Wolfgang Frank (21 February 1951 – 7 September 2013) was a German football manager and player. Frank was born in

Reichenbach an der Fils Reichenbach an der Fils is a town in the Esslingen district in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Reichenbach was mentioned for the first time in 1268. In 1906, its name was changed to "Reichenbach an der Fils" to avoid confusion ...

, and made a total of 215 appearances 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 ...

during his playing career, scoring 89 goals. For the

Germany national football B team Germany B (or Germany A2) is a secondary team of the Germany national football team, used to try out and develop players for potential inclusion in the first team. The team, which has not been active since 2006, can play against other nations' B- ...

, he scored three goals in six games. As a manager, Frank was at the helm of 16 different clubs and led

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...

to the 1994 DFB-Pokal final, only to lose 3–1 to SV Werder Bremen at Berlin's

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. In his final year as a player, Frank trained as a teacher in sport and religion. He was inspired by Arrigo Sacchi's A.C.Milan and introduced the 4-4-2 system to Germany at a time when German teams played with a sweeper. Inspired by how Sacchi had got his team to press, marking space rather than individual players, Frank introduced this advanced tactical thinking into German football. He is credited with inspiring a renaissance in the Bundesliga which has inspired a new generation of managers such as

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. Klopp spent most of his playing ...

and

Joachim Löw Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...

. Frank died in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, aged 62.

References

External links

* 1951 births 2013 deaths People from Esslingen (district) Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) Footballers from Baden-Württemberg German footballers Association football forwards German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Germany B international footballers Bundesliga players Eredivisie players VfL Kirchheim/Teck players VfB Stuttgart players AZ Alkmaar players Eintracht Braunschweig players Borussia Dortmund players 1. FC Nürnberg players German football managers FC Aarau managers FK Austria Wien managers MSV Duisburg managers SpVgg Unterhaching managers FCV Farul Constanța managers Kickers Offenbach managers Wuppertaler SV managers FC Carl Zeiss Jena managers 1. FSV Mainz 05 managers Rot-Weiss Essen managers 2. Bundesliga managers FC Winterthur managers Deaths from cancer in Germany 3. Liga managers German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands FC Wettingen managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland German expatriate football managers German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland FC Sachsen Leipzig managers Expatriate football managers in Romania German expatriate sportspeople in Romania SV Wehen Wiesbaden managers K.A.S. Eupen managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium German expatriate sportspeople in Belgium {{Germany-footy-forward-1950s-stub