Schonhofer Helmut Obituary, Death – Died peacefully at home on April 9, 2023. At 79. Loves Barbara. Never forgotten. Helmut was cremated privately as requested. RIP Helmut. Barbara, we’re sorry. Remembering you. Kind regards, Sonia, Bruce. This tall, polite guy in a vicious sport is the second renowned football manager to die of Alzheimer’s disease in a month, after Liverpool’s Bob Paisley. Schon’s players respected and admired him. “He was a man who only saw the good in players and people in general,” stated German national team coach Berti Vogts, who played for Schon’s winning teams.
He was my favorite and most accomplished trainer.” Schon’s record stands apart. He coached West Germany from November 1964 to June 1978. Germany was World Cup runners-up to England in 1966, third in 1970, victors in 1974, European champions in 1972, and runners-up in 1976. 87 victories, 31 draws, 21 losses. Franz Beckenbauer, the world’s greatest constructive defender, was one of West Germany’s most dynamic players under his guidance. Gerd Muller, Wolfgang Overath, Jupp Heynckes, and Sepp Maier (injured in 1966) were others.
Schon was Dresden-born, not West German. His father, an art dealer, did not support his “working-class” football dreams. A compromise was struck. Helmut worked as a bank clerk while developing into a top Dresden inside left before a knee injury ended his career with Hertha Berlin. He scored in his international debut in 1937. He studied coaching and became the trainer of the Soviet-occupied east zone’s national team in 1949. He fled to the West in 1950 and worked for several clubs until becoming Sepp Herberger’s assistant in 1956.