Helmut Schon was used to the spotlight, but this was an altogether different occasion. Illuminated in the front row of an otherwise darkened auditorium, the veteran West Germany coach sat, arms crossed with an expression somewhere between bemusement and confusion.
To the left sat his wife Annelies, who appeared even less sure of the moment as the famed Austrian crooner, Udo Jurgens – winner of the 1966 Eurovision contest – serenaded the pair.
Just a couple of weeks earlier, Schon had finally hung up his famed hat at the end of a 14-year stint at the helm of the national team and now Jurgens’ whimsical tribute was playing out to a huge live audience, with ‘The Tall Man’ front and centre.
So they have you on the sidelines
Probably seen it a hundred times
But soon there will be someone else
Stand in your place
The man in the hat goes home
And he takes our respect with him
The applause that evening was continuous and certainly merited at the culmination of a career that had taken the Dresden-born tactician to four consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup
. A journey through England, Mexico, his homeland and then Argentina that ended with Schon having overseen 25 matches, winning 16, both of which still stand as unrivalled achievements.
It could have been very different though. Having served an eight-year apprenticeship under the iconic Sepp Herberger, Schon took over from his mentor in November 1964 but a wobbly draw against Sweden in qualification for England 1966, as well as a run of three defeats in four friendlies, had the German public and press on his back. It also left the team needing a positive result in the return tie with Sweden to effectively qualify for the World Cup. There, Schon gambled by including an unfit Uwe Seeler, with the striker responding by grabbing the winner to book their passage to England.
That was the start of a run of wild success for ‘The Tall Man’ that saw West Germany top their group, thrash Uruguay and ease past Soviet Union before falling to the hosts in a classic Wembley final.
England v Germany FR | Final | 1966 FIFA World Cup England | Extended Highlights
Watch the extended highlights from the match between England and Germany FR played at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday, 30 July 1966.
The Germans would earn a measure of revenge four years later as they pipped England in the Mexico 1970 quarter-finals, before they fell at the hands of Italy in the last four in what became known as ‘The Game of the Century.’
Heading into the home World Cup, then, the pressure was immense. Schon responded by doing a blitz of pre-tournament media where he looked to absorb the pressure and deflect it from a squad that still contained the likes of Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, Jupp Heynckes and Gerd Muller, all either in or approaching their thirties.
As he once quipped, “The problem for all international managers is not that they cling to great players, but that great players cling to them.”
The only blip through the half a dozen first and second group-stage matches was a 1-0 loss to neighbouring East Germany as they marched through to the final against an imperious Netherlands outfit. There, those greats stood up and delivered, notably Muller, who scored the winner in what was to be his final national-team appearance.
Approaching 60, Schon was asked if that would be also be his swansong. “I don’t think about the future, only the next match,” he replied. Sure enough, when West Germany touched down in Argentina they did so with ‘The Tall Man’ in charge.
There was a sense, though, that he also knew that his time in charge was perhaps drawing to a close, remarking pre-tournament on the growing toll that the game had been taking on him.
“The World Cups of 1958 and 1962 were garden parties compared with what is involved now, with the pressures that have developed,” he said. “The increase in pressure seems continuous from one competition to the next. In 1966 it was already terrific, in 1970 it was worse, in 1974 still more terrible, and now it is almost completely out of hand.
“In nearly all countries football is the most popular sport, and today the media bring it to the masses and bring the demands of the masses back to those working in the game. Football has become almost a kind of war.”
A battle was what Schon’s side found in South America, a pair of scoreless draws against Poland and debutants Tunisia seeing them stumble into the second round, where their title defence would end. Further stalemates, against Italy and the Netherlands, were below expectation but a defeat at the hands of Austria was what ultimately undid them.
It was little surprise, then, that ‘The Man in the Hat’ called time on his remarkable career at the conclusion of that match, his 25th at the global finals. What had started in Sheffield in 1966 with a win against Switzerland had ended in Cordoba a dozen years down the line at the hands of Austria.
Makes you wonder then when Schon was thinking on his return for that final musical farewell, delivered by the Austrian balladeer Jurgens.
It’s been a long time and now it’s over
We’re all sorry about that
The long time of the tall one is over
The man in the hat goes home
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