Olaf Seier

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Olaf Seier
Olaf Seier 1989.jpg
Seier with Union Berlin in 1989
Personal information
Date of birth (1958-11-25) 25 November 1958 (age 64)
Place of birth Rostock, Bezirk Rostock, East Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1970–1972 SG Dynamo Rostock-Mitte
1972–1980 BFC Dynamo
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1979–1983 BFC Dynamo 35 (4)
1983–1991 Union Berlin 196 (40)
1991–1994 Caracas
1994–1995 1. FC Lübars
1995–1997 SV Preußen Berlin
1997–1998 Weißenseer FC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Olaf Seier (born 25 November 1958) is a German retired football player who became famous as a midfielder for 1. FC Union Berlin during the 1980s.

Contents

Career

Olaf Seier, nicknamed "Leo" due to his long lion-like hair, started playing football with the Rostock based sports community SG Dynamo Rostock-Mitte (de) in 1970. He then joined the youth academy of football club BFC Dynamo in 1972, where he went through all age groups. Seier eventually achieved a place in first team of BFC Dynamo and made his first appearance with the first team of BFC Dynamo away against ASG Vorwärt Kemens in the second round of the 1979–80 FDGB-Pokal on 19 October 1979. He then made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga during the second half of the 1979–80 season. Seier would then make his international debut for BFC Dynamo in the 1980–81 European Cup.

Seier had relatives in West Berlin, which would prove problematic for his career. He made several appearances with the first team of BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga, but would regularly be excluded from international matches. The official explanation for his exclusion was that he was too young and inexperienced. [1] But another possible reason may have been that he was viewed as a risk by sports officials because of his relatives in the West. Seier claims that he had learned from behind the backs that people were afraid that he might defect. [1]

Seier wanted to change club. He came at odds with the sports officials and was eventually threatened with a lifetime ban from playing in the top two tiers by a SED party secretary. [1] With the help of the former BFC Dynamo coach Harry Nippert, he was allowed to change to 1. FC Union Berlin in 1983. [1] Nippert was the coach of Union Berlin in the 1982–83 season. Seier played 35 matches in the DDR-Oberliga and scored four goals in the league until his last season with BFC Dynamo. He also made four appearances for BFC Dynamo in the European Cup. Seier became three times East German champion with BFC Dynamo.

Seier made his debut for Union Berlin in the DDR-Oberliga in 1983. Although he came from the traditional arch-enemy, he slowly became popular among his new fans. Already during his first days with Union Berlin he dominated the way the team played. His first season was marked by bad luck for Union Berlin, and the team was relegated to the DDR-Liga. The team achieved promotion back to the DDR-Oberliga one year later and eventually finished the 1985–86 DDR-Oberliga in 7th place.

Seier went to play for Caracas in Venezuela after German reunification. He returned home and played for the Berlin club 1. FC Lübars at the beginning of the 1994–95 season. [2]

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The history of BFC Dynamo began with the founding of the sports club Dynamo Berlin in 1954. SC Dynamo Berlin entered the 1954–55 DDR-Oberliga after taking over the first team of SG Dynamo Dresden and its place in the league. The relocation was designed to provide the East German capital with a competitive team that could rival the teams from West Berlin. Prominent players in the team were Günter Schröter, Johannes Matzen, and Herbert Schoen. Dynamo Berlin captured its first trophy in the 1959 FDGB-Pokal. The team then finished the 1960 DDR-Oberliga as runner-up. However, the team was relatively weak in the 1960s and was overshadowed in the capital by ASK Vorwärts Berlin.

The 1989–90 season was tumultuous for BFC Dynamo. The East German regime faltered and parts of the Berlin Wall were opened on 9 November 1989. Forward Andreas Thom became the first player in the DDR-Oberliga to leave for the West German Bundesliga. The dismantling of the champion team from the 1980s was now well underway. The Stasi was dissolved and the club thus lost a major sponsor. The East German Ministry of the Interior declared that it was only prepared to support the club until the end of the 1989–90 season. The club changed its name to FC Berlin on 19 February 1990, in an attempt to distance the club from the Stasi. The number of spectators dropped drastically. FC Berlin finished the 1989-90 DDR-Oberliga in fourth place and failed for the first time to qualify for a European competition. Also Thomas Doll, Frank Rohde and Rainer Ernst left for the Bundesliga after the season.

BFC Dynamo finished the 2003–04 Verbandsliga Berlin in first place and won promotion back to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. Mario Weinkauf was elected as the new club president on 18 June 2004. His vision was a club that was "managed seriously from a sporting and financial perspective". Former professional player Christian Backs became the new coach for the 2004–05 season. Rajko Fijalek served as assistant coach and former professional goalkeeper Bodo Rudwaleit as goalkeeping coach. Central players in the team were Danny Kukulies, Tomasz Suwary, Jörn Lenz, Nico Thomaschewski and Robert Rudwaleit. BFC Dynamo finished is first season in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord, since returning from the insolvency crisis, in sixth place.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Gartenschläger, Lars (2 November 2009). ""Fußballer gehörten quasi zur gehobenen Gesellschaft"". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Berlin: Berliner Morgenpost GmbH. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  2. ↑ „Stadiongeflüster“ Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Article in the Berlin-based daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung, of 20 December 1995.
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