Willy Tröger (2 October 1928 – 30 March 2004) 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 a striker, spending his entire career with Wismut Aue, and making 15 appearances for the East Germany national team.

Career

In his youth, Tröger played handball before converting to football, where he initially played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Both of these activities were cut short in 1945, however, when he lost his hand while fighting in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

: having been drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

as the war drew to a close, he was injured by a grenade in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. He continued in the game, however, and converted to the position of striker, playing for a succession of local clubs in

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ...

before joining Wismut Aue of the DDR-Oberliga in 1951, following coach

Walter Fritzsch Walter Fritzsch (21 November 1920 – 15 October 1997) was a German football player and manager. Beginning He began his career as a player in 1927 with SC Planitz. In 1940, he transferred to VfL Leisnig and played there until 1943 after which he ...

. He remained with the club, who were renamed Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1954, until 1962, scoring 114 goals in 237 games. During this time the club won three league titles (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

and

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 ...

) and one cup in 1955, and Tröger was the league's top scorer in the 1954–55 season, with 22 goals. His 114 goals at the highest level of East German football are a club record. Tröger made 15 appearances for the East Germany national team, scoring 10 goals between 1954 and 1959, including 2 goals in the national team's first victory, a 3–2 win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1955.

Death

Tröger died of stomach cancer on 30 March 2004 in Pirna-Copitz, having been unsuccessfully operated on twice. A song was written in tribute by local artist Stefan Gerlach, and the stadium in

Pirna Pirna (; hsb, Pěrno; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as ...

was renamed the Willy-Tröger-Stadion in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troger, Willy 1928 births 2004 deaths People from Zwickau German footballers German Army personnel of World War II German amputees East German footballers East Germany international footballers Association football forwards FC Erzgebirge Aue players Deaths from stomach cancer DDR-Oberliga players Footballers from Saxony Child soldiers in World War II