 Friedhelm Konietzka in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Friedhelm Konietzka | ||
| Date of birth | (1938-08-02)2 August 1938 | ||
| Place of birth | Lünen, Germany | ||
| Date of death | 12 March 2012(2012-03-12) (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | Brunnen, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1958 | VfB 08 Lünen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1965 | Borussia Dortmund | 163 | (121) |
| 1965–1967 | 1860 Munich | 47 | (30) |
| 1967–1971 | FC Winterthur | ||
| International career | |||
| 1962–1965 | West Germany | 9 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1971–1978 | FC Zürich | ||
| 1978–1980 | Young Boys | ||
| 1980–1982 | Grasshoppers | ||
| 1982–1983 | Hessen Kassel | ||
| 1983–1984 | Bayer Uerdingen | ||
| 1984 | Borussia Dortmund | ||
| 1985–1986 | Grasshoppers | ||
| 1987–1988 | FC Zürich | ||
| 1990–1991 | Bayer Uerdingen | ||
| 1993–1994 | FC Luzern | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Friedhelm "Timo"Konietzka (2 August 1938 – 12 March 2012) was a German professionalfootball player and manager who played as astriker.[1] He earned his nickname "Timo" due to a supposed resemblance to theSoviet commanderSemyon Timoshenko.[2]
Konietzka was born inLünen,Province of Westphalia, and started his football career at his hometown club VfB 08 Lünen. In his youth (for five years since the age of 14) he worked in a coal mine.[3]Max Merkel, coach ofBorussia Dortmund at that time, discovered his talent when Konietzka was 20 and included him in the Dortmund squad. Together with fellow strikerJürgen Schütz, he formed the most dangerous attack of theOberliga West. Konietzka played a total of 100Bundesliga matches for Borussia Dortmund andTSV 1860 Munich and scored 72 goals,[4] being the second best scorer of the league from 1964 to 1966 in the process. He was also capped nine times (three goals) forGermany between 1962 and 1965.[5] Despite Konietzka's fine goalscoring record in the German league, Germany national team managerSepp Herberger thought of him as too inconsistent, which could be one of the reasons Konietzka never featured regularly for the national side.[3]
He won the German championship with Dortmund against1. FC Köln in the last final before the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963.
Konietzka earned his place in football history books when he scored the very first goal of the newly founded Bundesliga in the first minute of a match betweenWerder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund on 24 August 1963 (at 16:59 German time, as the game had started slightly earlier than scheduled). His biggest successes as a player were aDFB-Pokal title with Dortmund in 1965 and championship titles with Dortmund in 1963 and TSV 1860 Munich in 1966.
His coaching career included stints with Borussia Dortmund,Bayer Uerdingen,FC Zürich,BSC Young Boys andGrasshopper Club Zürich. He won three Swiss championships with FC Zürich between 1974 and 1976 and reached the semi-final of the1976–77 European Cup, where his Zürich side was knocked out by English championsLiverpool. As coach of BSC Young Boys he twice reached the final of theSwiss Cup between 1978 and 1980.
Konietzka's wife is named Claudia. He took Swiss citizenship in 1988. With help ofeuthanasia-organisationExit International, he chose to end his life at the age of 73 inBrunnen,Canton of Schwyz.[6] He had been suffering from cancer prior to his death on 12 March 2012.[6]
Borussia Dortmund
1860 Munich
FC Zürich
Grasshoppers
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
