Football: Ex-BVB goalkeeper Wolfgang “Teddy” de Beer is dead

Borussia Dortmund mourns the loss of Wolfgang “Teddy” de Beer. As the Bundesliga soccer team announced on New Year’s Day, the former goalkeeper and long-time goalkeeping coach died “suddenly and unexpectedly” on Monday at the age of 60. “His death leaves us all speechless,” said BVB. De Beer leaves behind his wife Jutta and two daughters.

Born in Dinslaken, de Beer moved from MSV Duisburg to Dortmund in 1986, where he was under contract as a player until 2001 (217 competitive games). De Beer was initially the regular goalkeeper, but in the early 1990s he moved into the second line, initially behind Stefan Klos and later behind Jens Lehmann.

Following his active career, de Beer was a goalkeeper coach at Borussia before moving to fan relations in 2018. De Beer won 16 titles with Dortmund in his various roles, and he was in goal in the DFB Cup victory in 1989 in the final in Berlin. “You must have been in the right place at the right time,” de Beer once said about himself. He described himself as a “conservative dumpling” with an always positive attitude to life.

“Teddy was one of the good ones,” wrote BVB in his emotional obituary, “on the pitch, but especially off the pitch. A man to touch. Deeply grounded. With his pulse, his heart and his full attention, he is always very close to people, a good, positive listener. Someone you always wanted to be around.”