Rudolf "Rudi" Brunnenmeier (11 February 1941 – 18 April 2003) 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. The former top scorer 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 ...

and five times player for Germany is closely associated with the great era of

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 of ...

in the 1960s.

Career

The forward played from 1960 until 1968 for 1860 Munich. Initially, from 1960 to 1963 the club was in the Oberliga Süd, the southern division of the then five-way split German first division. There, 1860 won the league in 1963, yielding the title of "South German Champions", a berth in the play-offs for the national championship of that year, and most importantly a place in the first

season 1963–64. In the Oberliga years Brunnenmeier contributed an impressive 73 goals in 88 matches. In the Bundesliga the team coached by Max Merkel continued its success, winning 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 ...

in 1964. Brunnenmeier not only contributed 19 goals in 29 league matches, but also scored the decisive 2–0 in the cup final versus Frankfurt. In the next season Brunnenmeier rose his Bundesliga tally to 24 goals, which made him top scorer in that season. Most importantly the club reached the Cup Winners' Cup 1965 which took place in front of a crowd of 100 000 in the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in London. Effectively this turned out to be an away match, as West Ham United were the opponents. "Hammers" keeper

Jim Standen James Alfred Standen (born 30 May 1935) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Arsenal, Luton Town, West Ham United, Millwall and Portsmouth. He won the FA Cup and the European Cup Win ...

made fine saves from 1860 captain Brunnenmeier and eventually two goals by Alan Sealey twenty minutes before time saw West Ham captain

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...

lifting his first of all together three trophies within one year in Wembley. In these years, 1964 and 1965, Brunnenmeier also played five times for the

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He scored three goals in those matches. 1966 saw the peak of the ''Sixtiers'', when they won the hitherto only championship title of their history.

Peter Grosser Peter Grosser (28 September 1938 – 2 March 2021) was a German football player and coach. Club career As a player, he spent six seasons in the Bundesliga with TSV 1860 Munich, captaining the club for the 1965–66 Bundesliga title and scorin ...

and

Hans Rebele Hans Rebele (26 January 1943 – 4 January 2023) was a German professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent six seasons in the Bundesliga with 1860 Munich. He also represented West Germany in two friendlies. Rebele died on 4 Janua ...

powered the offensive style for which this side was famous. Highly memorable was also Yugoslav goalkeeper

Petar Radenkovic Petar ( sr, Петар, bg, Петър) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter. Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra. Pe ...

, the first foreign star in the Bundesliga. Players like Luttrop and Reich performed defensive roles in this highly entertaining cast where also Alfred "Fredi" Heiß, Friedhelm Konietzka,

Wilfried Kohlars Wilfried Kohlars (28 October 1939 – 5 June 2019) was a German football player. He spent seven seasons in the Bundesliga with TSV 1860 München. Honours * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finalist: 1964–65 * Bundesliga champion: 1965–66 * Bundeslig ...

and

Hans Küppers Hans Küppers (24 December 1938 – 15 December 2021) was a German footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent six seasons in the Bundesliga with TSV 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg. He also represented West Germany seven times, including ...

managed to capture the attention of a wider audience. But Brunnenmeier had already peaked before. In the championship season he only scored 15 goals, his lowest season output since he joined the club. And the club went downhill from then on forth, so did Brunnenmeier. As the club's placings moved into double digits, so did Brunnenmeier's annual tallies turn single digit: seven goals stood at the end of the 1966–67 season and in the next season, which should be his last with the ''Lions'' he even only was left with one single goal after only 12 matches. Brunnenmeier left with all together 66 goals in 119 league matches, which remain club record, and is considered one of the greatest forwards in 1860s history. After his time in Munich he initially played for four years with Xamax Neuchatel in the Swiss first division followed by a year with

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

. From 1973 until 1977 he was still on the books with SW Bregenz in Austria before playing three more years with amateur side FC Balzers in Liechtenstein. After the end of his years as player, Brunnenmeier increasingly had problems due to his inclination to alcohol abuse which eventually impoverished him. Odd jobs helped him to get by. Eventually, on 18 April 2003 he died from alcohol-related issues. His funeral took place under great public attention. The championship winning side of 1966 and many fans paid their last tribute to this great icon of TSV 1860 Munich.

Honours

1860 Munich *

: 1965–66 * DFB-Pokal: 1963–64 * South German Championship: 1962–63 * European Cup Winners' Cup: runner-up 1964–65 Individual * Bundesliga top scorer: 1965, 24 goals

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunnenmeier, Rudolf 1941 births 2003 deaths German footballers Association football forwards Germany international footballers Bundesliga players TSV 1860 Munich players FC Zürich players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players FC Balzers players German expatriate footballers West German expatriate sportspeople in Liechtenstein Expatriate footballers in Liechtenstein Burials at the Ostfriedhof (Munich) Footballers from Munich West German footballers West German expatriate footballers West German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz players