Jürgen Neumann

Jürgen Neumann (6 December 1941 – 25 December 2002) was a German footballer. He played as a midfielder for 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Arminia Bielefeld within Germany throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He also played abroad for FC Zürich in Switzerland and Daring Club Bruxelles in Belgium.

Club career Career with Kaiserslautern (1959–1966) Emerging from 1. FC Kaiserslautern's youth sector, Neumann made his debut during the 1959–60 Oberliga within the same team that contained veterans of the 1954 FIFA World Cup such as Horst Eckel and Werner Liebrich with Neumann immediately finding himself within the Starting XI of the club. He made his debut on 16 August 1959 in an away match against Eintracht Bad Kreuznach at the age of 17. His debut season saw Neumann play in 27 matches with four goals scored across the Oberliga Südwest with Kaiserslautern finishing 5th that season. The following two seasons saw remarkable improvement as Kaiserslautern reached 4th place two times in a row. Neumann's second season also saw Kaiserslautern reach the final of the 1960–61 DFB-Pokal in spite of losing against Werder Bremen on 13 September 1961. The following 1962–63 Oberliga saw Neumann only miss one matchday as he contributed 12 goals in the club winning the Oberliga Südwest that season against their rivals Borussia Neunkirchen, FK Pirmasens and Wormatia Worms. The penultimate 1963 German football championship saw Neumann play in all six matches against Hertha BSC, 1. FC Nuremberg and 1. FC Köln with Köln ultimately going on to the final.

Due to the club's success in the Oberliga, they were a founding member of the inaugural 1963–64 Bundesliga with Neumann becoming indispensable within the team as he made 29 appearances with six goals. He had also been a part of the club's very first Starting XI for their very first Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 1–1 draw on 24 August 1963 with Neumann himself scoring the 1–0 lead at the 38th minute through a converted penalty. Throughout the mid-1960s, Kaiserslautern fought to remain in the new top-flight of German football. Following the arrival of Bayern Munich during the 1965–66 Bundesliga, Neumann played his final match for Die roten Teufel in a 2–1 home victory on 23 April 1966 with Neumann being sent off in the 38th minute. Despite being pardoned on 20 August 1976, because he failed to pay his fine, got his player license revoked on 11 December 1978.