Uwe Seeler is one of the greatest German football idols. The honorary citizen of Hamburg has always remained loyal to his city, but above all to his beloved HSV. A look at his life.
Son of a sports family
Uwe Seeler was born on November 5, 1936 in Hamburg-Eppendorf. His father Erwin (pictured below) is a dock worker and an idol of workers’ athletes, who, however, joined the bourgeois clubs SC Victoria (1932) and HSV (1938).
Mother Anny is a talented swimmer and handball player. Uwe’s brother Dieter is five, sister Gertrud (“Purzel”) three years older. Like almost all boys of their generation, the two Seeler sons learn to play football on the street.
Kick on the street
The Seeler brothers spend almost every free minute playing football. Injuries are inevitable. But “Vadder” Erwin doesn’t like hearing complaints about pain.
The beginnings at HSV
Since 1946 Uwe has played in the youth team of HSV. He almost always rides the twelve kilometers to the training ground together with defender Gerd Krug (on the left next to Seeler in the picture).
Trainer Günter Mahlmann remains in the men’s division of Seeler’s coach. In 1954 he took over the HSV Oberliga team.
A Hamburger Jung’ plays in the foreground
At an international youth tournament in the spring of 1954, then 17-year-old Seeler attracted national attention. The center forward scores 13 of the 20 goals for the German selection. He had already celebrated his debut in the HSV first team in August 1953.
On October 16, 1954, Seeler played for the senior national team for the first time. The brief comment from HSV coach Mahlmann: “Great, fat man!”
Crowd favourite, rascal, header phenomenon
HSV has been one of the best teams in Germany since the mid-1950s, and their star is Uwe Seeler. Not only the Hamburg spectators love the centre-forward. Everywhere the “Uwe, Uwe” calls echo through the stadiums. Why is Seeler so popular? What makes him one of the best footballers in Europe? Companions give an assessment.
Why “Us Uwe”?
For the Hamburgers, Seeler is “Us Uwe”. An idol, a man of the people. But how did the expression “Uns Uwe” actually come about? Seeler’s friend and former national team colleague Max Lorenz knows the answer.
Marriage to Ilka in 1959
On February 18, 1959, Uwe Seeler and Ilka Buck married in Eppendorf. Ilka is a handball player at HSV. Uwe and Ilka meet at a New Year’s Eve ball in 1953 and soon become a couple.
The Seelers have lived in their house in Norderstedt for more than 50 years. The couple raised their three grown-up daughters here.
Rendezvous at Hagenbeck Zoo
In 2011, Ilka Seeler talked to Bettina Tietjen about the first meeting with Uwe.
The master year 1960
In the Oberliga Nord, HSV has no serious competitors and is North German champion year after year. However, it is not enough to achieve great success at first. In 1957 (1:4 against Dortmund) and 1958 (0:3 against Schalke) Hamburg lost the final of the German championship. Finally, in 1960, there was a great triumph.
First, Seeler scored the “Goal of the Century” in the second round. He scored two goals in the 3-2 final win against 1. FC Köln. At the end of the year, Seeler was voted Germany’s first footballer of the year.
The “Goal of the Century”
On the way to the championship in 1960, HSV defeated Westfalia Herne in the intermediate round. In doing so, Seeler marks a goal that is one of the most famous in German football. Westfalia Hernes goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski remembers Seeler’s spectacular goal in the Volksparkstadion.
Championship final against Cologne
In Frankfurt am Main, on June 25, 1960, HSV beat Cologne in the final for the German championship. Seeler is once again the best man on the pitch and scores two goals.
The “magical trio” of Hamburger SV
Goal scorer Seeler (center) and his most important teammates at the championship celebrations in the Rothenbaum stadium: Gert “Charly” Dörfel (left) is not only the joker in the team, but also one of the best left wingers in Germany. His crosses almost always end up with a centimeter accuracy at Seeler.
Klaus Stürmer (right) is the brain in Hamburg’s midfield and Uwe’s best friend. They are called “The Twins”. However, the striker leaves HSV for Switzerland a year after winning the title. In 1971 he died of cancer at the age of only 35.
European Cup premiere with unforgettable games
By winning the championship, HSV has qualified for the European Cup for the first time. In the first leg of the quarter-finals, they drew 3-1 against English champions FC Burnley. Hardly anyone gives the Hamburgers a chance to get ahead.
But in March 1961, Seeler and Co. won 4-1 in the Volksparkstadion. The game with two Seeler goals is considered one of the best in HSV history.
The drama against FC Barcelona
In the semifinals, Seeler becomes a tragic hero. The centre-forward initially marks the 2-0 against the big favorites FC Barcelona. That would have been enough to get into the final. But at the last minute, the captain loses the ball with serious consequences. Barca score, force a decider and prevail 1-0 in Brussels.
The million offer from Italy
In the summer of 1961, top Italian clubs wanted to sign Seeler. Inter Milan offers the top scorer more than one million Deutschmarks. But the down-to-earth souler doesn’t want to leave his homeland and refuses. At least now he is a legend in Hamburg.
Shoes, jerseys, sleeping bags
Despite the failed move to Milan, Seeler earned good money, including as a general agent for Adidas. Even when the way was paved for profit with the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, Seeler did not give up his job. He has a contractual guarantee of a training-free day to visit customers.
Treble in the 1963 cup final
In 1963, Seeler won his second (and last) major title with HSV. In the cup final, the “Red Pants” beat their feared opponent Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in Hanover.
