Wilfried Hannes (born 17 May 1957) 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 ...

who played as a defender, and manager, known for achieving his career despite being visually impaired after a pupil-tumour had caused him to lose his sight in his right eye as a child.

Club career

Hannes was born in Düren-Echtz,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. At first a striker, he was a defender in his professional career for

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

, he joined the club during 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 ...

Championship and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

winning season of 1975. He was a fan favourite and a crucial player, he went on to collect two more German Bundesliga titles in 1976 and 1977 and the

in 1979. In his years with the club he also helped them to

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 ...

runners-up in 1977,

runners-up in 1980 and

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 considere ...

runners-up in 1984. As a sweeper Hannes was renowned for his forward surges and his long distance shots, many resulting in goals. He was also an accomplished header of the ball and his record of 58 goals in 261 games at

speaks volumes for Hannes' technique and scoring abilities.

International career

His international career for

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 ...

lasted for just about one year in the early 1980s. In these months he won eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, three of them in the qualification for the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

. He went to the

with

and they came runners-up in the tournament but Hannes wasn't used on the pitch. The fact he only made eight appearances was more to do with the great defensive partnership of the Förster brothers at that time rather than his lack of ability.

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup whe ...

has been previously quoted has saying that during his early career at

he learnt a lot from Wilfried Hannes whilst playing alongside him.

Coaching career

His career as manager includes spells at

Alemannia Aachen Alemannia Aachen () or ATSV Alemannia 1900 is a football in Germany, German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long term fixture of the country's 2. Bundesliga, second division, ''Alemannia'' enjoyed a three- ...

(1991–1994) and other clubs of the size of fourth divisional outfits. Lately he coached ''SC Borussia 1912 Freialdenhoven'' in the fifth division.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Borussia Mönchengladbach *

: 1975–76, 1976–77 *

: 1978–79

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannes, Wilfried 1957 births Living people German footballers Germany international footballers Borussia Mönchengladbach players FC Schalke 04 players AC Bellinzona players FC Aarau players Bundesliga players 1982 FIFA World Cup players German football managers Alemannia Aachen managers UEFA Cup winning players Association football sweepers Swiss Super League players