Wolfram Wuttke (17 November 1961 – 1 March 2015) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Wuttke made his

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 ...

debut in October 1979 for

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 ...

in a 3–0 win against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. From 1981 to 1982, he played one and a half seasons for

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

before returning to Schalke. In summer 1983, he moved to

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

Günther Netzer Günther, Guenther, Ginther, Gunther, and the variants Günter, Guenter, Guenther, Ginter, and Gunter, are Germanic names derived from ''Gunthere, Gunthari'', composed of '' *gunþiz'' "battle" (Old Norse ''gunnr'') and ''heri, hari'' "army". Gun ...

, then Hamburg's sporting director, called him one of the greatest German football talents of all times. After several disputes,

Ernst Happel Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (29 November 1925 – 14 November 1992) was an Austrian football player and manager. Happel is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, winning both league and domestic cup titles in the Netherlands, Bel ...

, Hamburg's manager, threw him out of the team in September 1985. After that, he played nearly four seasons for

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 ...

. Kaiserslautern canceled his contract in 1990 due to "unprofessional behaviour" and so he joined

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. In 1992, he returned to the Bundesliga and played for

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

but he had to end his career at the age of 31 due to a fracture of the shoulder. He appeared in nearly 300 (West) German top-flight matches.

International career

His good performance in the Bundesliga earned him four caps in the West Germany national team and he was part of West Germany's squad at the

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

and the West German team that won the bronze medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Death

On 1 March 2015, he died due to a multisystem organ failure caused by

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

Honours

1. FC Kaiserslautern *

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 ...

: 1989–90 Germany U21 *

UEFA Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

: runner-up 1982 *

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

: Bronze Medal 1988

References

External links

* * * * 1961 births 2015 deaths Footballers from Castrop-Rauxel German men's footballers German expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Men's association football midfielders Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers FC Schalke 04 players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Hamburger SV players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players RCD Espanyol footballers 1. FC Saarbrücken players Bundesliga players La Liga players Segunda División players UEFA Euro 1988 players Olympic footballers for West Germany West German men's footballers Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Alcohol-related deaths in Germany Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Deaths from cirrhosis Deaths from multiple organ failure {{Germany-Olympic-medalist-stub