Dieter Erler (28 May 1939 in

Glauchau Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...

– 10 April 1998 in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

) was a German

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. He began his footballing career with BSG Chemie Glauchau in 1953. He was transferred to

BSG Wismut Gera BSG Wismut Gera is a German association football club playing in Gera, Thuringia. The club is the successor to ''1. SV Gera'' whose football department joined ''Blau-Weiß Gera'' and ''Geraer KFC Dynamos'' in 2007 to form ''FV Gera Süd'', whic ...

for the 1957 season and then after two seasons moved to

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, ...

in January 1959. Erler was both a

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

and a goalscoring midfielder. In 1963, Erler moved to

SC Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Karl-Marx-Stadt was a sports club located at Karl-Marx-Stadt in the German Democratic Republic. Established in 1945, the sports club went through a variation of name changes until 1 July 1963, settling with SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which lasted unt ...

, where he played alongside the player described by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

as the best left-winger in the world at the time: Eberhard Vogel. In 1966–67 the team was crowned

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...

champion. Between 1959 and 1972 he played for

and then

FC Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitzer Fußballclub e.V. is a German association football club based in Chemnitz, Saxony. The club competes in Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football. The roots of the club go back to its establishment as Chemnitzer BC 193 ...

. During his career he gained between 1959 and 1968 47 international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s and scored 12 goals for

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He was voted GDR footballer of the year in 1967.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list East Germany's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

;SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Individual

* GDR Player of the Year:

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erler, Dieter 1939 births 1998 deaths People from Glauchau German footballers East German footballers East Germany international footballers FC Erzgebirge Aue players Chemnitzer FC players Chemnitzer FC managers East German football managers DDR-Oberliga players Association football midfielders Footballers from Saxony