Helmut Schön

Lore & Background

Born on 15 September 1915, in Dresden, Schön played as a striker for Dresdner SC, winning the German football championship in 1943 and 1944 as well as the Cup in 1940 and 1941. He appeared 16 times for his country between 1937 and 1941, scoring 17 goals. After World War II, he began his career in football management in his native state of Saxony, then part of Soviet-occupied East Germany. He was in charge of coaching selections from Saxony and the Soviet occupation zone before political interference to the sport made him flee to West Germany in 1950. Having played in Hamburg for FC St. Pauli even during his Friedrichstadt spell, he now was appointed player-coach with Hertha BSC Berlin, where he had several former teammates in his squad, but left before the end of the season. Schön became a licensed coach in Cologne before managing SV Wiesbaden. Between 1952 and 1956, he was in charge of the then-independent Saarland side, who met West Germany in qualification for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. When the Saarland was reunified with West Germany in 1956, Schön joined the West Germany national side as assistant to Sepp Herberger, whom he succeeded as manager in November 1964.

In Their Own Story

The Munich Olympiastadion hummed on 7 July 1974. Sixty thousand voices pressed against the stands as the final whistle drew near and the score read 2-1. Schön stood at the edge of the touchline, hands clasped behind his back, his face unreadable in the way it always was—whether his side was leading or trailing. Around him, Beckenbauer was already being mobbed by teammates, Müller's boots still caked with the red clay of the pitch. Schön let them have their moment. He walked slowly toward the centre circle, where the Dutch players sat in stunned silence, and shook hands with Rinus Michels. Then, without a word, he turned and walked back toward the tunnel, where the DFB officials were waiting with the trophy. He would not lift it himself. He let the players do that. He simply let them carry it, and he carried the weight of eleven years of preparation, of a lost final in Mexico, of a nation's quiet hope, into the dressing-room corridor where the champagne would begin to spray.

Reader's Guide

Under Schön's leadership the West German teams were World Cup runners-up in 1966 (lost 4–2 to England in the final), third in the World Cup of 1970, European champions in 1972 (defeated the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final), World Cup winners in 1974 (defeated the Netherlands 2–1 in the final), and European Championship runners-up in 1976 (lost to Czechoslovakia in the final on penalty kicks, after extra-time). Among the moves Schön made that enabled West Germany's triumphs in 1972 and 1974 were: selecting Sepp Maier as his automatic first string goalkeeper, a decision that seems obvious in retrospect but was not a given at the time; easing many of the veterans of the 1970 team out of the subsequent squad; allowing Franz Beckenbauer to play his preferred role as a sweeper, and appointing him team captain; introducing young fullbacks Berti Vogts and Paul Breitner into the team; building the midfield around Günter Netzer and switching the team's formation to better accommodate his skills; then replacing Netzer with Wolfgang Overath in the 1974 team. Schön formerly held the World Cup records for the most matches managed (25) and most matches won (20) until 2026, and was the first coach to win both a World Cup and a European Championship. He shares with England's Sir Walter Winterbottom and France's Didier Deschamps the distinction of managing the same national team at four consecutive World Cup tournaments. Schön gave notice that he would retire after the 1978 World Cup, to be replaced by his assistant Jupp Derwall. He was unable to go out on a high note as his team was knocked out of the competition by Austria, who had already been eliminated. During his 14-year tenure as national coach, his record was 87 victories, 30 draws and 22 defeats in 139 matches. For his contributions to association football as a coach, Schön became one of the inaugural recipients of the FIFA Order of Merit in 1984. He died on 23 February 1996, in Wiesbaden, aged 80.

Did You Know?

• Schön won the German football championship as a player in 1943 and 1944 with Dresdner SC.
• He scored 17 goals in 16 appearances for Germany between 1937 and 1941.
• Schön managed the Saarland national team from 1952 to 1956 before joining West Germany as assistant.
• He was the first coach to win both a World Cup and a European Championship.