Peter Meyer (footballer, born 1940)

This article is about the footballer born in 1940 who played as a striker. For the goalkeeper born in 1942, see Peter Meyer (footballer, born 1942). For other people with the same name, see Peter Meyer (disambiguation).

Peter Meyer
Meyer in 1967
Personal information
Date of birth (1940-02-18)18 February 1940
Place of birth Düsseldorf, Gau Düsseldorf, Germany
Date of death 11 February 2026(2026-02-11) (aged 85)
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position Striker
Youth career
Wersten 04
TuRU Düsseldorf
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1960–1967 Fortuna Düsseldorf 174 (119)
1967–1970 Borussia Mönchengladbach 19 (19)
VfL 06 Benrath
Düsseldorfer SC Viktoria 02
International career
1967 Germany 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Peter Meyer (18 February 1940 – 11 February 2026)[1] was a German professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent eight seasons in the Bundesliga with Fortuna Düsseldorf and Borussia Mönchengladbach.[2] He also represented Germany once, in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier against Albania.

Career

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Meyer started his career at Wersten 04 and TuRU Düsseldorf before joining Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1960.[3] He played in the 1961–62 DFB-Pokal final with the club, losing 2–1 to 1. FC Nürnberg. In 1966, he helped Fortuna reach the Bundesliga for the first time, scoring twice in a 5–1 victory against Kickers Offenbach in the Aufstiegsrunde, securing the club's promotion on goal average. He appeared 25 times and scored eight goals during the following season in the Bundesliga, but could not prevent Fortuna from being relegated at the end of the campaign. Meyer was not offered a new contract following Fortuna's relegation, and was free to look for a new club.[4] With a total of 119 goals in 174 league games between 1960 and 1967, he was the club's record goalscorer at the time of his death in 2026.[5][6]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

After initially agreeing terms with MSV Duisburg, Meyer opted to sign for Borussia Mönchengladbach after being persuaded to join the club by Günter Netzer, who showed up at the car workshop that Meyer worked at.[4] He debuted on 19 August 1967 against Schalke 04, scoring a hat trick in a 4–3 away win, and went on to score 19 goals for the club in the first half of the 1967–68 Bundesliga season. He was subsequently selected by Helmut Schön to play for West Germany in their decisive Euro 1968 qualification match against Albania in Tirana. West Germany failed to qualify after drawing the match 0–0, and the game became known as the "Disgrace of Tirana".[7]

Injury and retirement

In January 1968, during a training match played in Duisburg, Meyer broke his tibia and fibula following a collision with his own goalkeeper Volker Danner. Meyer never fully recovered from the injury, and required a second operation after returning to training too soon after the incident.[4] He made a brief comeback in August 1969, starting in a league match against Bayern Munich, but was substituted at half-time, and never made another appearance in the Bundesliga.[8] He left the club at the end of the 1969–70 season and dropped into amateur football in his home city of Düsseldorf, joining VfL Benrath in the Verbandsliga Niederrhein,[9] followed by Düsseldorfer SC Viktoria 02 before deciding to retire.[5]

Death

Meyer died in February 2026, at the age of 85.[10]

Honours

References

  1. ^ Peter Meyer (in German)
  2. ^ "Meyer, Peter" (in German). Kicker. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Peter Meyer wird 65 – Fortunas ehemaliger Rekordstürmer feiert Jubiläum" (in German). Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein 1895 e.V. 17 February 2005. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Hesse-Lichtenberger, Uli (10 February 2009). "Hoffenheim suffer the curse of Meyer". ESPN. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  5. ^ a b Mai, Theo (18 February 2010). "Draufgänger mit großem Torinstinkt". DerWesten (in German). WAZ New Media GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. ^ Hermanns, Stefan (12 February 2026). "Fast so gut wie Müller, Kane und Lewandowski Zum Tod des früheren Nationalstürmers Peter Meyer". Tagesspeigel (in German). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  7. ^ Hackett, Robin (7 October 2010). "Euro qualification shocks". ESPN. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  8. ^ Grulke, Thomas (28 January 2013). "Peter Meyer: das Schlitzohr, das von der Eckfahne traf". RP Online (in German). Rheinische Post Mediengruppe. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Keine Feier ohne Meyer". Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach GmbH. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Fortuna trauert um Peter Meyer". f95.de, 11 February 2026 (in German). Retrieved 11 February 2026.

Bibliography

  • Bitter, Jürgen: Deutschlands Fußball-Nationalspieler: das Lexikon. SVB Sportverlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00749-0, pp. 314 f.
  • Homann, Ulrich (Hrsg.): Höllenglut an Himmelfahrt. Die Geschichte der Aufstiegsrunden zur Fußballbundesliga 1963–1974. Klartext, Essen 1990, ISBN 3-88474-346-5.
  • Karn, Christian; Reinhard Rehberg: Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs. Band 9: Spielerlexikon 1963–1994. Bundesliga, Regionalliga, 2. Liga. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2012, ISBN 978-3-89784-214-4, p. 338.
  • Landefeld, Harald; Achim Nöllenheidt (Hrsg.): Helmut, erzähl mich dat Tor... Neue Geschichten und Porträts aus der Oberliga West 1947–1963. Klartext, Essen 1993, ISBN 3-88474-043-1.
  • Weinrich, Matthias: Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs. Band 3: 35 Jahre Bundesliga. Teil 1. Die Gründerjahre 1963–1975. Geschichten, Bilder, Aufstellungen, Tabellen. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1998, ISBN 3-89784-132-0.
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