Frank Mill (born 23 July 1958) is a German former professional
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 le ...
who was a member of the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
winning squad of
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. Further, he participated at the
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
and at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
, where he won the bronze medal with the West German team.
Career
The son of a
junk dealer,
Mill began his career at the age of six at local side Eintracht Essen before joining the youth ranks of
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
's biggest club,
Rot-Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...
, in 1972. Starting job training to become a florist (his mother owned a flower shop), Mill signed his first professional contract with
Rot-Weiss in 1976. Essen was a
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
side in his debut season, a campaign in which his three goals (in a total of 19 appearances) couldn't prevent the team from dropping down to
2. Bundesliga North. In that division he grew to become a reliable hitman, scoring 71 goals for Rot-Weiss (at times alongside
Horst Hrubesch
Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...
) over the next four seasons, forty of those in just 38 appearances during 1979–80. This tally made him the top goalscorer of 2. Bundesliga Nord, making him a prime target for a transfer, and in 1981 he was to return to the Bundesliga upon being signed by
Jupp Heynckes
Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (; born 9 May 1945) is a German retired professional footballer and manager. The majority of his player career was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won many nati ...
of
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...
.
At Mönchengladbach he kept on scoring, netting fourteen goals in his first year under contract. Only eight months into his life at
Bökelberg he was called up by
Jupp Derwall
Josef "Jupp" Derwall (10 March 1927 – 26 June 2007) was a German professional football manager and player. He was head coach of the West Germany national team between 1978 and 1984, winning the UEFA Euro 1980 and reaching the final of the 1982 ...
to represent West Germany for the first time in his career. On 21 March 1982, he featured in a friendly against
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. A back injury forced him out of the West German squad for the
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...
tournament, and also hampered his scoring abilities during the next season. In
1983–84 he recaptured his place as Mönchengladbach's top scorer, firing nineteen goals past opposing goalkeepers that season. Missing out on the Bundesliga title on the final day (and only on goal difference) to
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...
, Mönchengladbach then had to deal with a second major blow, as the team also lost the
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
final on penalties against
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
(with his Bayern Munich-bound team-mate
Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup whe ...
failing to score from the spot in the shoot-out). Mill scored the only Mönchengladbach goal in normal time during
that match.
Later that summer Mill participated in the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
, and he was still Borussia Mönchengladbach's best striker when fellow Bundesliga side
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...
persuaded him to switch over to them at the end of the 1985–86 Bundesliga season.
[ Although Mönchengladbach was receiving adequate compensation (1.3 million DM) for his services, the move remained somewhat in the balance for a couple of weeks as Dortmund had to first go through three relegation play-offs to ensure their Bundesliga future. Once signed, however, Mill inspired Dortmund to a less troubled 1986–87 season, the striker's seventeen goals in 31 appearances helping Dortmund up to a fourth-place finish and a berth in the ]UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
the following season – although he had to suffer enduring mocking for failing to score from an open goal against Bayern Munich on the opening day.[ His scoring punch made him a popular figure at ]Westfalenstadion
Westfalenstadion (, ) is a Association football, football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA ...
immediately, subsequently earning him the role of team captain. Outside of his club, he was part of the host nation's squad at Euro 1988
The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
The tournament crowned the Nethe ...
. Increasingly popular and seen as a role model, a disagreement over Mill's captaincy and his role within the Dortmund squad between the club's chairman, Dr. Gerd Niebaum, and manager, Reinhard Saftig
Reinhard Saftig (born 23 January 1952) is a German retired football player and manager.
Saftig has served as head coach of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96, VfL Bochum, and Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga.
Career
Saftig w ...
, resulted in the latter being replaced by Horst Köppel
Horst Köppel (born 17 May 1948) is a German football manager and former player who last worked as manager for FC Ingolstadt 04 in 2009.
Playing career
Köppel scored 83 goals in the West German top-flight.
For the West Germany national team ...
