Obituary
"Teddy" de Beer: one of our own
It was the summer of 86, and Germany goalkeeper Eike Immel was on a plane to Mexico to join the national team the day after the 8-0 win in the relegation play-off match against Fortuna Köln. He would return as a World Cup runner-up, but not to Borussia Dortmund, instead to VfB Stuttgart. Rolf Meyer, 30 years old at the time, was to be promoted from back-up to number one in the BVB goal. The club began the search for a talented up-and-coming goalkeeper for the future.
He was found at MSV Duisburg.
Borussia Dortmund paid 70,000 Deutschmarks (the equivalent of around €35,000) to sign the 22-year-old Wolfgang de Beer, who had just been relegated with MSV Duisburg to the then third-tier Oberliga Nordrhein. At the start of preseason training on 1 July 1986, he timidly posed for the cameras alongside prominent new signings Frank Mill, Norbert Dickel and Thomas Helmer.
Not long afterwards, he found himself in the spotlight.
With Meyer out injured, de Beer was in goal for the league opener on 9 August 1986, when BVB drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich. They really should have won were it not for a glaring miss by Mill. It was the first of de Beer's 217 games between the sticks for BVB. The boy from Dinslaken quickly played his way into the hearts of the fans. If you asked them about their "favourite cuddly toy", the answer was always: "The teddy bear". Thanks to the young goalkeeper's saves and the goals of the forward duo Mill/Dickel, the team that had almost been relegated the previous year stormed to fourth place in the 1986/87 season. Two years later, the Black & Yellows won their first title after 23 years of hurt. On 24 June 1989, in a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen, Wolfgang ‘Teddy’ de Beer was - of course! - in the BVB goal: "That was the new beginning: We are who we are again, we can win trophies." And de Beer lifted plenty of them.
He was BVB's number one from 9 August 1986 to 31 August 1991. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld then made a change to the pecking order and put the young Stefan Klos in front of de Beer. No real complaints were ever voiced by the ousted number one. He identified as a team player. "Teddy was the glue that a team needs to be successful," said his long-time teammate and close friend Michael Zorc. As a loyal backup, ‘Teddy’ became a Bundesliga champion with BVB in 1995 and 1996, and then a Champions League and Club World Cup winner in 1997. He made his final two appearances in 1999 and 2000 to cover for Jens Lehmann after the then starting keeper was sent off. After a 0-0 draw away to Hamburger SV, de Beer, already 35 years old at the time, said: "I couldn't make a mistake. I didn't receive any shots on goal."
Although he was a Black & Yellow through and through, he remained in his hometown of Dinslaken throughout his 38 years at the club. Initially, he drove along the A2 motorway in a yellow Beetle, later he took the same route "with a bit more horsepower". He needed those 40 minutes in the morning and the 40 minutes in the evening to wind down.
Seven years ago, he shared a few things about himself in the members' magazine "Borussia”. "You must have been in the right place at the right time," he said at the time with a laugh, describing himself as a “humble dumpling” who always had a “positive attitude to life”. And he emphasised: "I still look after my things, stay calm, enjoy making new friends, but still have my old friends today." You could probably never argue with Teddy, at least not for long, his character was too even-tempered, his attitude too positive. His glass was "always half full". And no journey was too far for him, no job too stressful.
Boris Rupert
