Gerhard Wanner (second from left) after a friendly match with VfB in June 1963 against FC Santos with star Pelé (second from right). Photo: VfB
With twelve goals in the 1962/63 league season, Gerhard Wanner played a major role in VfB being one of the founding members of the Bundesliga from May 1963 onwards. A review.
The historic telegram reached VfB Stuttgart on May 6, 1963 – it was signed by a Mr. Passlack from the German Football Association: “Your application for membership in the Bundesliga has been approved,” was the dry message – which caused great joy in Bad Cannstatt. Since then, VfB has been one of the 16 founding members of the Bundesliga.
In the last game of the Oberliga Süd in the 1962/63 season, VfB secured sixth place with a 1-1 draw against direct rivals Offenbacher Kickers – that was enough for coach Kurt Baluses’ team. “He was a fatherly friend for us,” said the man to our editorial team in 2019, who at the time played a major role in ensuring that Stuttgart made the direct leap into the newly founded Bundesliga with twelve league goals: It is the striker Gerhard Wanner, who was born in 1962 came to VfB from Sportvg Feuerbach – and who died on March 30, 2020.
A trip around the world with VfB
“There is hardly anything more beautiful in life than football,” said Gerhard Wanner, who toasted his anniversary in a larger group at the sports center in Feuerbach at the beginning of April 2019. Some of Wanner’s old companions, such as the old VfB heroes Hans Eisele and Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, were no longer alive – but back then, Wanner still had contact with “Sawi”, as he calls the former national goalkeeper Günter Sawitzki from VfB.
The VfB went on a world tour together from May 20th to June 17th, 1965. Geneva, Cairo, Bombay, Saigon, Hong Kong, Sydney, French Polynesia, Los Angeles, New York and London were among the stops on the global football tour. “The others were happy about me – because I was one of the few who spoke a little English,” said Wanner, who experienced another highlight as a player on June 8, 1963 in the Neckar Stadium: VfB’s game against FC Santos Superstar Pele.
*This text first appeared on March 27, 2019
2023-09-09 11:07:16
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