Hermann Nuber (10 October 1935 – 12 December 2022) 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 ...

who played as an

Inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

or libero for

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 ...

. A one-club man, he reached the final of the 1959 German football championship with the club.

Club career

Nuber joined

as a youth in 1946. In 1953, at the age of 17, he made his senior debut in a

DFB-Pokal 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 considered ...

match against

Wormatia Worms VfR Wormatia 08 Worms is a German association football club that plays in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club and its historical predecessors were regular participants in regional first-division football competition until the formation of the ...

. A regular starter from 1955 onwards, he helped the club reach the final of the 1959 German football championship against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. When 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 ...

was founded in 1963, Kickers Offenbach started in the Regionalliga, Germany's second tier at the time. In 1968 Kickers Offenbach gained promotion to the

while Nuber was placed second behind Franz Beckenbauer in Germany's footballer of the year awards. Nuber retired from playing in 1969, after Kickers Offenbach's relegation from the Bundesliga, missing the club's win of the

1970–71 DFB-Pokal The 1970–71 DFB-Pokal was the 28th season of the annual German football cup competition. It began on 12 December 1970 and ended on 19 June 1971. 32 teams competed in the tournament of five rounds. In the final Bayern Munich defeated 1. FC Köln ...

. He briefly returned to play in the Bundesliga for coach

Rudi Gutendorf Rudolf Gutendorf (30 August 1926 – 13 September 2019) was a German football manager, renowned for managing the highest number of national teams – a total of 18 teams plus Iran's Olympic team in 1988 and the China Olympic team in 1992 ...

in 1971. He made 408 league appearances scoring 164 goals between 1953 and 1971.

International career

Nuber played for Germany at youth level. He was part of the West Germany national team's 22-man squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, being one of four players remaining in Germany waiting to be called up.

Style of play

Nuber played as an

and later as a libero. He was an ambidextrous free-kick specialist, good on the ball and known for his competitive spirit.

Coaching career

Nuber was twice interim coach at

, one of those occasions coming in 1983–84, the club's last season in the

. He spent 15 years as amateur and youth coach, discovering and fostering a number of well-known footballers.

Legacy

A bronze bust honouring Nuber was installed at Bieberer Berg Stadion,

's home stadium, on his 60th birthday in 1995. In summer 2022 the stadium's grandstand was named "Hermann-Nuber-Tribüne" in his honour. Upon his death, Offenbach local paper ''Offenbach-Post'' described him as the club's "most popular" player.

Death

Nuber died on 12 December 2022 in his hometown Offenbach, at the age of 87.

Honours

Kickers Offenbach *

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: runner-up

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Individual *

Footballer of the Year (Germany) The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in Germany since 1960. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title Women's Footballer of the Year (German ...

: second-place 1968

References

1935 births 2022 deaths People from the People's State of Hesse Sportspeople from Offenbach am Main German footballers Footballers from Hesse Association football defenders Germany youth international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Bundesliga players Kickers Offenbach players German football managers Bundesliga managers Kickers Offenbach managers West German football managers West German footballers {{germany-footy-defender-1930s-stub