Karl-Heinz Thielen (born 2 April 1940) is a German former

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 striker or defender.

Club career

Thielen spent ten seasons 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 ...

with

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 ...

. He played as right winger for 1. FC Köln, which was a founding member of the

1. 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 team ...

in 1963. In his first year, he became German champion with the club, making 25 appearances and scoring 15 goals. In total, Thielen, who had also played for Köln in the

Oberliga West Oberliga () may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, replaced by the NOFV-O ...

from the 1959–60 season, made 221 Bundesliga appearances and scored 56 goals between 1963 and 1973. On 7 December 1963, he became the first of now 14 players to score five goals in a Bundesliga match in 1. FC Köln's 5–1 win against

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

. He scored a goal in two games for the

DFB DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

's U-23 team in the early 1960s. He later also played twice for the senior national team: in the home games against the

ČSSR The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá socialistická republika'', ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (''Československá republika)'', Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, or simply Czech ...

(1964) and against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1965), the West German team came off as losers in both cases.

International career

Thielen also represented

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 ...

in two friendlies.

Official career

After finishing his active career, he became a soccer manager and played a role in the appointment of coach

Hennes Weisweiler Hans "Hennes" Weisweiler (5 December 1919 – 5 July 1983) was a German professional football player and coach. As a coach, he won major titles with Bundesliga clubs Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Köln in the 1970s. With eleven titles, ...

, with whom 1. FC Köln won the German Cup in 1976–77. In 1977–78, he won the double of

and

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

with 1. FC Köln. He later served as treasurer, managing director and vice president. From 1989 to 1991, he was sports director at Fortuna Düsseldorf. At the end of 1992, he returned to the then relegation-threatened 1. FC Köln as manager until September 1993. In the same year, Köln became German indoor champions. Thielen was elected president of the "Deutsche Fußballspieler-Vermittler Vereinigung" (DFVV) at its founding meeting. He held this office until his retirement due to age on 2 April 2015. As of February 2010, Thielen was a player agent and represents, among others,

Liam Lawrence Liam Lawrence (born 14 December 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a right winger. Lawrence started his career at his local club Mansfield Town, after impressing at the Field Mill he signed for Sunderland in June 2005. He ...

Juan Carlos Menseguez Juan Carlos Menseguez (born 18 February 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a winger or forward. Career Menseguez was born in Córdoba. He started playing football for River Plate in Buenos Aires at the age of ...

and Facundo Hernán Quiroga.

Statistic

**221 appearances; 56 goals *

**74 appearances; 44 goals * Final round of the German championship ** 18 appearances; 15 goals *

** 25 appearances; 6 goals * Westpokal ** 12 appearances; 8 goals *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

;

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 ...

;

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

** 45 appearances; 15 goals

Honours

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 ...

: 1962, 1964 *

: 1968; runner-up: 1970, 1971 and 1973

References

External links

* * 1940 births Living people German men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Germany men's international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Bundesliga players 1. FC Köln players West German men's footballers People from Neuwied (district) Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate {{germany-footy-forward-1940s-stub