Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the only East German player to do this besides goalkeeper

Jürgen Croy Jürgen Croy (born 19 October 1946) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He made 86 appearances for the East Germany national football team, East Germany ...

Playing career

Dörner's playing career began in his hometown of

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

in 1960 with amateur club BSG Energie WAMA Görlitz, and then BSG Motor WAMA Görlitz. He joined

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

in 1968 where he won five first division

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the Allied-occupied G ...

titles and five

FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football af ...

e (East German Cup), twice winning the DDR-Oberliga and

double. He captained

from 1977 until his retirement, and is the club's most decorated captain. He was voted the team's greatest player ever in 1999. During his time at Dynamo Dresden, the club finished outside the top three in the

only once, which was a seventh place finish in the 1982–83 season. He captained the team to their best European seasons, twice reaching the quarter finals of the European Clubs' Champions Cup in 1977 and 1979. He also guided his team to quarter finals in the

1975–76 UEFA Cup The 1975–76 UEFA Cup was the fifth season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at Anfield, Liverpool, England and at the Olympiastadion, Bruges, Belgium. It was won by ...

and both the 1984–85 and the 1985–86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. This was seen as a great success against teams from Europe's big leagues. Dörner scored an amazing 65 goals in 392 top-flight games for Dynamo Dresden, a record for a defender in the

. He was capped 96 times for East Germany, winning a gold medal as a vital part of that country's Olympic team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Coaching career

His career as a player ended in 1986, and he later took on the role of trainer for the East German Olympic squad in 1990. After German re-unification, he coached the Olympic youth side of the united country. From 6 January 1996 until 20 August 1997 he was the coach for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. From 2006 to 2010 he coached Radebeuler BC 08 in the city league known as the Bezirksliga Dresden.

Death

Dörner died on 19 January 2022, at the age of 70.

Honours

Dynamo Dresden *

: 1970–71,

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78; runner-up: 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85 *

: 1970–71, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85

References

External links