Wolfgang Sühnholz (14 September 1946 – 27 December 2019) was a German-American soccer coach and former player. He won in the

1971–72 Bundesliga The 1971–72 Bundesliga was the ninth season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 14 August 1971 and ended on 28 June 1972. Borussia Mönchengladbach were the defending champions. Competition modus Every team p ...

with

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and in 1976 the North-American

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...

with

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America. The city ...

. Later he settled in the United States and worked as a coach.

Playing career

Initially he played for Hertha Zehlendorf with which he won the Regionalliga Berlin - part of the national second tier which was split up into five regional divisions - in 1969 and 1970. After this he joined first division side Rot-Weiss Oberhausen where he immediately established himself in the standard formation. After narrowly avoiding relegation he transferred together with Franz Krauthausen to the 1971 runners-up of the national championship

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

. Again, he immediately became part of their standard formation, playing alongside the stars of that era like

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

and

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

. He played in 25 of the first 27 league matches of the side that went on to win in 1972 the third national championship in club history. In a cup match against

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

in April 1972 he sustained a broken leg, which precluded him from almost two years. Comeback attempts with Swiss first division side

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

, where he played in March and April 1974 in six matches, albeit only one over 90 minutes, and

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and ...

, then a newcomer to the German first division, where he played in eight matches, thereof three over the full 90 minutes, between August and October of the same year, essentially failed. Notwithstanding, he scored a goal in his last match for the Berliners. He came to the United States as a player and assistant coach in the NASL. He was named the 1976

MVP after capturing the title with

. The following season (1977) he earned All-NASL First Team honors, joining legends who were on the same team that year,

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional care ...

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

, and

Managerial career

Sühnholz was a national team coach for the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1996 to 2001; 1996–1999 as an assistant coach for the U-16 and U-20 Nationals Teams; head coach for the U.S. U-20 Men National Team from 1999 to 2001. While coaching for the U.S. Soccer he went to two World Cups and led his U-20 Teams to the World Cup in 2001 in Argentina. Since 2001 he was a head coach for the USYS ODP Region III, coaching the 86, 87, 88 and 89 boys' teams. A founder, along with Francisco Marcos, of the Austin Sockadillos, a team in the

Southwest Indoor Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

, Sühnholz served as an assistant coach for the team from 1987 to 1989 when he replaced head coach Tony Simoes. He then coached the team until 1991. In 1994, he returned to the team, now known as the

Austin Lone Stars The Austin Lone Stars were a soccer club that competed in the SISL, USISL and United Soccer Leagues from 1987 to 2000. The club originally started in 1987/88 as the Austin Sockadillos in the original indoor SISL league. They became the Austin Lo ...

of the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. In May 1997, he was named an assistant coach with the United States U-16 men's national soccer team. He returned to the Lone Stars in 1998. Sühnholz held a USSF "A" License.

References

External links

*
Wolfgang Sühnholz
at nasljerseys.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Suhnholz, Wolfgang 1946 births 2019 deaths American soccer coaches Boston Minutemen players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States FC Bayern Munich footballers Bundesliga players German men's footballers Emigrants from West Germany to the United States Grasshopper Club Zurich players Hertha Zehlendorf players Las Vegas Quicksilvers players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Rot-Weiß Oberhausen players Tennis Borussia Berlin players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players USISL coaches Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players West German expatriate men's footballers West German expatriate sportspeople in Canada West German expatriate sportspeople in the United States West German men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland West German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Footballers from Berlin Men's association football forwards United States men's national under-20 soccer team managers