Horst Buhtz facts for kids

Horst Buhtz (born September 21, 1923 – died March 22, 2015) was a German football player and coach. He played as a midfielder and later became a well-known coach for many teams.

Playing Career

Early Days and German Success

Horst Buhtz started his football journey at Fortuna Magdeburg. He was only 16 years old when he began playing for their main team. This was a special achievement, as he needed a special permission to play at such a young age.

After World War II, Buhtz moved from the Soviet-controlled part of Germany. He joined Kickers Offenbach, a football club in West Germany. With Offenbach, he helped the team win the South German championship in 1949.

In 1950, Buhtz and his Offenbach team reached the final of the German football championship. However, they lost to VfB Stuttgart in a tough match. From 1950 to 1952, he played for VfB Mühlburg. This team was part of the Oberliga Süd, which was the top football league in that region at the time. During his five years in this league, Buhtz scored an impressive 69 goals in 143 games.

Playing in Italy: "The German"

In 1952, Horst Buhtz made a big move. He became only the second German player to play in Italy's top league, Serie A. Fans in Italy called him "il tedesco," which means "the German." For five years, he played for AC Torino. He earned a lot of money there, about 150,000 DM per season. This was an amount that a player in Germany would have needed to play for ten years to earn.

Buhtz became a star for Torino. The team was being rebuilt after a terrible plane crash in 1949, known as the Superga air disaster, which killed 18 of their players. Buhtz quickly became a regular player and scored around 20 goals each season. In 1957, he left Torino and moved to Switzerland. There, he became a player-manager for FC Young Fellows in Zurich and later for AC Bellinzona. This meant he both played for the team and coached them at the same time.

Why No Germany Team?

Horst Buhtz had a playing style similar to Fritz Walter, a famous German player. However, Buhtz never played for the German national team. This was because the German FA (the football association) did not approve of professional players, especially those who played abroad. Since Buhtz was a professional player in Italy and Switzerland, he wasn't chosen for the national team.

Coaching Career

After his time as a player-manager, Buhtz became a full-time football coach. From 1962 to 1985, he coached 13 different clubs in Germany and Turkey.

Starting in Germany

Buhtz began his coaching career at Sportfreunde Saarbrücken, a club in the Oberliga Südwest. He led them to a good 6th place finish. After that season, he joined Borussia Neunkirchen. This team had finished second in their league but was not chosen for the new top German league, the Bundesliga. Buhtz's team won their league, the Regionalliga Süd, in 1964. This win meant they were promoted to the Bundesliga. They finished in the middle of the table in their first Bundesliga season. However, they were relegated (moved down to a lower league) in 1966 after finishing 17th.

After this, Buhtz left Neunkirchen and became the coach of Hannover 96, another Bundesliga team. With Hannover, he helped them finish 9th in 1967. But he was fired in February 1968. This happened partly because the club had already decided to hire a new coach for the next season.

Leading Wuppertaler SV to Glory

In July 1968, Buhtz took over as coach of Wuppertaler SV, a team in the Regionalliga West. He coached this club for six years. At first, things were a bit rocky, as he missed the first training session he had set himself. But under Buhtz, the club steadily improved. They eventually won their league and qualified for the Bundesliga promotion play-offs. In these play-offs, Wuppertal won all eight of their matches. This was an amazing achievement that no other team matched in that play-off format.

After being promoted, Buhtz extended his contract. In their first year in the Bundesliga, Wuppertal finished in a fantastic fourth place in the 1972–73 season. This meant they qualified for the UEFA Cup, a big European competition. They lost in the first round of the 1973–74 UEFA Cup to a Polish team. In their second year, the team struggled and barely avoided being relegated. The third year started even worse. Buhtz was fired in October 1974 after a big loss. However, his only win that season was a memorable one. Wuppertal managed to beat Bayern Munich, who were the defending German champions and European Cup winners at the time.

Coaching in Turkey and Dortmund

At the end of 1974, Buhtz moved to Turkey to coach Beşiktaş J.K.. He finished 5th in the league with them. More importantly, the club won the Turkish Cup for the first time ever. Buhtz had planned to return to Germany in July 1975, but he stayed on as Beşiktaş coach. However, he was fired in January 1976.

In February 1976, Buhtz became the coach of Borussia Dortmund, a team in the 2. Bundesliga Nord (Germany's second division). This was a short-term job. In April, he signed a two-year contract to coach 1. FC Nürnberg, starting in June. Buhtz led Dortmund to a second-place finish in their league. This meant they would play in the promotion play-offs against 1. FC Nürnberg, the second-placed team from the other second division league. Since Buhtz had already signed with Nürnberg for the next season, he was fired from Dortmund before the play-offs began.

More Promotions and Challenges

At Nürnberg, Buhtz's team finished fifth in the 2. Bundesliga Süd in 1976–77. The next season, they finished second and qualified for the play-offs. But just like at Dortmund, Buhtz was fired before the play-offs started.

His next team was Bayer 05 Uerdingen in the 2. Bundesliga Süd. He took over in October 1978. Again, he led the team to a second-place finish. This time, he was not fired before the play-offs. He celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga with Uerdingen in 1979. However, Uerdingen struggled in the Bundesliga. They finished 15th in 1979–80 and were relegated in 1980–81. Buhtz was fired two games before the end of that season.

Final Coaching Years

In December 1981, Buhtz became the fourth coach for Alemannia Aachen that season. The team was in eighth place when he arrived. He couldn't improve their position much, and they finished ninth. The next season, Aachen started well, but then their results got worse. They fell out of the promotion race, and Buhtz was fired.

In January 1983, Stuttgarter Kickers, a 2. Bundesliga team, hired Buhtz. He won his first match with them. However, he couldn't help the club improve much in the long run. The 1983–84 season started very badly, with only one win in 13 matches. Buhtz was dismissed in October 1984. During his time in Stuttgart, Buhtz worked with future football stars like Jürgen Klinsmann and Guido Buchwald.

After his time in Stuttgart, Buhtz mostly retired from coaching. He only took over Fortuna Köln, another 2. Bundesliga team, for a few months in the 1986–87 season.

Later Life

Horst Buhtz lived in the town of Langenfeld, Rhineland, which is located between Cologne and Düsseldorf. His first club, Fortuna Magdeburg, made him an honorary president in 1992. He passed away at the age of 91 on March 22, 2015.