Manfred "Manny" Seissler ''(German: Manfred Seißler)'' (born August 8, 1939) is a former

soccer 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 began his career in the lower German divisions before moving to the United States. He played one season in the National Professional Soccer League and seven in 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 ...

. Born in Germany, he earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the U.S. national team in 1973.

Club career

Germany

Born in Germany, Seissler began his career in 1960 with the

KSV Hessen Kassel KSV Hessen Kassel is a semi-professional German football club based in Kassel, Hesse. KSV competes in the German Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football. Nicknamed "Die Löwen" (the lions), the club was founded as FC Union 9 ...

junior team. In 1961, he moved to the first team which competed in the

Oberliga Süd Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...

, the southern conference of the German first division back then, which preceded the creation of 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 1963, he moved to Regionalliga Süd (Second Division) club

1. FC Pforzheim 1. FC Pforzheim was a German association football club playing in Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg. The club was established on 5 May 1896 and was a founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900. In 2010 it merged with VfR ...

. In 1965, he moved to

SV Eintracht Trier 05 SV Eintracht Trier 05 is a German association football club based in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. It was formed on 11 March 1948 out of the merger of Westmark 05 Trier and Eintracht Trier 06, on the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of pred ...

of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

United States

In 1967, he left Germany for the United States where he signed with the Pittsburgh Phantoms of the National Professional Soccer League. The NPSL merged with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

in 1968 to form the first incarnation of the

(NASL). The Phantoms folded and Seissler signed with the

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an United States, American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City M ...

. With the Spurs he won the NASL championship of 1969 and Seissler played with them, in the end as captain, until they folded following the 1970 season. He then transferred to the Rochester Lancers. While with Rochester, Seissler participated in the first NASL-sanctioned indoor tournament in 1971. He scored one goal and one assist in two matches and was named to the all-tournament team. In 1973, the Lancers traded Seissler to the

Montreal Olympique The Montreal Olympique were a Canadian soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1971 to 1973. The team was based in Montreal and played its 1971 and 1973 home matches at Autostade and at the Universite de Montre ...

but it folded at the end of the season and Seissler returned to the Lancers for the 1974 season. He played only one game, then retired. During his early years in the NASL, Seissler was one of the league's top forwards, being named a first team All Star in 1969, 1970 and 1971. In 1977, he was named to the Rochester Lancers Team of the Decade. Seissler was named to the Lancers Wall of Fame in 2017.

International career

Seissler earned one

with the U.S. national team in a 4–0 loss to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on March 20, 1973. He started the game, but came off for

Siegfried Stritzl Siegfried Stritzl (April 12, 1944 – November 3, 2022) was an American soccer player who was the 1969 North American Soccer League Rookie of the Year. He also earned eleven caps, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team between 1968 and ...

in the 58th minute.USA - Details of International Matches 1970-1979

References

External links

Rochester Lancers Wall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seissler, Manfred 1939 births Living people 1. FC Pforzheim players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American expatriate men's soccer players American men's soccer players SV Eintracht Trier 05 players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football forwards West German expatriate sportspeople in Canada German men's footballers German emigrants to the United States Kansas City Spurs players KSV Hessen Kassel players Montreal Olympique players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Pittsburgh Phantoms (NPSL) players Rochester Lancers (1967–1980) players Syracuse Scorpions players United States men's international soccer players West German expatriate men's footballers West German expatriate sportspeople in the United States West German men's footballers Player-coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches