Gernot Jurtin (9 October 1955 – 5 December 2006) was an Austrian football player, and a legend amongst

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian f ...

fans.

Club career

Jurtin joined

in the summer of 1974 under coach Karl Schlechta and immediately forced his way into the starting eleven. One of his finest seasons came in 1980/81 when he scored 20 goals 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 ...

including five in a 7–0 win against

Wiener Sportclub The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At var ...

on 5 June 1981. He formed a prolific strike partnership with Bozo Bakota. By the time Jurtin left

in 1987, he had made 373 appearances for them, scoring 119 league goals. The blond-haired number 11 was the first Graz player to break the 100-goal barrier in the league.

International career

Between 1979 and 1983, he won 12 caps for

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, scoring one goal. He made two appearances for them in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Death

On 5 December 2006, he died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 51.

Honours

* Austrian Bundesliga Top Goalscorer (1): ** 1981

External links

References

1955 births 2006 deaths People from Murau District Austrian footballers Austria international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players SK Sturm Graz players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Deaths from cancer in Austria Association football forwards Footballers from Styria {{austria-footy-forward-stub