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Horst-Dieter Höttges
	Höttges at the 1970 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Date of birth	10 September 1943
Place of birth	Mönchengladbach, Germany
Date of death	22 June 2023 (aged 79)
Place of death	Bremen, Germany
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Sweeper, full-back
Youth career
	Blau-Weiß Dahl
	Rheydter SV
	Borussia Mönchengladbach
Senior career*
Years	Team
1963–1964	Borussia Mönchengladbach
1964–1978	Werder Bremen
1979–1980	Werder Bremen amateurs
	SC Oberbecksen
International career
1963–1964	West Germany U23
1965, 1974	West Germany B
1965–1974	West Germany
Medal record
Men's football
Representing West Germany
FIFA World Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Horst-Dieter Höttges (10 September 1943 – 22 June 2023) was a German professional footballer who played as a sweeper or right-back.^[1] Having started his career with hometown club Borussia Mönchengladbach, he spent most of his career with Werder Bremen. He made 420 Bundesliga appearances for Werder Bremen, a club record for outfield players, scoring 55 goals and helped the club win the Bundesliga title in the 1964–65 season, his first at Werder Bremen. At international level, he represented West Germany from 1965 to 1974, amassing 66 caps and scoring 1 goal. He was part of the West Germany squads that won the 1974 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 1972.

Club career

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Born in Mönchengladbach, Höttges began playing football at local sides Blau-Weiß Dahl and Rheydter SV before joining Borussia Mönchengladbach at the age of 17. After three years in the youth of Mönchengladbach he was taking part for them in their Regionalliga West campaign of 1963–64 with Mönchengladbach manager Hennes Weisweiler feeling Höttges' way of playing was not what he was looking for and the defender was forced to move on.

Werder Bremen

Ahead of the 1964–65 season Höttges signed with Bundesliga team Werder Bremen and enjoyed immediate success under Willi Multhaup at the Weser-Stadion, ending up winner of the Bundesliga title with Werder at the end of the same season.

This outstanding success with Werder Bremen was a key for the full-back to be called up by Helmut Schön for the West Germany national team already in 1965, a time when his toughness in tackling duels earned him his "Eisenfuß" (iron foot) nickname. Although Werder Bremen could not recopy the success of 1965, and became rather a relegation battler than a title chaser, Höttges remained loyal to them and served in the Bundesliga until 1978, scoring 55 goals in his 420 appearances for the North German side.^[2] As of July 2023, he holds the club record number of Bundesliga appearances for outfield players.^[3] His commitment to a half-a-day employment as sales representative for a manufacturer of sports goods forced him to hang up his boots that summer. Höttges put job before club, unwilling to give up his business, and got named "Ehrenspielführer" (honorary captain) due to his career efforts by Werder Bremen.

International career

On 13 March 1965, Horst-Dieter Höttges debuted for West Germany in a friendly against Italy (1–1) at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion. Hamburg's Volksparkstadion was also the place where he won the last of his sixty-six caps for West Germany during the memorable first round defeat at the hands of East Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.^[4] The defeat of the West Germans in the politically and emotionally exaggerated match led coach Helmut Schön to significant changes in his line-up and limiting Höttges to a bench role was one of those. It resulted in the defender's subsequent retirement from international football after the 1974 FIFA World Cup final West Germany won against their Dutch opponents.^[5] His first of altogether three World Cup participations Höttges enjoyed in 1966 as part of the runner-up squad of West Germany in England. He was further a member of the squad for the 1970 FIFA World Cup (third-place finish) and was a starter for his country in the UEFA Euro 1972 final against in Brussels on 18 June. He and his teammates beat the Soviet Union that day to win Germany's first UEFA European Football Championship trophy.

Later years and death

Later on Höttges showed up for some time on amateur level for Bad Oeynhausen's SC Oberbecksen and TSV Achim, a club in a village near Bremen, where he settled down. He was partly coaching that club in an honorary capacity in the 1990s.

Höttges died from complications of dementia on 22 June 2023, at the age of 79.^[6]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			DFB-Pokal		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Borussia Mönchengladbach	1963–64^[1]^[2]	Regionalliga West	30	0	1	0	–		–		31	0
Werder Bremen	1964–65^[1]	Bundesliga	29	1	0	0	–		–		29	1
	1965–66^[1]		31	5	3	0	4	2	–		38	7
	1966–67^[1]		30	3	4	2	–		–		36	11
	1967–68^[1]		33	9	0	0	–		–		33	9
	1968–69^[1]		31	6	2	0	–		–		33	6
	1969–70^[1]		31	3	3	0	–		–		34	3
	1970–71^[1]		22	1	1	0	–		–		22	1
	1971–72^[1]		28	3	8	1	–		–		36	4
	1972–73^[1]		29	3	7	2	–		4^[a]	0	40	5
	1973–74^[1]		31	6	4	2	–		–		35	8
	1974–75^[1]		31	6	4	0	–		–		35	6
	1975–76^[1]		30	4	1	0	–		–		31	4
	1976–77^[1]		32	2	3	0	–		–		35	2
	1977–78^[1]		32	3	4	4	–		–		36	7
	Total		420	55	44	11	4	2	4	0	472	68
Werder Bremen amateurs	1979–80^[2]	Amateur Oberliga Nord	14	2	–		–		–		14	2
Career total			464	57	45	11	4	2	4	0	517	70

^ Appearances in DFB-Ligapokal

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[5]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
West Germany	1965	8	0
	1966	12	0
	1967	6	0
	1968	5	0
	1969	6	1
	1970	10	0
	1971	1	0
	1972	7	0
	1973	8	0
	1974	3	0
Total		66	1

Honours

Werder Bremen

Bundesliga: 1964–65 season^[3]

West Germany

Individual

kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1964-65,^[7] 1966–67,^[8] 1969-70^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Horst-Dieter Höttges » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Arnhold, Matthias (15 July 2011). "Horst-Dieter Höttges - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Werder Bremen trauert um "Eisenfuß" Höttges" [Werder Bremen mourns the death of "Iron Foot" Höttges]. buten un binnen (in German). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ Horst-Dieter Höttges – FIFA competition record (archived)
^ ^a ^b Arnhold, Matthias (12 December 2004). "Horst-Dieter Höttges - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Werder weint: Horst-Dieter Höttges ist gestorben". Deichstube (in German). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Bundesliga Historie 1964/65" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
^ "Bundesliga Historie 1966/67" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
^ "Bundesliga Historie 1969/70" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2019.