Horst Bertl (24 March 1947 – 6 February 2022) 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 le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Playing career

In 1969, Bertl began his career with

TuS Bremerhaven 93 OSC Bremerhaven is a German sports club based in Bremerhaven, in the federal state of Bremen. History The club was founded in 1972 as ''Olympischer Sport-Club Bremerhaven'' in a merger of various local football clubs including ''ATS Bremerhav ...

before transferring to

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

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

in 1970. Earning the nickname "Big Turtle", he went on to play two seasons with Hannover and moved to

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 ...

where he also spent two seasons. In 1974, Bertl signed with

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. He played five seasons with Hamburg before moving to the United States and signing with the

Houston Hurricane The Houston Hurricane was a soccer team based out of Houston that played in the NASL. They played from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was the Astrodome. Their colors were orange, white and red. History The team was the last of six expansion te ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

in 1979. The Hurricane folded after the 1980 season and Bertl spent two seasons with the

Memphis Americans The Memphis Americans were a soccer team based out of Memphis, Tennessee that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). They played from 1981 to 1984. Their home arena was the Mid-South Coliseum. A new version of the team wi ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Managerial career

In 1981, the

of MISL signed Bertl as head coach. He compiled a 39–53 record over two seasons as a player-coach. In 1984, Bertl became a coach with the Comets Soccer Club in Dallas, Texas. In 2012, MLS's FC Dallas Youth acquired the Comets Soccer Club, adding Bertl to its program as well. In 1993, he coached the

Dallas Rockets The Richardson Rockets were a soccer club based in Richardson, Texas, United States, a suburb of Dallas. The club originally started in the indoor SISL league. They became the North Texas Mid-Cities Flyers for the 1991/92 USISL indoor league and w ...

to the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

playoffs. Bertl served as player agent for

Paul Caligiuri Paul David Caligiuri (born March 9, 1964) is an American former soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder. Caligiuri's professional career spanned 16 years, during which he played for numerous teams in the United States and Germany, ...

Eric Eichmann Eric Eichmann (born May 7, 1965) is an American former soccer player. He played professionally in Germany and the United States and later served as an assistant coach with the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer. He also earned 29 caps and scor ...

Braeden Cloutier Braeden Cloutier (born October 3, 1974) is an American soccer coach and former player who is the former head coach of Orange County SC. As a player, he spent five seasons in Major Soccer League and over twelve in various indoor leagues. Early ...

and

Brian McBride Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward for Columbus Crew, Fulham and Chicago Fire. He is the fifth-highest all-time leading goalscorer for the United States national team. For mu ...

Personal life and death

Bertl died on 6 February 2022, at the age of 74.

Honours

Hamburger SV *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

: 1976–77 *

: 1978–79 *

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 ...

: 1975–76

References

External links

*
NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertl, Horst 1947 births 2022 deaths German footballers Association football midfielders Bundesliga players Hannover 96 players Borussia Dortmund players Hamburger SV players Houston Hurricane players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Memphis Americans players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players German sports agents Association football agents German football managers Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches USISL coaches FC Dallas non-playing staff Sportspeople from Bremerhaven German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Footballers from Bremen (state)