Victory in the European Cup with BVB, second division championship with Schalke 04. Siggi Held has had an eventful career. Now he is celebrating his 80th birthday.
Saturday afternoon, May 29, 1982, 60,000 Schalke at the Parkstadion. On the last matchday of the season it is 3:3 between Schalke 04 and Fürth. When referee Karl-Josef Assenmacher blows his whistle, it is finally clear: Schalke 04 are champions of the second division and are returning to the Bundesliga only a year after the painful relegation. The cheering at Schalke is great – and a BVB legend of all people has a major part in it: Siggi Held.
“Looking back, it’s a black spot on my vest,” Held later said in an interview with WDR about his blue-and-white past. From 1981 to 1983 he coached the rivals in the Ruhr area. Nevertheless: “Dortmund is my sporting home”, Held clarifies: “Here I got to know the big wide world of football.”
Football as a ray of hope in childhood
Held was born during the war on August 7, 1942 in Freudenthal (now part of the Czech Republic). He has to flee with his family and ends up in the Marktheidenfeld refugee camp near Würzburg. A ray of hope in these difficult times: football.
In 1963, Kickers Offenbach became aware of the young hero and signed him. From then on he played in the then second-class Regionalliga Süd and after two successful seasons he switched to Borussia Dortmund.
First European Cup for a German team
Shortly after the change, Held achieved one of the greatest successes in the club’s history with BVB: winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1966. In the final at Hampden Park (Glasgow), Dortmund beat favorites Liverpool 2-1. Siggi Held scored the goal for a 1-0 lead. “It will remain unforgettable. It was a highlight,” said Held later. It is the first European Cup for a German team ever.
Held and Aussauer at a Schalke game in 1982.
Incidentally, in 1966 Borussia’s final team included two other players, Stan Libuda and Rudi Assauer, who would later play a role in Schalke’s promotion. Rudi Assauer is the manager of the blue and white in 1982. And Stan Libuda, who scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1 for BVB in the final with an arc lamp, has now taken over the kiosk from Schalke legend Ernst Kuzorra and sells tickets for the promotion game of the blue and whites there.
National team player at Wembely 1966
Emmerich and Held celebrate in the 1966 European Cup final.
Overall, Siggi Held played more than 200 times for BVB – in two stages: first from 1965 to 1971, then from 1977 to 1979. Other stations as a player are Preußen Münster and Bayer 05 Uerdingen. As a national player, he witnessed the famous Wembley goal in the 1966 World Cup final against England. “I ran to the linesman and protested,” Held recalled in a WDR interview a few years ago: “I still think it wasn’t a goal.” Four years later, Siegfried Held is also part of the team that takes third place at the World Cup in Mexico.
National coaches of Iceland, Malta and Thailand
The fast and dribbling hero with his dreaded crosses created a goal threat on the left wing, but he also scored 44 goals in the BVB jersey. Companions describe him as a humble, rather quiet leader. After his career as a player, Siggi Held went on a world tour as a coach. Among other things, he hired as a national coach in Iceland, Malta and Thailand.
Paul and Held at the BVB season opening 2022.
Meanwhile, Held’s life has calmed down. He is a member of the BVB Council of Elders and has been Borussia Dortmund’s fan representative since 2007. “I’m responsible for the beautiful things,” said Held a few years ago in a WDR interview. For example, he attends fan club anniversaries or the season opener. “People are happy when I come.”
Schalke return on birthday
And this summer – 40 years after Schalke’s rise under Held – history is repeating itself. In May 2022, just a year after relegation, Schalke managed to return to the Bundesliga and win the second division championship. Big difference: Siggi Held was not on the sidelines this time.
On his birthday of all days, Schalke is celebrating their return to the Bundesliga this Sunday against 1. FC Köln. Despite the rivalry, Held will keep his fingers crossed that things don’t go the way they did 40 years ago. Coach Held had to leave the club during the current season. Schalke 04 were relegated from the Bundesliga again just a year after promotion.