, leaving no doubt that the chairman's view regarding Mill's role had prevailed.
Mill looked a bit out of form after Köppel's take over: although he had won bronze with Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
, his once impressive scoring quota had begun to fade. Still, he remained an important player for his club and was part of the Dortmund team that lifted the DFB-Pokal trophy in 1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
, beating favourites Werder Bremen
Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...
in the final.[ At that time Mill was kind of an ageing marksman, but in 1990 ]Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...
rewarded his durability with a place in the West German squad for the 1990 World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being M ...
. However, with proven goalscorer Rudi Völler
Rudolf "Rudi" Völler (; born 13 April 1960), nicknamed "''Tante Käthe''" ("Aunt Käthe"), is a German former professional football player and manager who serves as the sporting director for Bayer Leverkusen.
A forward, Völler won the FIFA Wor ...
and youngsters Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...
and Karlheinz Riedle
Karl-Heinz Riedle (; born 16 September 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Despite not being particularly tall, he was nicknamed "Air" throughout his career, due to his notable heading accuracy, jumping an ...
all well in front of him in Beckenbauer's thoughts, he remained the unused fourth-choice striker during those successful weeks in Italy.[
At club level Mill's fading punch in front of the goal saw him go through a transformation from scorer to assist winner, but this still couldn't prevent him from being forced out to the fringes of the Borussia Dortmund first-team. In 1991, Köppel departed as manager and his successor, ]Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld (; born 12 January 1949) is a German former professional football player ( striker) and manager. He accumulated a total of 18 major titles, mostly in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich ...
, started to set his stamp on the development of the club. With Stephane Chapuisat and Flemming Povlsen
Flemming Søgaard Povlsen (born 3 December 1966) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, among other teams. He works as football expert on TV.
Club career
Povlsen started playing foot ...
Hitzfeld's regular picks in the Dortmund frontline, Mill was usually placed in a sub-role and, at the end of Hitzfeld's debut season in charge of the club, 1991–92, missed out on the Bundesliga title again - for the second time in his career and in almost identical circumstances: on goal difference and due to final day action, with VfB Stuttgart finishing as champions. They entered the UEFA Cup and reached the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, losing to Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
.
Still a fan favourite at Westfalenstadion
Westfalenstadion (, ) is a Association football, football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA ...
, Mill saw out his deal with the club in 1994 to join promoted Fortuna Düsseldorf
Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga.
Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...
in the 2nd Bundesliga. There he enjoyed two more seasons in the game, scoring five times in his first season at Rheinstadion
The Rheinstadion () was a multi-purpose stadium, in Düsseldorf, Germany. The stadium was built, near the Rhine, in 1926 and held 54,000 people at the end of its life.
It was the home ground for Fortuna Düsseldorf from 1953 to 1970 and 1972–2 ...
, efforts that helped Fortuna return to the Bundesliga. His final twelve months as a professional, during the 1995–96 season, saw him esperience a bright start with two goals in the first three matches. He couldn't add any more in his next 26 appearances for Düsseldorf, however, and his final Bundesliga totals were 123 goals in 387 appearances for Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Shortly after the end of his career, Fortuna Düsseldorf offered him a role as a director in their management, a role he later left by mutual consent following a lack of success.
Honours
Borussia Mönchengladbach
* DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
: Runner-up 1983–84
Borussia Dortmund
* DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
: 1988–89
* UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
: Runner-up 1992–93
West Germany
* World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
: 1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
* Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
: Bronze Medal: 1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mill, Frank
1958 births
Living people
Footballers from Essen
Association football forwards
German footballers
Rot-Weiss Essen players
Borussia Mönchengladbach players
Borussia Dortmund players
Fortuna Düsseldorf players
Germany international footballers
Olympic footballers of West Germany
Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany
Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
UEFA Euro 1988 players
1990 FIFA World Cup players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
Germany under-21 international footballers
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Olympic medalists in football
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics