Surprised there haven't been any comments on this.
Here's an obituary for those who aren't aware of him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/19/bert-trautmannWhen Frank Swift, Manchester City's spectacular England goalkeeper, retired in 1949 after 16 distinguished years between the club's posts, it seemed inconceivable that any keeper could be found to equal him. In the event, an heir was recruited who was perhaps even superior to Swift – and who could have predicted that it would be a former German Luftwaffe paratrooper, only recently out of a prisoner of war camp, and playing for a non-league side in St Helens, a town far better known for its rugby league team? Such, however, was Bert Trautmann, who went on to make 545 appearances over 15 years for City, including an FA Cup final victory in 1956, in which he played the last minutes while suffering from a broken neck. There has scarcely been a better German goalkeeper since than Trautmann, who has died aged 89.
His background was hardly one to endear him to English fans, least of all if, like many of Manchester City's, they happened to be Jewish. Trautmann, who had been a member of the Hitler Youth, was blond and tall, with blue eyes, and looked the very picture of the ideal Aryan. As a paratrooper, he served in Russia, and his eventual autobiography, written with the Manchester Guardian journalist Eric Todd, was called Steppes to Wembley (1957).
Trautmann was born in Bremen, where his father worked in the docks, and he volunteered for the army aged 17. "Growing up in Hitler's Germany, you had no mind of your own," he told Louise Taylor of the Observer in 2010. "You didn't think of the enemy as people at first. Then, when you began taking prisoners, you heard them cry for their mother and father … When you met the enemy, he became a real person."
On the Russian front, as the Nazi forces retreated, Trautmann was blown up but survived. In France, he found himself in a bombed building buried in rubble, but once again lived to tell the tale. He was then taken by American troops and thought he would be shot, but became a prisoner of British forces and ended up in a PoW camp at Ashton-in-Makerfield, in Lancashire.
He acquired English with a Lancashire accent, and played for PoW teams. After the war ended, he declined the offer of repatriation. When City signed him from St Helens Town, their need had been exacerbated by the fact that Alec Thurlow, Swift's understudy, was ill with tuberculosis.
After Trautmann's arrival in Manchester, there were strong protests from Jewish groups, but the city's communal rabbi came out in Trautmann's favour. In very little time, Trautmann had the fans on his side as well. Not only was he big, strong and brave, he was also as friendly towards them as Swift had been.
Because he was playing in England, the Germans never capped Trautmann. They did ultimately make use of him, however, as a liaison man, on the occasion of the 1966 World Cup in England. They might even have won the final had Trautmann been in goal, in the stadium where he had played two consecutive FA Cup finals, in 1955 and 1956.
Even when City played at away grounds, Trautmann was a popular figure, applauded by the crowd behind the goal as he took up his position, smiling and thanking them. But he would not be so popular with Tottenham Hotspur fans after City beat Spurs in the 1956 FA Cup semi-finals, when he was alleged to have got away with a foul in the penalty box.
City lost the 1955 FA Cup final 3-1 to Newcastle United. They never quite got over the shock of a very early goal headed by Jackie Milburn, who had scarcely headed a goal in his career. But the following year they were back again, this time beating Birmingham City 3-1 in what was known as "the Revie final", as it was dominated by the future Leeds and England manager Don Revie, operating as a deep-lying centre-forward.
City were comfortably in command when, with around a quarter of an hour left, Peter Murphy chased a Birmingham pass into the penalty box. Trautmann rushed out, recklessly brave as ever, and dived head first for the ball. Murphy found his knee connecting with Trautmann's neck. After treatment on the field, Trautmann was not accompanied off it: substitutes were not allowed, so City would have had to continue with 10 men. Astoundingly, Trautmann somehow managed to play on in great pain; only afterwards, when he was X-rayed, was it discovered that his neck had been broken.
Trautmann received the Football Writers' Association player of the year award in 1956, the first time it had been given to a foreigner. Despite his injury, he was back in action the following season and continued with the club through to their relegation to the Second Division in 1963, retiring the following year. He had a spell managing Stockport County and returned to Germany later that decade to coach Preussen Münster. Subsequently he developed an interest in football in Africa.
He was made an OBE in 2004 for his work for Anglo-German relations and he launched his own sport-focused foundation with the same aim. An acclaimed biography, Trautmann's Journey by Catrine Clay, was published in 2010.
Trautmann, who had lived for many years near Valencia in Spain, is survived by his third wife, Marlis. He had a daughter, Freda, and three sons, Stephen, Mark and John. The last died in a road accident as a child.
• Bert (Bernhard Carl) Trautmann, goalkeeper, born 22 October 1923; died 19 July 2013
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