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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1944-05-26)26 May 1944 | ||
| Place of birth | Erlbach,Germany | ||
| Date of death | 7 February 2024(2024-02-07) (aged 79) | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1963 | BSG Traktor Erlbach | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1963–1969 | FC Karl-Marx-Stadt | 51 | (2) |
| 1969–1972 | BSG Wismut Aue | 33 | (0) |
| Total | 84 | (2) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1973–1976 | BSG Wismut Gera | ||
| 1976–1977 | BSG Energie Cottbus | ||
| 1982–1985 | 1. FC Magdeburg | ||
| 1985–1986 | Hansa Rostock | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Claus Kreul (26 May 1944 – 7 February 2024)[1] was a Germanfootball player andmanager. Aright-back, he played in theDDR-Oberliga forFC Karl-Marx-Stadt andBSG Wismut Aue and later managed several Oberliga teams. Kreul died in February 2024, at the age of 79.[2]
Kreul was born inErlbach, Saxony. Awoodwind instrument maker by trade, he began playing football atBSG Traktor Erlbach. In 1963 he transferred to Oberliga side FC Karl-Marx-Stadt and had his debut on 30 May 1964 as aright-back. In1967 he won the championship with the club, albeit he played only 9 of the 26 matches.[3] Until the end of his spell in Karl-Marx-Stadt he played in 51 Oberliga matches over six seasons. Additionally, he played in two matches on European level.[4] At the start of the1969–70 season Kreul joined rivalsWismut Aue. Until the end of his playing career in 1972 he played in another 33 Oberliga matches so that he can look back on 84 matches inEast Germany's top flight. He scored two goals for FC Karl-Marx-Stadt.
Kreul then worked as a manager, first atWismut Gera, thenEnergie Cottbus, before he took over1. FC Magdeburg fromKlaus Urbanczyk in 1982. Here he had his biggest success as a manager, winning the1983FDGB-Pokal when Magdeburg beat his former club FC Karl-Marx-Stadt 4–0 in the final. In 1985, Kreul left to manageHansa Rostock, but was unsuccessful: After only one year, at the end of which the club was relegated to the second-tierDDR-Liga, Kreul was replaced byWerner Voigt. Kreul was often criticized for using old-fashioned training methods, characterized by a focus on fitness training. Despite these criticisms, Kreul worked for theDeutscher Fußball-Verband from 1986 to 1991.