Peter Meyer (footballer)

Peter Meyer (born 18 February 1940 in Düsseldorf) is a retired German football player. He spent four seasons in the Bundesliga with Fortuna Düsseldorf and Borussia Mönchengladbach.[1] He also represented Germany once, in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier against Albania.

For other people named Peter Meyer, see Peter Meyer (disambiguation).

Peter Meyer
Meyer in 1967
Personal information
Date of birth (1940-02-18) 18 February 1940
Place of birth Düsseldorf, Germany
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Wersten 04
TuRU Düsseldorf
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1960–1967 Fortuna Düsseldorf 174 (119)
1967–1970 Borussia Mönchengladbach 19 (19)
VfL 06 Benrath
Viktoria 02
National team
1967 Germany 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Meyer started his career at Wersten 04 and TuRU Düsseldorf before joining Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1960.[2] He played in the 1961–62 DFB-Pokal final with the club, losing 2–1 to 1. FC Nürnberg. In 1966, he helped Fortuna reach the Bundesliga for the first time, scoring twice in a 5–1 victory against Kickers Offenbach in the Aufstiegsrunde, securing the club's promotion on goal average. He appeared 25 times and scored eight goals during the following season in the Bundesliga, but could not prevent Fortuna from being relegated at the end of the campaign. Meyer was not offered a new contract following Fortuna's relegation, and was free to look for a new club.[3] With a total of 119 goals in 174 league games between 1960 and 1967, he is the club's record goalscorer.[4]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

After initially agreeing terms with MSV Duisburg, Meyer opted to sign for Borussia Mönchengladbach after being persuaded to join the club by Günter Netzer, who showed up at the car workshop that Meyer worked at.[3] He debuted on 19 August 1967 against Schalke 04, scoring a hat trick in a 4–3 away win, and went on to score 19 goals for the club in the first half of the 1967–68 Bundesliga season. He was subsequently selected by Helmut Schön to play for West Germany in their decisive Euro 1968 qualification match against Albania in Tirana. West Germany failed to qualify after drawing the match 0–0, and the game became known as the "Disgrace of Tirana".[5]

Injury and retirement

In January 1968, during a training match played in Duisburg, Meyer broke his tibia and fibula following a collision with his own goalkeeper Volker Danner. Meyer never fully recovered from the injury, and required a second operation after returning to training too soon after the incident.[3] He made a brief comeback in August 1969, starting in a league match against Bayern Munich, but was substituted at half-time, and never made another appearance in the Bundesliga.[6] He left the club at the end of the 1969–70 season and dropped into amateur football, joining VfL Benrath in the Verbandsliga Niederrhein,[7] followed by Viktoria 02 before deciding to retire.[4]

Honours

References
  1. "Meyer, Peter" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. "Peter Meyer wird 65 - Fortunas ehemaliger Rekordstürmer feiert Jubiläum" (in German). Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein 1895 e.V. 17 February 2005. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  3. Hesse-Lichtenberger, Uli (10 February 2009). "Hoffenheim suffer the curse of Meyer". ESPN. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. Mai, Theo (18 February 2010). "Draufgänger mit großem Torinstinkt". DerWesten (in German). WAZ New Media GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  5. Hackett, Robin (7 October 2010). "Euro qualification shocks". ESPN. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  6. Grulke, Thomas (28 January 2013). "Peter Meyer: das Schlitzohr, das von der Eckfahne traf". RP Online (in German). Rheinische Post Mediengruppe. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  7. "Keine Feier ohne Meyer". Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach GmbH. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
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