Wolfgang Frank (21 February 1951 – 7 September 2013) 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 ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
and player.
Frank was born in
Reichenbach an der Fils
Reichenbach an der Fils is a town in the Esslingen district in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
History
Reichenbach was mentioned for the first time in 1268. In 1906, its name was changed to "Reichenbach an der Fils" to avoid confusion ...
, and made a total of 215 appearances in 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 ...
during his playing career, scoring 89 goals. For the
Germany national football B team
Germany B (or Germany A2) is a secondary team of the Germany national football team, used to try out and develop players for potential inclusion in the first team. The team, which has not been active since 2006, can play against other nations' B- ...
, he scored three goals in six games.
As a manager, Frank was at the helm of 16 different clubs and led
Rot-Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...
to the
1994 DFB-Pokal final, only to lose 3–1 to
SV Werder Bremen
Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...
at Berlin's
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
.
In his final year as a player, Frank trained as a teacher in sport and religion. He was inspired by
Arrigo Sacchi's A.C.Milan and introduced the 4-4-2 system to Germany at a time when German teams played with a sweeper. Inspired by how Sacchi had got his team to press, marking space rather than individual players, Frank introduced this advanced tactical thinking into German football. He is credited with inspiring a renaissance in the Bundesliga which has inspired a new generation of managers such as
Jürgen Klopp
Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world.
Klopp spent most of his playing c ...
and
Joachim Löw
Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...
.
Frank died in
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
, aged 62.
References
External links
*
1951 births
2013 deaths
People from Esslingen (district)
Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region)
Footballers from Baden-Württemberg
German footballers
Association football forwards
German expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Germany B international footballers
Bundesliga players
Eredivisie players
VfL Kirchheim/Teck players
VfB Stuttgart players
AZ Alkmaar players
Eintracht Braunschweig players
Borussia Dortmund players
1. FC Nürnberg players
German football managers
FC Aarau managers
FK Austria Wien managers
MSV Duisburg managers
SpVgg Unterhaching managers
FCV Farul Constanța managers
Kickers Offenbach managers
Wuppertaler SV managers
FC Carl Zeiss Jena managers
1. FSV Mainz 05 managers
Rot-Weiss Essen managers
2. Bundesliga managers
FC Winterthur managers
Deaths from cancer in Germany
3. Liga managers
German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
FC Wettingen managers
Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
German expatriate football managers
German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
FC Sachsen Leipzig managers
Expatriate football managers in Romania
German expatriate sportspeople in Romania
SV Wehen Wiesbaden managers
K.A.S. Eupen managers
Expatriate football managers in Belgium
German expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
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