Werner Baßler (2 October 1921 – 21 October 1999) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Early life

Baßler's footballing career started at the youth side of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he played with

Fritz Walter Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany a ...

and Richard Schneider. Werner was a multi-talented athlete who played handball, track, field and he also cycled.

Career

Gauliga

In 1938 he appeared in the first team of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In the 1939/1940 season were the champions of the Saarpfalz region in the Gauliga Südwest, however couldn't advance to the finals of the German Championship, after losing 4:7 on aggregate to

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

. In the 1941/1942 Gauliga Westmark season, Werner scored 21 goals. For the first time 1. FC Kaiserslautern advanced to the German Championship. On May 10, 1942, 1. FC Kaiserslautern beat

SV Waldhof Mannheim SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over ...

7:1 with Werner scoring a goal. Unfortunately 1. FC Kaiserslautern could not progress further, as they lost 3:9, on aggregate, to a

Schalke Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rh ...

side that boasted the likes of

Fritz Szepan Friedrich "Fritz" Szepan (2 September 1907 – 14 December 1974) was a German footballer in the period leading up to and including World War II. He spent his entire career with Schalke 04 where he won six national championships and one German C ...

and

Ernst Kuzorra Ernst Kuzorra (16 October 1905 – 1 January 1990) was a German footballer of the pre-war era. During his entire career, he played for Schalke 04, whom he led to six national championships and one national cup. He is commonly regarded as the gre ...

. Werner was drafted into the navy in 1942 and would play as a war-guest for

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

for two seasons. He would play just a few more games for 1. FC Kaiserslautern before the introduction of the Oberliga

Oberliga

Werner's first game in the Oberliga came against Phoenix Ludwigshafen, Werner scored 3 in a 10–0 victory. Up until 1950/1951, 1. FC Kaiserslautern would win four Oberliga Sudwest championships. 1947/1948 was a great year for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, as they won the championship with a 151:18 ratio of goals scored to goals conceded. Werner ended up with 28 goals in the championship, which put him in 4th place. First place was none other than teammate

Ottmar Walter Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (6 March 1924 – 16 June 2013) was a German footballer who played as a striker. He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. They also played together for the Germany nation ...

with 51 goals. The next season would be even better for Werner as he totalled a record 54 goals for 1. FC Kaiserslautern. The following season Baßler scored another 45 goals, equal to

. In 1951, Baßler finished with 25 goals, behind

, who scored 28 goals. In 1951, together with the 1. FC Kaiserslautern team, he was awarded the

Silver Laurel Leaf Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and ...

In the Oberliga Südwest he played 215 games from 1945 to 1957, scoring 226 goals. Baßler played his last competitive game for the Red Devils in the final round of 1957 on June 9 in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

, against the defending champions

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 ...

, when Lautern lost 2-3 goals in front of 75,000 spectators, he had to deal with the 23-year-old Borussia left winger Helmut Kapitulski.

Later life

Baßler was employed as a construction mechanic by the sewing machine manufacturer Pfaff in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

and, after his return from

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

, also ran a lottery and pools acceptance point. According to his own records, Baßler scored at least 1388 goals during his career.Werner Skrentny, Teufelsangst vorm Erbsenberg, Die Geschichte der Oberliga Südwest 1946–1963, S. 26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baßler, Werner 1921 births 1999 deaths German footballers Men's association football forwards VfR Mannheim players Holstein Kiel players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players West German footballers People from Kaiserslautern (district) People from the Palatinate (region) Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II Military personnel from Rhineland-Palatinate