Wolfgang Sühnholz (14 September 1946 – 27 December 2019) was a German-American soccer coach and former player. He won in the

1971–72 Bundesliga The 1971–72 Bundesliga was the ninth season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 14 August 1971 and ended on 28 June 1972. Borussia Mönchengladbach were the defending champions. Competition modus Every team p ...

with

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

and in 1976 the North-American

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

with

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Later he settled in the United States and worked as a coach.

Playing career

Initially he played for

Hertha Zehlendorf The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin. The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a strong youth department which has won two national youth championships. The depar ...

with which he won the

Regionalliga Berlin The Regionalliga Berlin was the second-highest level of the German football league system in the city of West-Berlin in Germany from 1963 until the formation of the 2. Bundesliga in 1974. It was by far the smallest of the five Regionalligas. Ove ...

- part of the national second tier which was split up into five regional divisions - in 1969 and 1970. After this he joined first division side Rot-Weiss Oberhausen where he immediately established himself in the standard formation. After narrowly avoiding relegation he transferred together with Franz Krauthausen to the 1971 runners-up of the national championship

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

. Again, he immediately became part of their standard formation, playing alongside the stars of that era like

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

and

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalsco ...

. He played in 25 of the first 27 league matches of the side that went on to win in 1972 the third national championship in club history. In a cup match against 1. FC Köln in April 1972 he sustained a broken leg, which precluded him from almost two years. Comeback attempts with Swiss first division side

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...

, where he played in March and April 1974 in six matches, albeit only one over 90 minutes, and

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and t ...

, then a newcomer to the German first division, where he played in eight matches, thereof three over the full 90 minutes, between August and October of the same year, essentially failed. Notwithstanding, he scored a goal in his last match for the Berliners. He came to the United States as a player and assistant coach in the NASL. He was named the 1976

MVP after capturing the title with

. The following season (1977) he earned All-NASL First Team honors, joining legends who were on the same team that year,

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

, and

Managerial career

Sühnholz was a national team coach for the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1996 to 2001; 1996–1999 as an assistant coach for the U-16 and U-20 Nationals Teams; head coach for the U.S. U-20 Men National Team from 1999 to 2001. While coaching for the U.S. Soccer he went to two World Cups and led his U-20 Teams to the World Cup in 2001 in Argentina. Since 2001 he was a head coach for the USYS ODP Region III, coaching the 86, 87, 88 and 89 boys' teams. A founder, along with Francisco Marcos, of the

Austin Sockadillos Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, a team in the

Southwest Indoor Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

, Sühnholz served as an assistant coach for the team from 1987 to 1989 when he replaced head coach Tony Simoes. He then coached the team until 1991. In 1994, he returned to the team, now known as the

Austin Lone Stars The Austin Lone Stars were a soccer club that competed in the SISL, USISL and United Soccer Leagues from 1987 to 2000. The club originally started in 1987/88 as the Austin Sockadillos in the original indoor SISL league. They became the Austin Lone S ...

of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. In May 1997, he was named an assistant coach with the United States U-16 men's national soccer team. He returned to the Lone Stars in 1998. Sühnholz held a USSF "A" License.

References

External links

*
Wolfgang Sühnholz
at nasljerseys.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhnholz, Wolfgang 1946 births 2019 deaths American soccer coaches Boston Minutemen players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States FC Bayern Munich footballers Bundesliga players German men's footballers Emigrants from West Germany to the United States Grasshopper Club Zürich players Hertha Zehlendorf players Las Vegas Quicksilvers players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Rot-Weiß Oberhausen players Tennis Borussia Berlin players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players USISL coaches Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players West German expatriate men's footballers West German expatriate sportspeople in Canada West German expatriate sportspeople in the United States West German men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland West German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Footballers from Berlin Men's association football forwards United States men's national under-20 soccer team managers