Wolfgang Frank

Not to be confused with Wolfgang Franke.

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

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

External links

• Wolfgang Frank at fussballdaten.de (in German)