15 years ago today, German football lost Rolf Rüssmann, the defining face of the Bundesliga as a defender and as a manager – even though his involvement in a scandal had set his career back early on.
It was news that caused a lot of sadness in football Germany – and also a lot of anxiety: Rolf Rüssmann died 15 years ago, and the Bundesliga lost one of its most famous faces on October 2, 2009.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
“Most fans will hardly be able to remember the time without Rolf Rüssmann,” noted Martin Volkmar, the then head of football SPORT1.de in a personal obituary: “Somehow he was always there.”
Ex-national player Rüssmann, who was only 58 years old, was a feared stopper at Schalke and Dortmund, and later a manager at Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart who was respected in terms of sport and humanity. At the same time, he also had a reputation as an unfinished man in both phases of his career.
“With a little more luck, Rüssmann could have celebrated similar successes on the pitch like a Katsche Schwarzenbeck and later as a manager like a Uli Hoeneß,” said Volkmar – but in addition to some milestones, the league legend’s career also had its shadows.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
The Bundesliga scandal was a career break for Rüssmann
Rüssmann, born on October 13, 1950 in Schwelm in the Ruhr area, celebrated his breakthrough at S04 in the late 1960s as a strong defensive force in the air.
In 1972, Rüssmann won the cup with Schalke and also earned his first nomination from national coach Helmut Schön. He was close to becoming part of the golden generation around Franz Beckenbauer, which ultimately crowned an era by winning the home World Cup in 1974. Instead, a serious scandal not only cost the young Rüssmann his place in the national team, but also his job in the Bundesliga.
Rüssmann – like various other stars of his time – was involved in the big manipulation scandal surrounding games in the relegation battle of the 1970/71 season that were postponed through bribes to players.
At that time, Schalke accepted a suitcase containing 40,000 German marks, only to lose 1-0 against Arminia Bielefeld, who were later forced into the regional league. What was the miners’ downfall: Unlike the representatives of other clubs, they denied everything in the DFB investigations and thus made themselves even more of a target for the legendary chief prosecutor Horst Kindermann and the judiciary.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
For a personal gain of almost 2,300 marks each, Rüssmann and prominent colleagues such as Rüssmann’s good friend Klaus Fischer, Klaus Fichtel and Reinhard “Stan” Libuda accepted a years-long legal dispute. It only ended at the end of 1975 with a conviction and a fine. “That was the worst deal of my life,” Rüssmann said later.
Missed the golden era for the DFB team
Rüssmann was not only at the bottom of the DFB for years, he was also temporarily banned from the Bundesliga and moved to FC Brugge in Belgium. In January 1974 – after legal concerns arose – the ban was lifted and Rüssmann returned to Schalke.
In 1977, the issue was over and Rüssmann celebrated his international debut after five years. He became a regular player at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, where the DFB team was unable to build on the glory of the European Championship and World Cup victories in 1972 and 74.
The famous “Disgrace of Cordoba” against Austria, brought about by Hans Krankl, ended Rüssmann’s World Cup and ultimately his national team career. After Helmut Schön’s resignation, successor Jupp Derwall no longer considered Rüssmann.
Rüssmann still played a key role in the Bundesliga for a long time, starting in 1980 with Schalke’s local rival Borussia Dortmund. At the end of his career, which ended in 1985 after 16 years and 453 league games, Rüssmann was also BVB captain.
Gladbach milestone with royal transfer Effenberg
The second career as a manager began again in Gelsenkirchen: In February 1987, Rüssmann inherited Rudi Assauer after his first term as Schalke manager. After less than six months, however, he resigned after a dispute with President Günter Siebert.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Things went better at Borussia Mönchengladbach from 1990 onwards, where he was able to put his mark after a difficult start (he was released in 1992, but then brought back by the new president Karl-Heinz Drygalsky).
He built a powerful team with the signings of Martin Dahlin, Heiko Herrlich, the later Bayern shock Patrik Andersson and finally the royal transfer Stefan Effenberg (after his stinking finger scandal at the 1994 World Cup). In 1995, coach Bernd Krauss won the DFB Cup, Gladbach’s first (and to date last) title since the triumphs of the 1970s with Günter Netzer, Berti Vogts and Co.
However, the success evaporated again, and another sporting decline followed for the foals, culminating in relegation in 1999 – Rüssmann had had to leave just a few months after the start of the season.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Paved the way for VfB Magath and the “Young Wild Ones”.
In February 2001, Rüssmann became manager of VfB Stuttgart, which was also in crisis and threatened with relegation – and set some important course: He persuaded the then hapless coach Ralf Rangnick to resign and installed Felix Magath as his successor.
In terms of sport, things went up from then on with “Quälix” and the first offshoots of the “Young Wilds” (Timo Hildebrand in goal, Kevin Kuranyi in striker), but behind the scenes Rüssmann was wearing himself out in conflicts with the club management – which were made even worse increasing austerity pressures due to the loss of TV money after the collapse of the empire of media entrepreneur Leo Kirch.
Rüssmann ultimately argued publicly with then-President Manfred Haas and other club grandees and saw “old cliques at work trying to push me out at every turn.” At the end of 2002, Rüssmann was fired.
Rüssmann, a father of two, remained connected to football through voluntary youth development work at the DFL before he developed prostate cancer and gradually withdrew from public life.
Rolf Rüssmann is buried in the Protestant Old Town Cemetery of Gelsenkirchen.
