Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the only East German player to do this besides goalkeeper

Jürgen Croy Jürgen Croy (born 19 October 1946) is a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 86 appearances for the German Democratic Republic national team. Club career Born in Zwickau, Germany, Croy spent his entire footballing career at ...

Playing career

Dörner's playing career began in 1960 with amateur club BSG Energie WAMA Görlitz. He joined

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

in 1968 where he won five first division DDR-Oberliga titles and five

FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football af ...

e (East German Cup), twice winning the DDR-Oberliga and

double. He captained

from 1977 until his retirement, and is the club's most decorated captain. He was voted the team's greatest player ever in 1999. During his time at Dynamo Dresden, the club finished outside the top three in the DDR-Oberliga only once, which was a seventh place finish in the 1982–83 season. He captained the team to their best European seasons, twice reaching the quarter finals of the

European Clubs' Champions Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competition in its older form ...

in 1977 and 1979. He also guided his team to quarter finals in the 1975–76 UEFA Cup and both the 1984–85 and the 1985–86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. This was seen as a great success against teams from Europe's big leagues. Dörner scored an amazing 65 goals in 392 top-flight games for Dynamo Dresden, a record for a defender in the DDR-Oberliga. He was capped 96 times for East Germany, winning a gold medal as a vital part of that country's Olympic team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Coaching career

His career as a player ended in 1986, and he later took on the role of trainer for the East German Olympic squad in 1990. After German re-unification, he coached the Olympic youth side of the united country. From 6 January 1996 until 20 August 1997 he was the coach for

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 ...

club

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 ...

. From 2006 to 2010 he coached Radebeuler BC 08 in the city league known as the Bezirksliga Dresden.

Death

Dörner died on 19 January 2022, at the age of 70.

Honours

Dynamo Dresden * DDR-Oberliga: 1970–71, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78; runner-up: 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85 *

: 1970–71, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85

References

External links