Maurice "Mucki" Banach (9 October 1967 – 17 November 1991) was a German 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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Career

Born in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, Banach was the son of a German seaman and an American GI. During his youth career he played for

SC Preußen Münster SC Preußen Münster (English: Prussia Münster) is a German sports club based in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia which is mostly recognised for its Association football, football section. The football team currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga w ...

, but he later transferred to the youth team of

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, until, at seventeen, he signed his first professional contract. Until 1988 he played 14 games for Borussia, scoring two goals. In the summer of 1988, Banach transferred to the second tier team

SG Wattenscheid 09 SG Wattenscheid 09 is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Wattenscheid, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claimed an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the me ...

. In 1990, he was the highest scorer in the league – with 22 goals. This attracted attention from

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 ...

, to whom he moved in the summer of 1990, playing until the end of 1991. His last two of overall 26 Bundesliga goals came in a 4–1 victory against

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

on 9 November 1991. One week later, he played in his final game against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

, which his team lost 3–0.

Death

The morning after this match Banach was killed in a car crash on the

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

near

Remscheid Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remscheid ha ...

. In the struggles after his death, the team, family and friends were supported by the "FC pastor" Heinz Baumann, who also held the funeral service.

Honors

1. FC Köln *

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 ...

: runner-up 1990–91

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banach, Maurice 1967 births 1991 deaths Footballers from Münster German men's footballers German sportspeople of American descent Germany men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players SG Wattenscheid 09 players 1. FC Köln players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Road incident deaths in Germany West German men's footballers