“Very fine guy”
VfL Bochum mourns the loss of club icon verses
Updated on May 6th, 2025 – 07:35 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
He played more than 600 competitive games for the Ruhrpott Club and was instrumental in the first promotion of Bundesliga. It was now known that Dieter Versen had recently died.
VfL Bochum mourns the loss of Dieter Versen. The long -time player of the traditional club died at the age of 79. The association announced the news on Monday about its official channels – Versen had already died on April 8th.
The long -time professional was born in Bochum and decisively shaped the history of the club for many years. At the age of 18 he moved to the first team and played over 600 competitive games for the VfL during his career – including 158 games in the Bundesliga. With the first promotion to the upper house in 1971, the defensive player, who was used both in defense and in midfield, wrote club history.
According to the club, his nickname “Köttel” came from his youth – he came to football in the tow of his older brothers and thus also reached VfL.
At the end of his active career, verses moved abroad again: in 1979 he played for the San José Earthquakes in the USA. After that, the former professional withdrew largely from the public.
His former player Michael “Ata” Lameck remembers Versen’s website as a “very fine guy”, who was considered a liver in his active time – “including cigarettes and beer”. That was not unusual at that time, Lameck emphasized. In terms of sport, however, verses were “beyond any doubt”.
In an obituary, the club appreciates its long -time player with the words: “VfL Bochum 1848 mourns the loss of a great player, a real Bochum legend, and wishes the relatives of Dieter Versen a lot of strength and pronounces them sincerely. VfL will honor its memory.”