Willy Tröger

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Willy Tröger
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-49683-0002, DDR-Fußballer Willi Tröger, Kurt Zapf.jpg
Tröger (left) in 1957, with East Germany international team-mate Kurt Zapf
Personal information
Date of birth 2 October 1928
Place of birth Zwickau, Germany
Date of death 30 March 2004(2004-03-30) (aged 75)
Place of death Pirna, Germany
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1943–1945 SG Zwickau-Oberhohndorf
1946–1947
1947–1951 BSG Mechanik Cainsdorf
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1954 Wismut Aue 79 (38)
1954–1962 Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt 158 (76)
Total 237 (114)
National team
1954–1959 East Germany 15 (10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Willy Tröger (2 October 1928 – 30 March 2004) was a German footballer who played as a striker, spending his entire career with Wismut Aue,[1] and making 15 appearances for the East Germany national team.

Career[]

In his youth, Tröger played handball before converting to football, where he initially played as a goalkeeper. Both of these activities were cut short in 1945, however, when he lost his hand while fighting in World War II: having been drafted into the Wehrmacht as the war drew to a close, he was injured by a grenade in Berlin.[2] He continued in the game, however, and converted to the position of striker, playing for a succession of local clubs in Zwickau before joining Wismut Aue of the DDR-Oberliga in 1951, following coach Walter Fritzsch. He remained with the club, who were renamed Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1954, until 1962, scoring 114 goals in 237 games.[3] During this time the club won three league titles (1956, 1957 and 1959) and one cup in , and Tröger was the league's top scorer in the 1954–55 season, with 22 goals. His 114 goals at the highest level of East German football are a club record.

Tröger made 15 appearances for the East Germany national team, scoring 10 goals between 1954 and 1959, including 2 goals in the national team's first victory, a 3–2 win against Romania in Bucharest in 1955.[4]

Death[]

Tröger died of stomach cancer on 30 March 2004 in Pirna-Copitz,[1] having been unsuccessfully operated on twice. A song was written in tribute by local artist Stefan Gerlach, and the stadium in Pirna was renamed the in his honour.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Willy Tröger gestorben". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 1 April 2004. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Willy Tröger". Munzinger (in German). Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  3. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (18 February 2006). "Willy Tröger - Matches and Goals in Oberliga". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  4. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (5 February 2015). "Willy Tröger - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
Retrieved from ""