The shock: the Achilles tendon tears
On February 20, 1965, football fans held their breath. During the Bundesliga game in Frankfurt, Seeler collapses without any opposition. The devastating diagnosis: a torn Achilles tendon, which at the time was almost inevitably synonymous with the end of his career.
The sympathy is great, as the HSV star reporter legend Herbert Zimmermann reveals. And “Us Uwe” actually fights back.
The training world champion
Seeler’s fighting spirit is no coincidence, he has always been a world champion in training. Therefore, Seeler is also developing into one of the best header players in the world, although he is only 1.70 m tall. Almost always in training: the good old header pendulum.
Victory goal in Sweden: The culmination of the comeback
In the German national team, things are not progressing as quickly for Seeler as at HSV. It was not until the 1958 World Cup that he became a regular player and scored his first goal in a DFB shirt. In 1961 he became team captain.
In September 1965, Germany must win in Sweden to qualify for the World Cup in England. It’s Seeler’s first international match after tearing his Achilles tendon – and it marks the 2-1 winner.
The famous photo of Wembley
Germany lost the 1966 World Cup final in London 4-2 to hosts England. Geoff Hurst scores the famous Wembley goal. After the finale, a picture goes around the world: Seeler with a hanging head. But when exactly this recording was made has long been disputed. In 2011, Seeler provided information.
World Cup 1970: The captain in a new role
Seeler or Gerd Müller? Captain or youngster? Before the 1970 World Cup, soccer Germany discussed above all the question of who should play in attack. Bayern Munich’s “bombers of the nation” outstripped Seeler as a center forward and scored an incredible 38 goals in the past Bundesliga season.
National coach Helmut Schön surprised almost all experts. He lets Seeler play as an attacking midfielder. The captain fulfills this role in an exemplary manner, he works for Müller (“I had so much fun”). The DFB team plays a great tournament and comes third, Müller is the top scorer with ten goals.
The legendary goal against England
In the quarterfinals against England, Seeler scored the best-known goal of his career. He overcomes keeper Peter Bonetti with an acrobatic header. It’s the 2-2 equalizer. Müller scored the winning goal in extra time.
Farewell with record and Federal Cross of Merit
In September 1970, Seeler played his 72nd and last international match against Hungary. He surpassed the previous record of the Düsseldorf defender Paul Janes. Before the game, Seeler was the first athlete to receive the Federal Cross of Merit. At the end of the year he was named Germany’s footballer of the year for the third time.
Uwe Seeler’s career in figures
- 72 caps (43 goals)
- World Cup appearances: 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 (21 World Cup games)
- 237 games in the Oberliga Nord (267 goals – first place in the all-time best list)
- Top scorer in the Oberliga Nord seven times
- 43 final round matches for the German championship (40 goals)
- 239 Bundesliga games (137 goals)
- Bundesliga top scorer in 1964 with 30 goals
- 29 European Cup appearances (21 goals)
- 39 games in the DFB-Pokal (41 goals)
- German champion with HSV 1960
- German cup winner with HSV 1963
- Germany’s footballer of the year 1960, 1964, 1970
Hamburg says “Bye, Uwe”
On May 1, 1972, 70,000 spectators in the Volksparkstadion bid farewell to Hamburg’s greatest sports idol. Seeler ends his active career with a game of his HSV against a world selection.
Shops and the Traditionself
Seeler remains active after the end of his career and devotes himself more to his business. The former HSV star can also be seen more often on the soccer field. He plays friendlies and charity games with the Uwe-Seeler-Traditionalself.
In 1996 he founded the Uwe Seeler Foundation, which helps people in need through no fault of their own.
Brother Dieter’s early death
Uwe Seeler is a family man who always maintains close contact with his parents and siblings. The death of his brother Dieter, who died of kidney failure in September 1979 at the age of 47, hit him hard. In 2011, he recalled the difficult times in an interview with NDR reporter Wolfgang Biereichel.
1995: Seeler becomes HSV President
In the 1990s, the glory of Happel’s time at HSV completely faded. The club has financial problems and is bobbing around in the midfield of the Bundesliga. Seeler can be persuaded to run for HSV president. On October 5, 1995 he is elected with an overwhelming majority.
Much trouble and resignation in 1998
“I’ve made two big mistakes in my life: building a swimming pool and becoming HSV president,” says Seeler about his tenure. His comrades-in-arms in the presidium caused all sorts of scandals, and in 1998 Seeler resigned in exasperation. However, his good name helps significantly to get the stadium conversion underway.
A giant foot instead of the Uwe-Seeler-Stadion
In the summer of 2000, the conversion of the Volksparkstadion into a modern arena was completed. Many fans would like the venue to be renamed the “Uwe-Seeler-Stadion”. But the HSV decides differently and sells the naming rights to an Internet provider.
The Hamburg team honored the most famous player in the club’s history with an oversized bronze foot, which was set up in front of the stadium in 2005.
As the first athlete Hamburg honorary citizen
In 2003, Seeler was the first athlete to be made an honorary citizen of Hamburg. Previously, only 29 people had received this award. The First Mayor Ole von Beust presented the certificate.
85th birthday: “We’re still in the game, fat man”
On November 5, 2021, “Uns Uwe” will celebrate his 85th birthday. At home and in peace, the doctor advised it. In the NDR interview, he looks back with satisfaction: “We can’t complain, we had a great time,” says Seeler, who has been able to count on his wife Ilka at his side for over 60 years. She knows why her “little mouse” is so popular:
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sports club | 03.11.2021 | 9:00 p.m
