Karl-Heinz Granitza (born 1 November 1951) is a German former professional

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 ...

who played as a forward. In the United States, he is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

. Granitza was born in

Lünen Lünen () is a town with around 86,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the Lippe (river), River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna (district), Unna district and part of the R ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. He played in Germany for VfB Lünen, Eintracht Dortmund, Lüner SV, DJK Gütersloh, SV Röchling Völklingen and

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. In 1978 and again for the 1979 season, he transferred to the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

of the NASL, leading the team to two league championships. He also excelled at the indoor game. Granitza was known for his powerful and accurate left foot. He was also very effective with direct free kicks, having the ability to strike the ball with top spin over the wall of defenders, and into the upper corners of the goal. He would finish as the NASL's second all-time leading scorer. In the 1990s Granitza owned "State Street", an American-style sports bar in Berlin. In 2003, Granitza was inducted into the

. His #12 shirt has been retired by the Chicago Storm.

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NASL/MISL stats
* 1951 births Living people Sportspeople from Lünen Footballers from Arnsberg (region) West German men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chicago Sting (MISL) players Chicago Sting (NASL) players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players German men's footballers Hertha BSC players FC Gütersloh players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players National Soccer Hall of Fame members North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players West German expatriate men's footballers West German expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States {{Germany-footy-forward-1950s-stub