Tragic — Union Berlin
Reinhard Lauck: perhaps the most famous wanderer between Union and BFC Dynamo, the former East German international was the man who turned Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer into mere extras in East Germany’s 1–0 victory over West Germany in 1974.
Tragic
Reinhard Lauck: perhaps the most famous wanderer between Union and BFC Dynamo, the former East German international was the man who turned Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer into mere extras in East Germany’s 1–0 victory over West Germany in 1974.
Reinhard Lauck: perhaps the most famous wanderer between
Reinhard Lauck: perhaps the most famous wanderer between Union and BFC Dynamo, the former East German international was the man who turned Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer into mere extras in East Germany’s 1–0 victory over West Germany in 1974.
Reinhard Lauck: perhaps the most famous wanderer between Union and BFC Dynamo, the former East German international was the man who turned Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer into mere extras in East Germany’s 1–0 victory over West Germany in 1974. Two years later he won Olympic gold in Montreal. Twenty-one years after that, he died from the consequences of alcoholism. Alexander Osang told his tragedy in unforgettable fashion in the report “Ick bin doch Mäcki, kennste ma nich?”
Günter “Jimmy” Hoge: Union Berlin’s first East Germany
Günter “Jimmy” Hoge: Union Berlin’s first East Germany international, a small, brilliant, unruly winger who might have become one of the greats of German football under other circumstances.
Günter “Jimmy” Hoge: Union Berlin’s first East Germany international, a small, brilliant, unruly winger who might have become one of the greats of German football under other circumstances. He played 77 competitive matches for Union from 1966 to 1970, scored five goals and became a crowd favourite. He was admired for his dribbling, speed and security on the ball, but he was also wilful and awkward in the eyes of officials.
He had already once been pushed down a level in East German football and later returned to the national team from Union. Everything seemed to be turning for him after the 1968 cup win. Then his career collapsed.
First he was suspended for “disciplinary offences”; later, after drunkenly singing the West German national anthem during a television broadcast while on a team trip to the Baltic coast, the state reacted harshly. The East German association imposed a six-year ban from the Oberliga, two years from the DDR-Liga and one year from the Bezirksliga. His career at top level was over. After reunification, life did not become easier. He handled money poorly, adapted badly to the new system and needed support from old companions. Since 2003 he has been an honorary member of Union. He died of cancer at the age of 77.