 Meyer in 1967 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1940-02-18)18 February 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Düsseldorf, Gau Düsseldorf, Germany | ||
| Date of death | (aged 85) | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Wersten 04 | |||
| TuRU Düsseldorf | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1967 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 174 | (119) |
| 1967–1970 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 19 | (19) |
| VfL 06 Benrath | |||
| Viktoria 02 | |||
| International career | |||
| 1967 | Germany | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Peter Meyer (18 February 1940 – February 2026) was a German professional footballer who played as astriker. He spent four seasons in theBundesliga withFortuna Düsseldorf andBorussia Mönchengladbach.[1] He also representedGermany once, in aUEFA Euro 1968 qualifier againstAlbania.
Meyer started his career at Wersten 04 andTuRU Düsseldorf before joiningFortuna Düsseldorf in 1960.[2] He played in the1961–62 DFB-Pokal final with the club, losing 2–1 to1. FC Nürnberg. In 1966, he helped Fortuna reach theBundesliga for the first time, scoring twice in a 5–1 victory againstKickers Offenbach in theAufstiegsrunde, securing the club's promotion ongoal average. He appeared 25 times and scored eight goals during the following season in the Bundesliga, but could not prevent Fortuna from being relegated at the end of the campaign. Meyer was not offered a new contract following Fortuna's relegation, and was free to look for a new club.[3] With a total of 119 goals in 174 league games between 1960 and 1967, he was the club's record goalscorer at the time of his death in 2026.[4][5]
After initially agreeing terms withMSV Duisburg, Meyer opted to sign forBorussia Mönchengladbach after being persuaded to join the club byGünter Netzer, who showed up at the car workshop that Meyer worked at.[3] He debuted on 19 August 1967 againstSchalke 04, scoring ahat trick in a 4–3 away win, and went on to score 19 goals for the club in the first half of the1967–68 Bundesliga season. He was subsequently selected byHelmut Schön to play forWest Germany in their decisiveEuro 1968 qualification match againstAlbania inTirana. West Germany failed to qualify after drawing the match 0–0, and the game became known as the "Disgrace of Tirana".[6]
In January 1968, during a training match played inDuisburg, Meyer broke histibia andfibula following a collision with his own goalkeeperVolker Danner. Meyer never fully recovered from the injury, and required a second operation after returning to training too soon after the incident.[3] He made a brief comeback in August 1969, starting in a league match againstBayern Munich, but was substituted at half-time, and never made another appearance in the Bundesliga.[7] He left the club at the end of the1969–70 season and dropped into amateur football, joiningVfL Benrath in theVerbandsliga Niederrhein,[8] followed by Viktoria 02 before deciding to retire.[4]
Meyer died in February 2026, at the age of 85.[9]
