Wolfgang Sühnholz

Wolfgang Sühnholz (14 September 1946 – 27 December 2019) was a German-American soccer coach and former player. He won in the 1971–72 Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and in 1976 the North-American Soccer Bowl with Toronto Metros-Croatia. Later he settled in the United States and worked as a coach.

Wolfgang Sühnholz
Personal information
Date of birth (1946-09-14)14 September 1946
Place of birth Berlin, Germany
Date of death 27 December 2019(2019-12-27) (aged 73)[1]
Place of death Georgetown, Texas, United States
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1968–1970 Hertha Zehlendorf
1970–1971 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 32 (6)
1971–1973 Bayern Munich 25 (4)
1974 Grasshoppers 6 (0)
1974–1975 Tennis Borussia Berlin 8 (1)
1975–1976 Boston Minutemen 23 (8)
1976 Toronto Metros-Croatia 4 (0)
1976 Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (0)
1977 Las Vegas Quicksilvers 20 (4)
1978 Los Angeles Aztecs 14 (5)
1978–1980 California Surf 31 (3)
Managerial career
1987–1989 Austin Sockadillos (assistant)
1989–1991 Austin Sockadillos
1994–1997 Austin Lone Stars
1997 United States U16 (assistant)
1998–1999 Austin Lone Stars
1999–2001 United States U20
2008–2009 Austin Aztex U23
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Initially he played for Hertha Zehlendorf with which he won the Regionalliga Berlin - part of the national second tier which was split up into five regional divisions - in 1969 and 1970. After this he joined first division side Rot-Weiss Oberhausen where he immediately established himself in the standard formation.

After narrowly avoiding relegation he transferred together with Franz Krauthausen to the 1971 runners-up of the national championship FC Bayern Munich. Again, he immediately became part of their standard formation, playing alongside the stars of that era like Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller. He played in 25 of the first 27 league matches of the side that went on to win in 1972 the third national championship in club history. In a cup match against 1. FC Köln in April 1972 he sustained a broken leg, which precluded him from almost two years.

Comeback attempts with Swiss first division side Grasshopper Club Zürich, where he played in March and April 1974 in six matches, albeit only one over 90 minutes, and Tennis Borussia Berlin, then a newcomer to the German first division, where he played in eight matches, thereof three over the full 90 minutes, between August and October of the same year, essentially failed. Notwithstanding, he scored a goal in his last match for the Berliners.

He came to the United States as a player and assistant coach in the NASL. He was named the 1976 Soccer Bowl MVP after capturing the title with Toronto Metros-Croatia. The following season (1977) he earned All-NASL First Team honors, joining legends who were on the same team that year, Pelé, Gordon Banks, George Best, and Franz Beckenbauer.[2]

Managerial career

Sühnholz was a national team coach for the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1996 to 2001; 1996–1999 as an assistant coach for the U-16 and U-20 Nationals Teams; head coach for the U.S. U-20 Men National Team from 1999 to 2001. While coaching for the U.S. Soccer he went to two World Cups and led his U-20 Teams to the World Cup in 2001 in Argentina. Since 2001 he was a head coach for the USYS ODP Region III, coaching the 86, 87, 88 and 89 boys' teams. A founder, along with Francisco Marcos, of the Austin Sockadillos, a team in the Southwest Indoor Soccer League, Sühnholz served as an assistant coach for the team from 1987 to 1989 when he replaced head coach Tony Simoes. He then coached the team until 1991. In 1994, he returned to the team, now known as the Austin Lone Stars of the USISL.[3] In May 1997, he was named an assistant coach with the United States U-16 men's national soccer team.[4] He returned to the Lone Stars in 1998.[5]

Sühnholz held a USSF "A" License.

References
  1. Kyba, Kevan. "A Tribute to Wolfgang Suhnholz". wolfgangsuhnholz.com. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  2. "All-League Teams". Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  3. Austin Lone Stars draw from Soccadillo roots Austin American-Statesman – Wednesday, 23 March 1994
  4. Lone Star coach to lead under-16s Austin American-Statesman (TX) – Tuesday, 13 May 1997
  5. "Austin announces PDL coach". 26 February 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
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