Dettmar Cramer listed FC Bayern München, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hertha Berlin among his former clubs
Dettmar Cramer listed FC Bayern München, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hertha Berlin among his former clubs

Bundesliga mourns Dettmar Cramer

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Cologne - German football luminaries have paid tribute to legendary former coach Dettmar Cramer, who passed away this week aged 90.

'A great personality'

Dr. Reinhard Rauball, president of the League Association said: "The Bundesliga was deeply saddened to hear of Dettmar Cramer’s passing. German football has lost an outstanding coach and expert. Dettmar Cramer helped shape the Bundesliga considerably in the 1970s and 1980s through his work with FC Bayern München, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Not only due to his winning the European Cup in 1975 and 1976 and the Intercontinental Cup in 1976 with FC Bayern München, but also his work as a DFB and FIFA coach in more than 90 countries made Dettmar Cramer a highly-respected figure internationally and a fantastic ambassador for German football around the world. Dettmar Cramer was rightly honored as the first coach to receive an honorary lifetime-achievement award from the DFB."

"FC Bayern is mourning a great coach and a special person," said FC Bayern München chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach paid tribute to Cramer as a "great coach" and a "great personality": "Dettmar Cramer was a highly-regarded ambassador for German football around the world. He was respected everywhere for his abilities and was at the same time a fun-loving, endearing and compassionate person. I have the utmost respect for his life-work."

Cramer began his coaching career at Teutonia Lippstadt, before joining the Westfalian Football Association in 1948. In 1960 he moved to Japan, where he helped transform domestic Japanese football and coached the national team to a surprise victory over Argentina at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, efforts for which he is commonly considered to be the father of modern football in Japan.

Honour-filled career

Following the Tokyo Games Cramer returned to Germany and the DFB (German Football Association) to serve alongside Udo Lattek as the assistant to national team coach Helmut Schön at the 1966 World Cup.

His work as a football development coach around the world earned him two honorary professorships.