Dettmar Cramer (4 April 1925 – 17 September 2015) 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 ...

manager who led

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, ...

to the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

European Cups. He was born in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

. Cramer is commonly considered to be the father of modern football in Japan and was a member of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...

, 3rd Class. He coached the

Egypt national football team The Egypt national football team (), nicknamed Pharaohs (), represents Egypt in men's FIFA, international Association football, football, and is governed by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), the governing body of football in Egypt. Egypt ...

and also briefly coached the United States national team.

Career

Ryuichi Sugiyama and Dettmar Cramer 1964

Known as the "Football Professor", because of his attention to detail and also as "

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

" because of his diminutive 1.61 meter stature, Cramer began his career at Viktoria Dortmund and Germania Wiesbaden. The beginning of his managerial career led him to clubs such as Teutonia Lippstadt, VfL Geseke, FC Paderborn, and TuS Eving-Lindenhorst. At the turn of the year 1948–49, Cramer found himself in the service of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

(DFB) for the first time. Until 1963 he served with the designation as Head Coach for Western Germany under the DFB in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

. Little known, Cramer attempted to make the jump into a career in journalism at this point. He became lead editor for sports for

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

television station

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

. Feeling largely isolated from the football world, Cramer decided to call it quits after only six months on the job. Afterward he was sent by the DFB to Japan to serve as a football instructor. In order to strengthen its national team ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games four years later, the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

had the idea in 1960 of bringing in a foreign professional coach. Cramer was ultimately selected for this role. Through Cramer's coaching and leadership, and the efforts of his players, the Japan national team achieved a surprise upset over

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the Tokyo Olympics. The significance of this result was not lost on Cramer who saw it as a confirmation that Japanese football was vastly improving. Cramer's efforts were not limited to the national team, as he also formulated and implemented policies for general development. The foundation of a first national league, the training of other coaches, and the strengthening of the national team would all contribute to Japan's success at the Mexico City Olympics four years later, where Japan would take home the bronze medal. On 1 January 1964, Cramer returned to West Germany to serve as an assistant to West Germany national coach

Helmut Schön Helmut Schön (15 September 1915 – 23 February 1996) was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of the West Germany national team in four consecutive World Cup tournaments, including ...

. In this capacity he was a part of the coaching staff at the World Cup in 1966, where

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 ...

lost in the final to England. His talents were highly regarded by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

(Federation Internationale de Football Association), which contracted him as a coach from 1967 to 1974 and sent him on a tour of the globe. During this time, Cramer also ran the 1st FIFA Coaching Course in Japan in 1969, and sowed the seeds for a coach training structure in Japan. Additionally, on 1 August 1974, Cramer was selected by the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

to become the head coach of the United States national team. During his time in national team service, Cramer received numerous coaching offers from West German clubs in the

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 ...

, although he consistently turned them down. Then, on 16 January 1975, he took over the reins as manager of West German giants

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 ...

. At the beginning, Cramer faced heavy criticism in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, mostly because of his passive management style. With rumors of a sacking swirling around Cramer, he was strongly backed by team captain

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 ...

, who felt indebted to him because of his insistence that Beckenbauer be allowed to join the West Germany U19 national team after initially being banned for impregnating a girl out of wedlock; He served as best man at Beckenbauer's wedding in 1966. Cramer led Bayern to victory in the 1975 and 1976 European Champions Cup, in addition to capturing the

1976 Intercontinental Cup The 1976 Intercontinental Cup was an association football tie held over two legs in November and December 1976 between Cruzeiro, winners of the 1976 Copa Libertadores, and the winners of the 1975–76 European Cup, Bayern Munich. FC Bayern Mun ...

. The 1976 Bundesliga season, however, saw Bayern unable to recapture their form and, after a season that saw them fail to defend their domestic title, Cramer was forced to resign his position. Cramer was involved in a trade between Bayern and

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 ...

, which saw him take the top spot at Frankfurt, while Frankfurt coach Gyula Lóránt made his way to Bayern. Neither club was happy with the trade, as Bayern finished a club worst 12th in the table, while Frankfurt's results were mediocre at best. As a result, the club parted ways with him on 30 June 1978. Not until the 1982–83 season did Cramer find himself employed in the Bundesliga again, this time with club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. At Leverkusen he managed to lead the club to their first top 9 finish in the league during his second year in charge. Failure to build on that accomplishment led to his dismissal after his third season in charge. Never to coach in the Bundesliga again, Cramer instead found coaching positions with various international clubs and associations around the world. In 2002 Cramer officially announced his retirement from football. In 2005, he was inducted into the Japan Football Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Cramer served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a Senior Lieutenant with a German

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

division. For his international achievements, Cramer was awarded two honorary doctorates in addition to being presented with the

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic ...

(Federal Cross of Merit) in Germany. In 1971,

Emperor Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

also personally presented him with membership in the

for his service to Japan. Furthermore, Cramer was an honorary chieftain in the Native American

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

and

Mohican The Mohicans ( or ) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, whose indigenous territory was ...

tribes. Cramer died at the age of 90 on 17 September 2015.

Honours

;Egypt *

Palestine Cup of Nations The Palestine Cup () was a football competition which was held between countries in the Arab world. The tournament ''de facto'' acted as the replacement for the Arab Cup during the long interruption between 1966 and 1982, it held on three occasio ...

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, ...

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

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 ...

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

third place:

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

;FC Bayern Munich *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1974–75, 1975–76 * Intercontinental Cup:

;Individual *

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

40th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019 *Inducted into Japan Football Hall of Fame

Career statistics

References

* Verrat vermieden. in: Der Spiegel, Heft 46/1968, 22. Jahrgang, S.122. * Hermann, Boris: Trainerfuchs Dettmar Cramer – Ein Napoleon auf Weltreise. in: www.spiegel.de, Fassung vom 8. Juli 2005

External links

Dettmar Cramer at eintracht-archiv.de

Der 34. Speiltag der Bundesliga 77/78

at