Bernd Bransch (24 September 1944 – 11 June 2022) was a

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 lea ...

from

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 ...

who played as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

Career

Bransch began his sporting career as a youngster at BSG Motor Halle-Süd. The son of a locksmith was then allowed to join

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

SC Chemie Halle Hallescher FC, formerly known as Hallescher FC Chemie, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga, the fourth highest level in the German football league system. ...

in 1954. Bransch played throughout his career for SC Chemie Halle and its successor, Hallescher FC Chemie – except for the 1973/74 season, in which he played for

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena () is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Founded in 1903, it was initially associated with the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. From the 1960s to the 1980s it was one of the top-ranked clubs in East Germany, won ...

. In 1968 and 1974 he was honoured as

East German Footballer of the Year The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in West Germany from 1960 to 1990 and Germany since 1991. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title W ...

. Bransch participated in the Munich Olympics 1972, in which his

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

team secured a bronze medal, and in the gold-medal winning Montreal Olympics 1976 side. He also played in 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 ...

. In total Bransch played 317 league games, scoring 43 goals.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bransch, Bernd 1944 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Halle (Saale) Sportspeople from the Province of Saxony German men's footballers East German men's footballers Men's association football sweepers East Germany men's international footballers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for East Germany Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany 1974 FIFA World Cup players DDR-Oberliga players FC Carl Zeiss Jena players Hallescher FC players Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver Footballers from Bezirk Halle