 Schwartz in 1972 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexandru Schwartz | ||
| Date of birth | (1908-10-23)23 October 1908 | ||
| Place of birth | Temesrékas,Austria-Hungary (todayRecaş, Romania) | ||
| Date of death | 2 October 2000(2000-10-02) (aged 91) | ||
| Place of death | Haguenau, France | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1926–1930 | Kadima Timișoara | ||
| 1930–1932 | CA Timişoara | ||
| 1932–1934 | Hyères FC | ||
| 1934–1936 | Cannes | ||
| 1936–1938 | Strasbourg | 57 | (0) |
| 1938–1939 | Red Star Olympique | ||
| International career | |||
| 1931–1932 | Romania B | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1948–1949 | Cannes | ||
| 1950–1952 | Monaco | ||
| 1952–1953 | Le Havre | ||
| 1953–1955 | SF Hamborn 07 | ||
| 1955–1957 | Rot-Weiss Essen | ||
| 1957–1964 | Netherlands | ||
| 1964–1965 | Benfica | ||
| 1965–1968 | Eintracht Frankfurt | ||
| 1969–1970 | Porto | ||
| 1970–1971 | Dordrecht | ||
| 1971–1972 | Sparta Rotterdam | ||
| 1972–1973 | 1860 Munich | ||
| 1976–1977 | Strasbourg | ||
| 1978–1979 | SR Haguenau | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alexandru "Elek"Schwartz (23 October 1908 – 2 October 2000) was a Romanian professionalfootballer and coach of theNetherlands national team.[2] WithS.L. Benfica he won the national Championship and Cup trophies of 1965 and led the club into the final of theEuropean Champion Clubs' Cup.[3]
Elek Schwartz initially started playing near his hometown Recaş, in Timişoara. Later he played professional football in the FrenchLigue 1 withFC Hyères (1932–1934),AS Cannes (1934–36),Racing Strasbourg (1936–38) andRed Star Olympique (1938–39).[1][4]
He started his coaching career in France withAS Cannes (1948–49) and from there continued toAS Monaco (1950–1952) andLe Havre AC (1952–53).[4]
In 1953 he was hired bySF Hamborn 07. In his second season with the club from the suburb ofDuisburg he led the club to promotion to the western division of the five ways split first division of Germany, the Oberliga West.
In 1955, he was appointed as manager by then German champions,Rot-Weiss Essen coaching among othersHelmut Rahn there. In the next couple of years he led the team to ranks 4 and 8 in the Oberliga West.
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After leaving Rot-Weiss Essen, Schwartz joined the Netherlands football association, theKNVB and took on the reins of theNetherlands national football team. He guided the team through 49 matches.
However, this was in an era when Dutch football had yet to achieve the standing it has held since the 1970s. Results varied extremelyand included 7–0 defeat toGermany in 1959 inCologne, as well as back to back 1–0 wins againstFrance and world championsBrazil in 1963. He held the position of national coach until 1964, whenDenis Neville replaced him.
In 1964–65, he coached Portuguese clubS.L. Benfica, then withEusébio. There he led them to their first third-consecutive league title.[5]
After this, Benfica overcameReal Madrid in the quarterfinals of theEuropean Cup of Champions and eventually even made it all the way to thefinal, where Benfica had to yield to the masters of theCatenaccio, theHelenio Herrera coached team ofInter Milan, who won 1–0, thus failing what would be Benfica's third European Cup title.
From July 1965 to June 1968 Schwartz coached – as successor toIvica Horvat –Eintracht Frankfurt in the GermanBundesliga. There he introduced the 4–2–4 system. Nevertheless, place 4 was as good as it got in the league. During the 1966–67 season he won theInternational Football Cup and theCoppa delle Alpi. In the same year he led his side to the semifinals of theInter-Cities Fairs Cup.
In 1969–70, he coachedFC Porto. Not only that the Dragons exited already in the first round of the national cup competition and in the second round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – in the end Porto was only ninth in the league, the club's worst finishing ever.
In the 1972–73 season, Schwartz coachedTSV 1860 Munich, but he could not help them to fulfill their aspirations to return to the Bundesliga after then three years of absence.
He had more luck in 1976–77, when in the course of his last professional engagement he ledRacing Strasbourg topromotion to the FrenchLigue 1.[4]
After this he guided the Alsatian amateur side SR Haguenau, today'sFCSR Haguenau, through the 1978–79 season.
Haguenau, he decided, was also a nice place for him to spend the rest of his life.[citation needed]
In 1996, he was invited by theRoyal Dutch Football Association to the inauguration of theAmsterdam Arena.
