Obituary for Manfred Kreuz: Schalke’s last champion player

AOn May 18, 1958, 85,000 spectators in the Lower Saxony Stadium in Hanover witnessed an event that no one at the time would have imagined would represent a kind of milestone: FC Schalke 04 became German football champions. In 1958 it wasn’t a global sensation like it would be today. The trophy went to Gelsenkirchen for the seventh time – but it will also be the last time for the time being. On Thursday, the club commemorated this day on a sad occasion when it announced the death of Manfred Kreuz. There is no one left from the final team from back then who can tell first-hand about Schalke’s last title triumph to date.

Kreuz, who was 90 years old, scored the 3-0 goal in the final against Hamburger SV in Hanover. Team captain Berni Klodt, who became world champion with the national team in 1954, had already given a confident Schalke team a 2-0 lead after half an hour, and Kreuz scored the final point ten minutes before the final whistle.

During the day in the tax office, in the afternoon in training at the Glückauf-kampfbahn, that’s how his career began

Kreuz’s path to the Knappen began in the mid-1950s, as the club’s historiography says: He was discovered by Ernst Kuzorra – one of the main players at Schalke Kreisel in the successful pre-war period – and the coach Edi Frühwirth at the local club SC Hassel. In 1956 the talented offensive player moved to FC Schalke. He had already started training at the tax office. At the office desk during the day and training at the Glückauf-kampfbahn in the afternoon, that’s how his career began.

Manfred Kreuz later led the team as captain through difficult Bundesliga times. Schalke emphasized in his obituary that he was distinguished by a “clear moral compass”. Apparently that didn’t apply to all Royal Blues in the still young Bundesliga. The club went through difficult times with relegation battles and scandals.

Manfred Kreuz wore the captain’s armband until 1968, when he ended his active career. 135 Oberliga and 83 Bundesliga games as well as a handful of appearances in the European Cup are recorded. He later coached the Schalke amateurs, was a member of the honorary council until 2013 and was appointed honorary captain and member of the honorary executive committee. He stayed out of public debates, but until the end Kreuz went to the stadium regularly and remained a loyal Schalke player.