Wolfgang Frank
Wolfgang Frank (21 February 1951 – 7 September 2013) was a German football manager and player.[1][2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Wolfgang Frank | ||
| Date of birth | 21 February 1951 | ||
| Place of birth | Reichenbach an der Fils, West Germany | ||
| Date of death | 7 September 2013 (aged 62) | ||
| Place of death | Mainz, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| TSV Schlierbach | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1971 | VfL Kirchheim/Teck | ||
| 1971–1973 | VfB Stuttgart | 55 | (23) |
| 1973–1974 | AZ Alkmaar | 22 | (4) |
| 1974–1977 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 106 | (52) |
| 1977–1980 | Borussia Dortmund | 34 | (10) |
| 1980–1982 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 20 | (4) |
| 1982–1984 | FSV Bad Windsheim | ||
| Total | 215 | (89) | |
| National team | |||
| 1972–1977 | West Germany B | 6 | (3) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1984–1988 | FC Glarus | ||
| 1989–1990 | FC Aarau | ||
| 1991–1992 | FC Wettingen | ||
| 1992–1993 | FC Winterthur | ||
| 1994–1995 | Rot-Weiss Essen | ||
| 1995–1997 | Mainz 05 | ||
| 1997–1998 | Austria Wien | ||
| 1998–2000 | Mainz 05 | ||
| 2000 | MSV Duisburg | ||
| 2002–2004 | SpVgg Unterhaching | ||
| 2004–2005 | FC Sachsen Leipzig | ||
| 2006 | Farul Constanța | ||
| 2006–2007 | Kickers Offenbach | ||
| 2008 | Wuppertaler SV Borussia | ||
| 2008–2009 | SV Wehen Wiesbaden | ||
| 2010–2011 | Carl Zeiss Jena | ||
| 2011–2012 | Eupen | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Frank was born in Reichenbach an der Fils, and made a total of 215 appearances in the Bundesliga during his playing career, scoring 89 goals. For the Germany national football B team, he scored three goals in six games.
As a manager, Frank was at the helm of 16 different clubs and led Rot-Weiss Essen to the 1994 DFB-Pokal final, only to lose 3–1 to SV Werder Bremen at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.
In his final year as a player, Frank trained as a teacher in sport and religion. He was inspired by Arrigo Sacchi's A.C.Milan and introduced the 4-4-2 system to Germany at a time when German teams played with a sweeper. Inspired by how Sacchi had got his team to press, marking space rather than individual players, Frank introduced this advanced tactical thinking into German football. He is credited with inspiring a renaissance in the Bundesliga which has inspired a new generation of managers such as Jürgen Klopp and Joachim Löw.
Frank died in Mainz, aged 62.
References
- "Frank, Wolfgang". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- "Klopp-Lehrmeister erliegt Krebsleiden" (in German). Bild.de. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
