Uwe Seeler

Uwe Seeler
Personal information
Date of birth	November 5, 1936 (1936-11-05) (age 72)
Place of birth	Hamburg, Germany
Playing position	Striker
Youth clubs
1946-53	Hamburger SV
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1953-72	Hamburger SV	476 (404)
National team
1954-70	West Germany	072 0(43)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Uwe Seeler (born November 5 1936 in Hamburg) is a former German football official and retired football player. He played for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West German national team.

Playing career (1944-1978)

Seeler followed in his father's footsteps as a player for Hamburger SV, making his first team debut in 1954 in a German Cup match, aged just under 18, scoring four goals (8-2 vs. Holstein Kiel). In later years, despite tempting offers from Italian and Spanish clubs he remained loyal to Hamburg, working on a second career as a merchant besides playing football, as in those days football stars in Germany did not earn the huge salaries seen now.

Seeler was a gifted striker who, among other things, was renowned for his overhead kick. He scored 137 times in 239 Bundesliga games, 43 times in 72 international games for the German national team, and 21 times in 29 European club tournament games. He was captain of both his club team and the national team for many years. He and his club won the German championship in 1960 and the DFB-Pokal (German FA Cup) in 1963. He was top scorer of the first Bundesliga season 1963-64 and German Footballer of the Year in 1960, 1964 and 1970.

In 1978 he and his former team-mate Franz-Josef Hönig played for Cork Celtic F.C. in a one-off sponsored event. Seeler had ended his active playing career in 1972. However, this match turned out to be an official League of Ireland one and Uwe scored twice. Thus, his overall record of goals scored in League and Cup matches adds up to 509 (HSV 507^[1], Cork Celtic 2). So far, this record has never been topped by a German player.

World Cup

He participated in the same four Football World Cups as Pelé did: 1958, 1962, 1966, and 1970. Of those West German World Cup teams only the 1966 side reached the final where they lost to host nation England in extra time.

Although Seeler never won a World Cup (his involvement as a player in the tournament started 4 years after West Germany won their first World Cup (1954) and ended 4 years before they won their second (1974)), he had a prolific career in the tournament; he was the first player ever to appear in 20 World Cup matches (he retired with 21 matches played, tied for third all-time); the first ever to score in 4 world cups (beating Pelé by only a few minutes), and the only player ever to score at least 2 goals in each of 4 world cups. He also ranks third in all-time minutes played in World Cups, with 1980, behind Paolo Maldini and Lothar Matthäus.

Career after football

He had a 2½-year tenure as president of Hamburger SV, which began in 1995, and ended in resignation due to a financial scandal, for which he took responsibility. Seeler, however, was not himself implicated in the irregularities.

Recognition

Uwe Seeler was a tremendously popular player due to his fairness, modesty, and kindness and is still widely called “Uns Uwe” (northern German: “Our Uwe”) in Hamburg and the surrounding area. The DFB (German FA) made him the second honorary captain of the German national team in 1972 (the first being Fritz Walter). In 2003 he became honorary citizen of his hometown Hamburg, the first time the honor was bestowed on a sportman.^[2] That year he also published his memoirs Danke, Fußball (Thank you, football).

Filmography

Seeler has appeared in a cameo role in the popular 1972 Heinz Erhardt comedy Willi wird das Kind schon schaukeln (liberally translated: "Willi will work it out somehow"), playing himself. In this film, a manager called Jungborn (Erhardt) is managing a football club. In the end, his club makes a spectacular signing: Seeler himself. The main joke is that everybody in the club is jubilant, but Jungborn is puzzled and just asks "who in devil's name is that guy?". At the time, Seeler was a very renowned German.

German football picture of the century and controversy

Uwe Seeler has been immortalized in a famous picture, voted as Photo of the Century by the German Kicker football sport magazine. It shows him seemingly devastated by the 1966 World Cup Finals loss, walking off the pitch hunched over.[1] Remarkable is the fact that a band is playing in the background.

However, there is controversy when exactly the picture was taken. According to one source, the photo was taken after the final whistle, because the band played God Save the Queen to greet Queen Elizabeth, who was going to give the trophy to the English squad; thus Seeler was really heartbroken.[2] Also it is put forward that the shadows cast by Seeler and the other people seem to suit the finishing time of the match. According to the corresponding kicker article, it must have been taken at half time. Reason is because the band seen in the background only performed then and not after the final whistle, insinuating he walked in a hunched-over pose for a very trivial reason, because he simply wanted to tie his shoelaces. That these accounts contradict each other, is self-evident. However, no hard evidence has been found, as there is no existing TV footage of that particular Uwe Seeler moment.

Either way, Seeler's picture remains one of the most famous in German football history.

West Germany squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Herkenrath • 2 Erhardt • 3 Juskowiak • 4 Eckel • 5 Wewers • 6 Szymaniak • 7 Stollenwerk • 8 Rahn • 9 Walter • 10 Schmidt • 11 Schäfer • 12 Seeler • 13 Klodt • 14 Cieslarczyk • 15 Kelbassa • 16 Sturm • 17 Schnellinger • 18 Hoffmann • 19 Peters • 20 Nuber • 21 Sawitzki • 22 Kwiatkowski • Coach: Herberger

West Germany squad – 1962 FIFA World Cup 1 Tilkowski • 2 Erhardt • 3 Schnellinger • 4 Schulz • 5 Wilden • 6 Szymaniak • 7 Koslowski • 8 Haller • 9 Seeler • 10 Brülls • 11 Schäfer • 12 Nowak • 13 Kurbjuhn • 14 Werner • 15 Giesemann • 16 Sturm • 17 Kraus • 18 Herrmann • 19 Strehl • 20 Vollmar • 21 Sawitzki • 22 Fahrian • Coach: Herberger

West Germany squad – 1966 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Tilkowski • 2 Höttges • 3 Schnellinger • 4 Beckenbauer • 5 Schulz • 6 Weber • 7 Brülls • 8 Haller • 9 Seeler • 10 Held • 11 Emmerich • 12 Overath • 13 Hornig • 14 Lutz • 15 Patzke • 16 Lorenz • 17 Paul • 18 Sieloff • 19 Krämer • 20 Grabowski • 21 Bernard • 22 Maier • Coach: Schön

West Germany squad – 1970 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Maier • 2 Höttges • 3 Schnellinger • 4 Beckenbauer • 5 Schulz • 6 Weber • 7 Vogts • 8 Haller • 9 Seeler • 10 Held • 11 Fichtel • 12 Overath • 13 Müller • 14 Libuda • 15 Patzke • 16 Lorenz • 17 Löhr • 18 Sieloff • 19 Dietrich • 20 Grabowski • 21 Manglitz • 22 Wolter • Coach: Schön

References