Wynton Rufer

Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werder Bremen, where he won a total of four major titles and finished the top scorer in the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League. He was also a member of the New Zealand national team in its first FIFA World Cup appearance in 1982. He was named the Oceania Footballer of the Century by the Oceania Football Confederation.

Club career Early career Rufer was born in Wellington to a Swiss father, Arthur Rufer, and a New Zealand Māori mother, Anne Hine Rufer (née Campbell). He affiliates to the Ngāti Porou iwi. After leaving the city's Rongotai College, he played his first football for Wellington Diamond United, Stop Out and Miramar Rangers.

After being voted New Zealand's Young Player of the Year in 1981 and 1982, Rufer attracted the attention of Norwich City manager Ken Brown, who invited the player and his older brother Shane Rufer to Norfolk for a trial. He impressed and signed a professional contract on 23 October 1981, becoming the first Kiwi to do so. However, he was denied a work permit to play in England, so he joined FC Zürich in May of the following year.

Switzerland Rufer would play in Switzerland in the following seven years, also representing FC Aarau and Grasshoppers: whilst at the former, he topped the scoring charts at 21 in the 1987–88 season, helping his club to the fourth place. With the Hoppers, he won the Swiss Cup, defeating Aarau in the final, and surpassed the 100-goal mark in his years in the country.

Werder Bremen In the 1989 summer, Rufer signed with Werder Bremen, coached by Otto Rehhagel. His Bundesliga debut came on 29 July, in a 0–0 draw at FC St. Pauli, and his impact was immediate, as he netted six times in his first 13 league matches. Overall, he would play an enormous part in the side's achievements, pairing with Klaus Allofs up front: on 6 May 1992, both scored in the final of the season's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, in Lisbon (2–0 win against Monaco).

In the 1992–93 league season, as Werder won the third championship in the club's history, Rufer finished second in the scoring charts, at 17. On 8 December 1993, he scored two against Anderlecht in the UEFA Champions League, in a 5–3 home win (Anderlecht led 3–0 with 25 minutes to go); he finished as that competition's topscorer, alongside Barcelona's Ronald Koeman, and added his second German Cup.

Later years In 1994–95, the 31-year-old left Bremen and moved to JEF United Ichihara of the J1 League, finishing as the club's leading scorer in his second year. When Rehhagel took on the task of resurrecting 1. FC Kaiserslautern's fortunes in 1996 – the club would eventually return to the top division, as champions – he called upon Rufer in February 1997, and he contributed with four goals in 14 second division matches.

Rufer returned to his country and successively represented Central United, North Shore United and Auckland Kingz, retiring at the age of nearly 40. He then founded a football coaching school, WYNRS, which produced football stars such as women's international Annalie Longo. Added late to the squad for New Zealand in their World Cup qualification campaign in 1981 and played his first World Cup qualifier on 14 December 1981 against Kuwait, aged 18, scoring in a 2–2 draw for the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Rufer quickly established himself in the All Whites side. Late in the following year, he netted the 2–1 winner in the decisive playoff against China, which propelled the nation to its first World Cup ever.

In the final stages in Spain, 19-year-old Rufer was the youngest member of the squad, appearing in all three group losses, against Scotland, the Soviet Union and Brazil. In total, he gained 23 full caps, scoring 12 goals. From 1985 to 1989, he only collected a total of five international appearances, namely due to the fact Zürich would not release him;

Personal life

During his time in Switzerland, Rufer converted to Christianity and married his wife, Lisa, in 1986. They have two sons, Caleb and Joshua, who are also footballers. His brother Shane and his nephew Alex also played professional football and played for the New Zealand national team.

Career statistics

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals Stop Out 1980

1981

1983–84

1987–88 National Soccer League

North Shore United 1997–98 National Soccer League

Swiss Cup: 1988–89 Swiss Super Cup: 1989

Werder Bremen Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1990, 1992 New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2005 He is also involved with the FIFA Ambassadors Against Racism Committee. IFFHS Legends IFFHS Oceania Men's Team of All Time: 2021