Horst Blankenburg (born 10 July 1947) 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 played as a sweeper. He is best known for the early 1970s period, during which he played for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

and won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

three times (1971, 1972, 1973), the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

twice (1972, 1973), the Intercontinental Cup once (1972) and the Dutch championship and the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

twice. In 1976, he won the

German Cup 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 considered ...

and the

European 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 ...

in 1977 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 was never selected for the West Germany national team.

Club career

Blankenburg's career began in the youth team of

VfL Heidenheim 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from the city of Heidenheim an der Brenz, Heidenheim, Baden-Württemberg. History The current day club was formed in 2007 through the separation of the football se ...

; his professional career began at 1. FC Nürnberg under

Max Merkel Max Merkel (7 December 1918 – 28 November 2006) was an Austrian footballer who played international football for both Germany and Austria as a defender. At club level, he played for Rapid Wien, Wiener SC, and Luftwaffen SV Markersdorf. Manag ...

in the 1967–68 season. Nürnberg won the

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 ...

in that season, even though his contribution consisted of only 13 games, none of them league matches. He then transferred to

Wiener Sportclub The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At vari ...

in Vienna for 45,000

German mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

s, where he managed to impress. After the season, he switched to

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

for 100,000 German marks. In that season, he had 31 appearances and even scored one goal, but his team was relegated, he moved on to

in the Netherlands.

Ajax golden era

Blankenburg played together with

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

Johan Neeskens RCH may stand for: * Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization * Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways * The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian F ...

Ruud Krol Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax, and he became a coach a ...

, and

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...

. His coaches at Ajax were Stefan Kovács and

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...

, who designed the famous Dutch

offside trap Offside is one of the laws in association football, codified in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game. The law states that a player is in an offside position if any of their body parts, except the hands and arms, are in the opponents' half of the p ...

around him and

Velibor Vasović Velibor Vasović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Васовић; 3 October 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan Belgrade and Ajax and one of greatest defenders of his gener ...

. In the five seasons at Ajax he won the

three years in a row between 1971 and 1973 and the Intercontinental Cup in 1972. He became Dutch champion in 1972 and 1973 and won the Dutch Cup in 1971 and 1972.

Hamburger SV

In 1975, Blankenburg returned to Germany to play for

. Under

Kuno Klötzer Kuno Klötzer (19 April 1922 – 6 August 2011) was a German football player and coach who won the 1977 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup managing Hamburger SV. Born in Geyer, Germany, Klötzer managed several clubs included Arminia Hannover, Hannover 9 ...

, he won the German Cup in 1976 and the

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 ...

in 1977, although he did not get to play in the final against

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

. In the end, he could not assert himself at the club – during his second season at the club he only played 13 league matches, so he was transferred at the end of that season to

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France ...

in Switzerland. In 1978, Blankenburg moved to

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...

in the United States, before being loaned out for a few months to

KSC Hasselt Koninklijke Sporting Club Hasselt was a Belgian football club. The matricule No. 37 was erased in 2001 after the merge with K.S.K. Kermt to become Sporting Hasselt, K.S.K. Kermt-Hasselt. The club played one season in the Belgian First Division, ...

in Belgium. He retired from professional football in 1981 at

Preußen Münster Preußen or Preussen is the German word for Prussia. It also refers to: Ships * ''Preußen'' (ship), windjammer built in 1902 * SMS ''Preußen'' (1873), armored frigate * SMS ''Preußen'' (1903), pre-dreadnought Battleship * , vorpostenboot ...

. However, in 1982 he moved to lower league teams Hummelsbütteler SV and

Lüneburger SK Lüneburger Sport-Klub von 1901 e. V. was one of the oldest and most successful football clubs from the Lüneburg area until it merged with Lüneburger SV in 2008 to become Lüneburger SK Hansa. History The club was established on 1 April 1901 ...

, where he finally ended his career in 1985, aged 38.

International career

Blankenburg was never selected for the West Germany national team, one of the reasons being that the outstanding

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 ...

fulfilled the role of libero there at the time.

Johan Cruijff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a pr ...

asked him to play for the Netherlands in the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

but Blankenburg refused, he was still hoping for selection from his homeland.

Honours

1. FC Nürnberg *

: 1967–68 Ajax *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

: 1971–72, 1972–73 *

: 1970–71, 1971–72 *

: 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 *

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Hamburger SV *

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 *

: 1976–77

References

External links

* *
NASL Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blankenburg, Horst 1947 births Living people German footballers Association football sweepers 1. FC Nürnberg players TSV 1860 Munich players AFC Ajax players Hamburger SV players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players SC Preußen Münster players Chicago Sting (NASL) players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Eredivisie players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Belgian Pro League players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate footballers in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands German expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Wiener Sport-Club players UEFA Champions League winning players