Günter Fronzeck, born 29 September 1937, is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played for 1. FC Magdeburg and predecessor SC Aufbau Magdeburg in East Germany's top flight, the

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 ...

. He won three national cup titles with his team. Defender and defensive midfielder Fronzeck joined Oberliga side SC Aufbau in 1963, almost 26 years old. He had played for the second-biggest football force in the city, BSG Turbine Magdeburg, beginning play in the fourth tier Bezirksliga Magdeburg. During his time there, Turbine won promotion to the third-tier 2nd DDR-Liga in 1959, and the second-tier DDR-Liga in 1962. Fronzeck had his greatest success with his new club, though. At the end of his first season Fronzeck played in the final of the FDGB-Pokal, East German's national cup competition. Playing as a left midfielder, he helped his team beat favorites SC Leipzig 3–2. One year later, the Magdeburg side reached the final again, beating

SC Motor Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Formed in 1903 and initially associated with the Carl Zeiss AG factory, they were one of the strongest clubs in East Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, winning the DDR-Obe ...

2–1, with Fronzeck playing center back. After an unsuccessful 1965–66 season that ended in the club's relegation, Fronzeck had to play in the second-tier DDR-Liga again. He appeared in 26 of the 30 matches and saw his team return to the Oberliga immediately. After a respectable third place in the 1967–68 season and a successful 1968–69 season that saw the club fight for the championship until the final matchday — Magdeburg finished third again — Fronzeck won his final title. 1. FC Magdeburg beat FC Karl-Marx-Stadt 4–0 to win their third FDGB-Pokal, with Fronzeck filling the rightback position. By winning the cup, Magdeburg had qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as well. During Fronzeck's time, the club played thirteen matches on European level, with Fronzeck appearing in ten of them. The club went furthest in the 1965–66 season when they met holders West Ham United in the quarter-finals. Fronzeck played in both matches that saw Magdeburg eliminated 1–2 on aggregate. When 34-year-old Fronzeck ended his active career after the 1971–72 season, he had played in 201 competitive matches for SC Aufbau and 1. FC Magdeburg. Among those were 137 Oberliga matches and 28 FDGB-Pokal matches. As he was a defensive player, he only scored 8 goals.

Honors

* FDGB-Pokal: 3 ** Winner

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fronzeck, Gunter 1937 births Living people German footballers East German footballers Association football defenders 1. FC Magdeburg players DDR-Oberliga players