Hans Tilkowski

Hans Tilkowski (12 July 1935 – 5 January 2020) was a German football player and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for West Germany, and was a member of the team that lost the 1966 World Cup final to England.

Career Born 1935 in Husen, Dortmund, Tilkowski started football at age 11 with SV Husen 19, originally as a right winger. He switched to the goalkeeper position and joined SuS Kaiserau in 1949. He started his professional career with the team in 1952, then joined Westfalia Herne in 1955. With Herne, he won the Oberliga West in 1959. His next team was Borussia Dortmund. From 1963 to 1967 he played 81 times in the West German Bundesliga for Dortmund. Tilkowski won the DFB-Pokal with Dortmund in 1965

Tilkowski debuted for the West Germany national team in 1957. The team would lose the final 4–2 to the hosts. The final was remembered as English forward Geoff Hurst scored his controversial second goal en route to a hat-trick. In the 101st minute, 11 minutes into the extra time, Hurst's shot hit the crossbar, the ball then bounced on the ground before being cleared by defender Wolfgang Weber. The goal was given by referee Gottfried Dienst after consultation with linesman Tofiq Bahramov, giving England a 3–2 lead. Photographic evidence would later show that the ball did not cross the line. He played for West Germany another year, before being superseded in the national team by Sepp Maier.

He later took up coaching, taking charge of 1. FC Nürnberg, Werder Bremen and AEK Athens, among other clubs. Tilkowski was born in Dortmund on 12 July 1935. His father, a miner, was descended from the many workers who had left Poland to seek work in the industries of the Ruhr.

Tilkowski grew up in straitened circumstances. He enjoyed boxing as a boy, and he initially played football as a winger before finding his calling when his team lacked a goalkeeper. He became an apprentice locksmith, then joined Westfalia Herne in 1955.

In June 1959, he married Luise; they had two sons and one daughter.

Tilkowski died on 5 January 2020 at age 84 after a long illness.

Honours Borussia Dortmund DFB-Pokal: 1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1965–66 Bundesliga runner-up: 1965–66

West Germany FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1966

Individual Footballer of the Year (Germany): 1965