Willi Lippens

Last updated

Willi Lippens
Nederlands elftal tegen elftal van in Nederland voetballende buitenlanders Will, Bestanddeelnr 924-1297.jpg
"Ente" Lippens in 1970
Personal information
Full name Willem Gerard Lippens
Date of birth (1945-11-10) 10 November 1945 (age 77)
Place of birth Bedburg-Hau, Niederrhein, Germany
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1966–1976 Rot-Weiss Essen 172 (89)
1976–1979 Borussia Dortmund 70 (13)
1979 Dallas Tornado 25 (15)
1979–1981 Rot-Weiss Essen 67 (23)
1981–1982 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2 (0)
Total336(140)
International career
1971 Netherlands 1 (1)
Managerial career
1998 Rot-Weiss Essen
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Willem Gerard "Willi" Lippens (born 10 November 1945) is a former football player. [1] He is nicknamed "Ente" (German for "duck") due to his waddling. [2] Born in Germany, he represented the Netherlands national team.

Contents

Born near the German-Dutch border to a Dutch father and a German mother, Lippens spent most of his career playing for German clubs. He played for Rot-Weiss Essen from 1965 to 76 and in 1980–81. Between 1976 and 1979 he played for Borussia Dortmund before leaving to play one season for the Dallas Tornado in the NASL (North American Soccer League).

Lippens played in 242 Bundesliga matches, scoring 92 goals, [3] making him the player who appeared most often for Rot-Weiss at that level of play, as well as their top scorer. Lippens also played an international match for the Netherlands, [4] making him one of eight Dutch football players to have been selected for the Netherlands national team while never having played in the Dutch Eredivisie. The other capped players are Jordi Cruyff, Jerrel Hasselbaink, Rob Reekers, Wim Hofkens, Nathan Aké, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah.

Lippens, who spoke only very basic Dutch, is the only native German-speaker ever to have played for the Dutch national team. Lippens received several invitations to join the German national selection as well, but always declined as his Dutch father had forbidden him to play for Germany. Lippens has said that he would have liked to have played for Germany, but that his respect for his father, and the experiences his family lived through during the Second World War outweighed this. [5]

Lippens was known for his imaginative footwork, which earned him the nickname Ente (Duck), and was a fan favorite because of his irreverent good humour. One particular anecdote about Lippens has become a cliché in German football culture: A referee once gave Lippens a yellow card, saying: Ich verwarne Ihnen! ("I'm warning you!"), in defective German grammar, using a dative pronoun instead of accusative. Lippens replied: Herr Schiedsrichter, ich danke Sie! ("Sir, I thank You!"), sarcastically using an accusative pronoun instead of a correct dative this time. Lippens was immediately sent off by the referee. [6]

Career statistics

Related Research Articles

The 1966–67 Bundesliga was the fourth season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 20 August 1966 and ended on 3 June 1967. 1860 Munich were the defending champions.

The 1976–77 Bundesliga was the 14th season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 14 August 1976 and ended on 21 May 1977. Borussia Mönchengladbach were the defending champions.

The 1969–70 Bundesliga was the seventh season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 16 August 1969 and ended on 3 May 1970. Bayern Munich were the defending champions.

The 1970–71 Bundesliga was the eighth season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 15 August 1970 and ended on 5 June 1971. Borussia Mönchengladbach were the defending champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Mill</span> German former professional footballer (born 1958)

Frank Mill is a German former professional footballer who was a member of the 1990 FIFA World Cup winning squad of West Germany. Further, he participated at the 1984 and at the 1988 Summer Olympics, where he won the bronze medal with the West German team.

Herbert "Budde" Burdenski, was a German football player and coach.

Dennis Brinkmann is a German football coach and former professional player who played as a right-back.

Manfred "Manni" Burgsmüller was a German professional footballer who played mainly as a striker; he also occasionally operated as a midfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastian Tyrała</span> Polish footballer

Sebastian Tyrała is a Polish former professional footballer. He played primarily as an attacking midfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uwe Neuhaus</span> German footballer and manager

Uwe Neuhaus is a German retired football player and manager who last managed Arminia Bielefeld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Günter Kutowski</span> German footballer and agent

Günter Kutowski is a German retired professional footballer who played as a defender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sören Pirson</span> German footballer

Sören Pirson is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Koch</span> German footballer

Julian Koch is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

The 1976–77 season was the second occasion on which Tennis Borussia Berlin played in the Bundesliga, the highest tier of the German football league system. After 34 league games, Tennis Borussia ended up in 17th position as they had done two seasons previously. Second from the bottom of the table, they only finished one place above Rot-Weiss Essen due to a better goal difference. As in the previous season, the club reached the third round of the DFB-Pokal; this time losing 5–1 away to the season's eventual cup winners 1. FC Köln. Swedish striker Benny Wendt scored 20 of the club's 47 league goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Eisfeld</span> German footballer (born 1993)

Thomas Eisfeld is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for 3. Liga club Rot-Weiss Essen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadion an der Hafenstraße</span> Stadium in Essen, Germany.

Stadion an der Hafenstraße, known as Stadion Essen until 2022, is a stadium in Essen, Germany. Located in the borough of Bergeborbeck, it has a capacity of 20,650 spectators. It is the home of Rot-Weiss Essen in the third-level men's 3. Liga and SGS Essen in the women's Frauen-Bundesliga and replaced Georg-Melches-Stadion.

Jürgen Rynio is a German retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Gelsenkirchen, Rynio played in the Bundesliga for Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Nürnberg, Borussia Dortmund, Rot-Weiss Essen, FC St. Pauli and Hannover 96, appearing in over 450 games in the top two tiers of German football during his career.

The Western German Cup was a cup competition organised by the Western German Football Association, which was played from the 1949–50 season up to the 1973–74 season. The best teams then qualified for the following season of the DFB-Pokal. In the years 1954 to 1960, only the Western German Cup winner participated in the DFB-Pokal. In the 1954–55 season, there was no competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janni Serra</span> German footballer

Janni-Luca Serra is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danish Superliga club AGF.

Jan Siewert is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He became the Academy Manager at Mainz 05 in July 2020.

References

  1. "Die Legende mit Plattfüßen" [Legend with flatfeet] (in German). reviersport.de. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  2. "Willi (Ente) Lippens" (in German). mitten-im-pott.de. 29 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  3. Matthias Arnhold (31 July 2014). "Willem Lippens - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  4. "Deutschland - Niederlande - Ente Lippens: "Lieber reich und gesund als arm und krank"" [Germany - Netherland - Ente Lippens: "Better rich and healthy than poor and sick"] (in German). holland-news.de. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  5. Andere Tijden Sport, 6-June 2010
  6. "Das Genie aus der Kaufhalle" [The Genius from the Mall] (in German). reviersport.de. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2010.