Jürgen Sparwasser (born 4 June 1948 in

Halberstadt Halberstadt (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, the capital of Harz (district), Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town ...

) is a retired 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, later, briefly a football manager. Sparwasser began his playing career in the youth department of his hometown club BSG Lokomotive Halberstadt in 1956. In 1965, he moved to

1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German Association football Football club (association football), club based in Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 from the football department of the Sports club (East Germany), sports club ''SC Magdeburg'' and has bee ...

, where he made his senior debut in January 1966. He would remain with the club until 1979, when a hip injury ended his career. Over the course of his career, he played in 271

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 ...

matches as a midfielder, scoring 111 goals. When Magdeburg was relegated to the second-tier DDR-Liga at the end of the 1965–66 season, Sparwasser played an integral role in their immediate repromotion, scoring 22 goals in 27 matches. He also appeared in 40 matches in various European competitions. He was part of the team that won the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

in 1974. Between 1969 and 1977, Sparwasser played in 49 matches for the

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, scoring 14 goals. As a member of the Olympic team in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, he played in 7 matches and scored 5 goals, earning a shared bronze medal for his native country. He also made six appearances for East Germany at the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

finals, where he gained fame for scoring the winning goal in a politically charged

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. This goal was politically exploited, but Sparwasser did not profit from it. As he later said: "Rumor had it I was richly rewarded for the goal, with a car, a house, and a cash premium. But that is not true." In 1988, Sparwasser defected to

while participating in a veterans' tournament there. After his playing career, Sparwasser had a brief managerial career, serving as assistant manager at

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

in 1988 and 1989, and as head coach at SV Darmstadt 98 in 1990 and 1991.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

: 1 ** Winner 1974 *

: 3 ** Champion 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75 *

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 ...

: 4 ** Winner 1969,

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

* Olympic football tournament ** Bronze medal Munich 1972

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparwasser, Jurgen 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Halberstadt German men's footballers East German men's footballers German football managers 1974 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany East Germany men's international footballers VfB Germania Halberstadt players 1. FC Magdeburg players Defecting sportspeople from East Germany Eintracht Frankfurt non-playing staff Olympic medalists in football SV Darmstadt 98 managers East German emigrants to West Germany DDR-Oberliga players Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Bezirk Magdeburg

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

See also

References