 Ribbeck around 1980 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1937-06-13)13 June 1937 (age 87) | ||
| Place of birth | Wuppertal,Germany | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| SSV 1904 Wuppertal | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1959–1962 | SSV 1904 Wuppertal | ||
| 1962–1965 | Viktoria Köln | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1967–1968 | Rot-Weiss Essen | ||
| 1968–1973 | Eintracht Frankfurt | ||
| 1973–1978 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| 1984–1985 | Borussia Dortmund | ||
| 1985–1988 | Bayer Leverkusen | ||
| 1992–1993 | Bayern Munich | ||
| 1995–1996 | Bayer Leverkusen | ||
| 1998–2000 | Germany | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Erich Ribbeck (born 13 June 1937) is a German former professionalfootball player and manager, best known for coaching in theBundesliga. In 1988, he won theUEFA Cup as manager ofBayer Leverkusen, the first title in the club's history.
As a player, Ribbeck had a career spanning most of the 1950s into the early 1960s withSSV 1904 Wuppertal, which has since merged withTSG Vohwinkel to formWuppertaler SV. He later spent the rest of his career playing forViktoria Köln. The highest level Ribbeck played was theOberliga, part of the first tier of Germany which was then split into five regional divisions.
Ribbeck nearly joinedBayer 04 Leverkusen andBundesliga sideHertha BSC in 1965, but both deals fell through. He then retired from playing and joinedBorussia Mönchengladbach as assistant toHennes Weisweiler.[1]
His first coaching position he held at the age of 30 in 1967–68, when he tookRot-Weiss Essen to the second place in the western division of Germany's Level 2 league and thus to the promotion tournament, where the club ended up losing out againstHertha Berlin.
The next ten years he shared evenly with engagements withEintracht Frankfurt and1. FC Kaiserslautern. In the Bundesliga these clubs remained on mediocre levels during his tenure. With Kaiserslautern he reached the German Cup final of 1976, losing 0–2 toHamburger SV.
After working as assistant toJupp Derwall with theGermany national football team, Ribbeck was appointedBayer Leverkusen coach in 1985. The club qualified for European competition for the first time in their history in his first season. In 1988, Leverkusen and Ribbeck won their first ever major trophy, lifting theUEFA Cup. Leverkusen beatAustria Wien,Toulouse,Feyenoord,Barcelona andWerder Bremen to reach the two-legged final againstRCD Espanyol. Despite losing 3-0 away, Leverkusen won the second leg at home 3-0 with three second-half goals and won the eventual penalty shoot-out.[1][2]
Ribbeck joinedFC Bayern Munich in March 1992, replacingSøren Lerby, as the team unexpectedly found themselves fighting relegation. Ribbeck guided Bayern to 10th place, which was still their worst league finish since 1978. The following season, Ribbeck's Bayern challenged for the title; going into the final day, they were level on points withWerder Bremen but behind by a single goal. Bayern drew 3-3 withSchalke and finished 2nd.[3]
Ribbeck was fired from Bayern in late 1993 after criticism from players andUli Hoeneß, despite being just one point off the top of theBundesliga.Franz Beckenbauer would replace Ribbeck and ultimately won the league.[4]
Ribbeck returned to Leverkusen in 1995 but lasted just a year.[1]
Ribbeck was originally considered as a candidate for the national team manager role after the resignation ofHelmut Schön in 1978. Instead,Jupp Derwall was selected and it was not until 20 years later on 9 September 1998[5] that Ribbeck emerged from retirement to take over theGermany national team when other candidates had declined. At 61, he was the oldest appointee to the job.
Ribbeck's two-year tenure marked the worst period in the modern history of Germany's national side. Ribbeck resigned on 21 June 2000 after a string of disappointing results culminating in a group stage exit fromEuro 2000.[6] During that tournament, Ribbeck had rejected calls fromOliver Bierhoff,Oliver Kahn,Jens Nowotny andMehmet Scholl to drop aging sweeperLothar Matthäus. Ribbeck had insisted that Matthäus would earn his 150th cap, while threatening any rebellious national team members with a fine or exclusion from the squad.[7]
His results as Germany's coach were ten wins, six draws and eight losses, the worst managerial performance of all time for a coach of the Germany national team.[8]
Ribbeck shares his residence betweenPulheim andTenerife, Spain.[1]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Rot-Weiss Essen | 1 July 1967 | 30 June 1968 | 42 | 25 | 11 | 6 | 059.52 | |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 July 1968[9] | 30 June 1973[9] | 203 | 83 | 41 | 79 | 040.89 | [9] |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 1 July 1973[10] | 30 June 1978[10] | 192 | 85 | 32 | 75 | 044.27 | [10] |
| Borussia Dortmund | 28 October 1984[11] | 30 June 1985[11] | 25 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 040.00 | [11] |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1 July 1985[12] | 30 June 1988[12] | 125 | 53 | 36 | 36 | 042.40 | [12] |
| Bayern Munich | 12 March 1992[13] | 27 December 1993[13] | 75 | 37 | 22 | 16 | 049.33 | [13] |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 10 April 1995[12] | 28 April 1996[12] | 48 | 17 | 18 | 13 | 035.42 | [12] |
| Germany | 9 September 1998[5] | 21 June 2000[6] | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 041.67 | [14] |
| Total | 734 | 320 | 170 | 244 | 043.60 | — | ||
Erich Ribbeck international tournaments | |||||||||||||
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