The German foootball museum (Deutsches Fußballmuseum) has announced eleven men’s football legends to be inducted to the newly-established Hall of Fame of German football. The eleven players will be known as the “founding eleven of the Hall of Fame” (“Gründungself der Hall of Fame”).
The jury of 26 renowned German football journalists had the opportunity to name their candidates for the Hall of Fame.
Players who retired from professional football at least five years ago were eligible as candidates.
The jury received the names of 13 goalkeepers, 30 defenders, 38 midfielders and 27 forwards in the first stage of voting, while the final shortlist included 26 players and three coaches.
The jury evaluated and discussed the shortlisted candidates in great detail and finalised the members of the founding eleven and the coach.
Goalkeeper
Sepp Maier
Defenders
Paul Breitner • Franz Beckenbauer • Andreas Brehme
Midfielders
Fritz Walter • Lothar Matthäus • Matthias Sammer • Günter Netzer
Forwards
Helmut Rahn • Gerd Müller • Uwe Seeler
Coach
Sepp Herberger
The jury will now continue their work as they shift their focus on finalising the founding eleven of women’s football.
The Hall of Fame of German football will be part of the pantheon at the German foootball museum in Dortmund. The Germany legends will be officially inducted to the Hall of Fame during a gala evening in April 2019.
Hall of Fame Jury
Alexander Laux (Hamburger Abendblatt), Alfred Draxler (Bild), Anno Hecker (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Christian Hollmann (dpa), Christian Löer (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger), Dirc Seemann (Sport1), Dirk Preiß (Stuttgarter Zeitung/Stuttgarter Nachrichten), Erich Laaser (Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten), Frederik Ahrens (Hamburger Morgenpost), Gernot Bauer (Eurosport), Gianni Costa (Rheinische Post), Jörg Jakob (kicker), Katrin Schulze (Der Tagesspiegel), Manfred Loppe (RTL), Manuel Neukirchner (Deutsches Fußballmuseum), Marco Fenske (RND), Mark Weishaupt (Saarbrücker Zeitung), Philipp Köster (11Freunde), Pit Gottschalk (Funke Sport), Ralph Durry (sid), Roman Steuer (Sky), Sabine Töpperwien (WDR-Hörfunk), Sascha Klaverkamp (Ruhr Nachrichten), Stefan Frommann (WELT/WELT am SONNTAG), Steffen Simon (WDR-Fernsehen), Thomas Fuhrmann (ZDF)