional leagues, he scored 29 goals in two separate seasons, followed by 22. After failing to score initially for Essen, he returned in 1974 and netted an average of 16 per year.

In October 1976, Burgsmüller left Uerdingen for Borussia Dortmund. At Dortmund, he fielded almost exclusively as a midfielder, but also had the most productive years of his career individually there, never netting fewer than 15 goals in the Bundesliga). In the 1980–81 campaign, he scored a career-best – in division one – 27 goals, helping the North Rhine-Westphalia side finish in seventh position, and ranking second in the goalscorers' chart, just two behind Karl-Heinz Rummenigge who played for champions FC Bayern Munich.

After one sole season with 1. FC Nürnberg, Burgsmüller moved to the second level with Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. In his first year, he was crucial as the team narrowly avoided relegation, scoring 29 times and being crowned Torjäger, with 12 goals more than the next player.

Burgsmüller started the next season in scoring fashion, netting seven times in only 15 matches. In November 1985, at nearly 36, he returned to the first division, signing for SV Werder Bremen where he would achieve team success: he scored in his first game, a 2–1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach, adding two in his third, a 6–0 home routing of VfB Stuttgart, and totalling 13 in only 20 matches for the campaign, as Werder finished second; during his spell, the veteran appeared in 115 league games with 34 goals, being an important attacking element in the conquest of the 1988 league title.

On 11 October 1988, Burgsmüller scored the fourth goal in Werder Bremen's 5–0 victory against BFC Dynamo in the first round of the 1988–89 European Cup, becoming the oldest player to score a goal in the history of the competition at the age of 38 years and 293 days, before Pepe broke his record in 2023.

Burgsmüller retired at almost 41, also having appeared three times for West Germany, in friendlies comprised in a three-month span.[4] His debut came on 16 November 1977, in a 4–1 win with Switzerland.

After football

Burgsmüller made a comeback in NFL Europe in 1996, being Rhein Fire's kicker from 1996 to 2002, becoming the oldest professional American football player in history, at age 52. He also won two World Bowls, in 1998 and 2000.

Burgsmüller died on 18 May 2019 in Essen.

On 1 August 2019 fans of the Essen-born player, led by British football writer Ben McFadyean, organized a testimonial football match at VFL Kemminghausen. The match which was attended by 2,000 spectators raised €10,000 for Kinderlachen children's charity.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[5][6]
Club Season League DFB-Pokal Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rot-Weiss Essen 1968–69 Regionalliga 2000——80
1969–70 Bundesliga 8000——80
1970–71 2000——20
Total 12000——120
Bayer Uerdingen 1971–72 Regionalliga 342200——3422
1972–73 332900——3329
1973–74 342900——3429
Total 1018000——10180
Rot-Weiss Essen 1974–75 Bundesliga 341865——4023
1975–76 301410——3114
Total 643275——7137
Bayer Uerdingen 1976–77 2. Bundesliga 7123——94
Borussia Dortmund 1976–77 Bundesliga 241420——2614
1977–78 342021——3621
1978–79 331555——3820
1979–80 342069——4029
1980–81 332731——3628
1981–82 342234——3726
1982–83 3217532[lower-alpha 1]0—3920
Total 224135262320—252158
1. FC Nürnberg 1983–84 Bundesliga 341210——3512
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1984–85 2. Bundesliga 352911——3630
1985–86 15712——169
Total 503623——5239
Werder Bremen 1985–86 Bundesliga 2013———2013
1986–87 308202[lower-alpha 1]0—348
1987–88 266408[lower-alpha 1]2—388
1988–89 286444[lower-alpha 2]11[lower-alpha 3]03711
1989–90 11122——133
Total 115341261431014243
Career total 607330504016310674373
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. ↑ Appearances in European Cup
  3. ↑ Appearance in DFB-Supercup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[5][6]
National teamYearAppsGoals
West Germany 197720
197810
Total30

Honours

Werder Bremen

Rhein Fire

References

  1. ↑ "Manfred Burgsmüller". The Football Database. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Burgsmüller, Manfred" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Arnhold, Matthias (23 July 2015). "Manfred Burgsmüller – Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Arnhold, Matthias (23 July 2015). "Manfred Burgsmüller – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Manfred Burgsmüller » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 Manfred Burgsmüller at National-Football-Teams.com
  7. ↑ "Deutscher Supercup, 1988, Finale". dfb.de. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
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