Heinz Patzig

Heinz Patzig
Personal information
Date of birth	19 September 1929
Place of birth	Chemnitz, Germany
Date of death	28 March 2013 (aged 83)
Place of death	Braunschweig, Germany
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	PSV Chemnitz
Senior career*
Years	Team
1948–1950	BSG Fewa Chemnitz
1950–1954	VfB Lübeck
1954–1961	Eintracht Braunschweig
Managerial career
1963–1991	Eintracht Braunschweig (assistant)
1979	Eintracht Braunschweig (caretaker)
1983	Eintracht Braunschweig (caretaker)
1985	Eintracht Braunschweig (caretaker)
1986	Eintracht Braunschweig (caretaker)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Heinz Patzig (19 September 1929 – 28 March 2013) was a German football player and manager.

Playing career

Patzig was born in Chemnitz. Early in his career he played for Fewa Chemnitz (a predecessor club of Chemnitzer FC) in East Germany. In 1950 Patzig fled into West Germany and went on to play successfully for Oberliga Nord sides VfB Lübeck and Eintracht Braunschweig, until an injury forced him to retire in 1961.^[1]

After his playing career, Patzig worked as Eintracht Braunschweig's assistant coach for 27 straight seasons, from 1963 to 1991,^[2] under managers such as Helmuth Johannsen, Otto Knefler, Branko Zebec, Uli Maslo, Aleksandar Ristić, and others. The biggest success during his time as an assistant came in 1967, when Eintracht won the Bundesliga. Four times Patzig took over as caretaker manager: in 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1986. In total, he was the team's head coach for 15 Bundesliga and 13 2. Bundesliga games.

Patzig died on 28 March 2013, at the age of 83.^[3]^[4]

^ "Interview with Heinz Patzig" (in German). wirsindeintracht.de. Retrieved 21 April 2012.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Heinz Patzig – der ewige Co-Trainer" (in German). Braunschweiger Zeitung. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
^ Fröhlich, Thomas (2 April 2013). "Eintracht trauert um den „ewigen Co-Trainer" Heinz Patzig" [Eintracht mourns the death of "eternal assistant coach" Heinz Patzig]. Braunschweiger Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 5 September 2023.
^ "Heinz Patzig verstorben" (in German). eintracht.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2013.