Wolfgang Frank

Wolfgang Frank (21 February 1951 – 7 September 2013) was a German football manager and player.[1][2]

Not to be confused with Wolfgang Franke.

Wolfgang Frank
Personal information
Full name Wolfgang Frank
Date of birth (1951-02-21)21 February 1951
Place of birth Reichenbach an der Fils, West Germany
Date of death 7 September 2013(2013-09-07) (aged 62)
Place of death Mainz, Germany
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
TSV Schlierbach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1971 VfL Kirchheim/Teck
1971–1973 VfB Stuttgart 55 (23)
1973–1974 AZ Alkmaar 22 (4)
1974–1977 Eintracht Braunschweig 106 (52)
1977–1980 Borussia Dortmund 34 (10)
1980–1982 1. FC Nürnberg 20 (4)
1982–1984 FSV Bad Windsheim
Total 215 (89)
International career
1972–1977 West Germany B 6 (3)
Managerial career
1984–1988 FC Glarus
1989–1990 FC Aarau
1991–1992 FC Wettingen
1992–1993 FC Winterthur
1994–1995 Rot-Weiss Essen
1995–1997 Mainz 05
1997–1998 Austria Wien
1998–2000 Mainz 05
2000 MSV Duisburg
2002–2004 SpVgg Unterhaching
2004–2005 FC Sachsen Leipzig
2006 Farul Constanța
2006–2007 Kickers Offenbach
2008 Wuppertaler SV Borussia
2008–2009 SV Wehen Wiesbaden
2010–2011 Carl Zeiss Jena
2011–2012 Eupen
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Frank was born in Reichenbach an der Fils, and made 215 appearances in the Bundesliga during his playing career, scoring 89 goals. For the Germany national football B team, he scored three goals in six games.

As a manager, Frank was at the helm of 16 clubs and led Rot-Weiss Essen to the 1994 DFB-Pokal final, only to lose 3–1 to SV Werder Bremen at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

In his final year as a player, Frank trained as a teacher in sport and religion. He was inspired by Arrigo Sacchi's A.C.Milan and introduced the 4-4-2 system to Germany at a time when German teams played with a sweeper. Inspired by how Sacchi had got his team to press, marking space rather than individual players, Frank introduced this advanced tactical thinking into German football. He is credited with inspiring a renaissance in the Bundesliga which has inspired a new generation of managers such as Jürgen Klopp and Joachim Löw.

Frank died in Mainz, aged 62.

References
  1. "Frank, Wolfgang". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  2. "Klopp-Lehrmeister erliegt Krebsleiden" (in German). Bild.de. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.


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