Fritz Becker (13 September 1888 – 22 February 1963) was a German 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Biography

He played for FC Germania 1894 Frankfurt before moving to FC Frankfurter Kickers (later to be known as

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

). He played for the Frankfurt club from 1904 to 1921. In 1907 he was selected to a

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

city XI that would play

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, and Becker scored two goals against the reigning English champions. After his glowing performance, he was invited to a test match in order to form a Germany national team. On 5 April 1908, Becker went down in history as one of the eleven footballers who played in the first game of the Germany national team in an

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in which he scored the first-ever goal in the team's history. Despite scoring twice for his country, Becker ended up on the losing side with Germany going down 5-3. This was the only match he ever played for Germany. Becker acted several times as the club's sports director, most recently in 1946–47. In his professional life, he worked as a councilor in the city's administration. Fritz Becker was honorary club member and honorary captain at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Honours

Nordkreis-Liga The Nordkreis-Liga (English: ''Northern district league'') was the highest association football league in the German Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1909 to 1918. The league was disbanded with the introduction o ...

** Champion: 1911–12+, 1912–13+, 1913–14+ * Southern German Championship ** Runner-up: 1912–13+, 1913–14+ * + As Frankfurter FV *

Kreisliga Nordmain The Kreisliga Nordmain (English: ''District league North Main'') was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introd ...

** Champion: 1919–20+, 1920–21

References

Sources

* 1888 births 1963 deaths Footballers from Frankfurt German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers VfL Germania 1894 players Eintracht Frankfurt players Men's association football forwards {{Germany-footy-forward-1880s-stub