Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)

Subject: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: G-Force
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 06:35 AM

What a man, and what a life. A footballer you could really admire as a person (not common these days).

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: Will Fly
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 08:56 AM

One of my boyhood heroes - a German prisoner-of-war who was loved by English football fans - broke his neck while playing in goal and carried on with the match.

A great man - RIP Bert!

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: Mr Happy
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 09:16 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Trautmann


BBC

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: MikeL2
Date: 21 Jul 13 - 02:32 PM

Hi

Yes a great Goalkeeper and a really nice guy.

In WW2 of course there was no football leagues. In our area the only football we could see were "friendly" matches usually played by pub teams.

Just outside our town was a German Prisoner of War Camp.

The Camp had a football pitch and the prisoners played matches regularly - usually on Sundays - because most people worked on a Saturday in those times.

We used to see this brilliant goalkeeper who stood out from all the other players.

It was only later that when I went to see my first Manchester City game I realised that he was that German goalkeeper.

I was lucky enough to see him many times at Maine Road and considered him to be one of the best keepers I have seen.

He succeeded Frank Swift who I saw on occasions. We used to spend hours arguing who was the better keeper. Although there was very little in it, IMHO I thought Swift was the better keeper and probably one of the all time best keepers.

Unfortunately Frank was one of the fatalities in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958.

Cheers

MikeL2

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: fat B****rd
Date: 22 Jul 13 - 12:05 PM

All of the above. RIP Mr. Trautmann.

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 22 Jul 13 - 12:07 PM

Another boyhood hero gone. RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: alanabit
Date: 22 Jul 13 - 04:53 PM

He was a hero of mine too. I never saw him play, but he was a legend at Manchester City Football Club. He also came across as a very fine man. He had his imperfections, for which he made no excuses. What I admire most about him was that he strove to overcome the nonsense he had learned as a teenager and to make himself a more complete human being. Farewell to a very fine man.

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 04:03 PM

In May 1956 my dad and I were at Johnny & Freda's next door watching the Cup Final (we didn't have a TV then). Manchester City & Birmingham City. The decibel level was pretty high - the TV was turned up and the tea cups were rattling (no lager then)! Dad and Johnny were giving the ref and the commentator good advice, John with his slight stammer and twitch - he'd been in the 8th Army, it was mild shellshock I suppose. My 9 year old self just sat there, drinking it all in.

I think there were about 15 minutes to go, Man City were 3-1 up, Bert Trautmann dived for a ball, and hit somebody's knee with his head. I can't remember if he just collapsed or whether he was rolling about. I do remember that we all went very quiet, as did the commentator, and Freda came in to see what had happened.

Anyway, no subs in those days, but we still thought he'd be stretchered off. Not Bert - he got up and played on for the last 10 minutes - with a broken neck. What a man. Here's to Bert!

Subject: RE: Obit: Bert Trautmann (July 2013)
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 05:15 PM

I was born in 56 but at junior school in salford we were shown the film of the 56 cup final several times by the headmaster. I remember Bert playing on holding his neck. A heroic performance and that admission from me a lifelong Manchester United fan.