Rolf Rüssmann

Football player infobox
playername = Rolf Rüssmann
fullname = Rolf Rüssmann
nickname = Rolli
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1950|10|13
cityofbirth = Schwelm
countryofbirth = West Germany
height = height|m=1.85
currentclub = retired
position = defender
youthyears = 1962-1969
youthclubs = FC Schwelm 06
years = 1969-1973
1973-1973
1974-1980
1980-1985
clubs = FC Schalke 04
Club Brugge
FC Schalke 04
Borussia Dortmund
caps(goals) = 105 (10)
11 (0)
199 (20)
149 (18)
nationalyears = 1977-1978
nationalteam = West Germany
nationalcaps(goals) = 20 (1)
pcupdate = June 30, 1985
ntupdate = June 30, 1985

Rolf Rüssmann (born October 13, 1950 in Schwelm, West Germany) is a former German football player.

Player bio

In 1969 FC Schalke 04 paid "FC Schwelm 06" 38,000 Deutsche Mark to sign promising stopper Rolf Rüssmann, who did not enjoy the best of starts at the Gelsenkirchen-based outfit under "Rudi Gutendorf", but then gained more regular appearances for the club and seemed destined for a successful career. A German Cup winner with FC Schalke 04 in 1972 his career was brought to a halt after evidence proved Rüssmann was one of those players of FC Schalke 04 that got bribed by Arminia Bielefeld for fixing the result of a head-to-head Bundesliga match of both clubs on April 17, 1971, for the benefit of Bielefeld. Initially Rüssmann (among other Schalke players) had controverted those claims. Rüßmann was one of the crop of players that committed perjury in the affair and got, as a consequence, punished with a fine by a court in 1975. In 1973 (and shortly in the course of the 1976-1977 season) Rüssmann was banned temporarily from club action by the German Football Association, but given the allowance for appearances in foreign leagues. So he left FC Schalke 04 in 1973 to see out his Bundesliga ban with Belgian outfit Club Brugge (11 matches, 0 goals). Returning to Schalke afterwards, Rüssmann stayed on with the club until December 1980. Cash-strapped, Schalke had to sell him to arch-rival side Borussia Dortmund at that time with Rüßmann staying on at Westfalenstadion until he retired in 1985 after 43 goals in 453 Bundesliga matches.

A respected youth international for West Germany, Rüssmann was already on the verge of a West Germany debut in 1971, but then saw his hopes ruined by his role in the match fixing "Bundesligaskandal". Six years after the scandal, he was enjoying a bright season with his club & the German Football Association had eased their restrictions concerning players involved in the scandal (see "Klaus Fischer") in the meantime, Rüssmann was re-called by Helmut Schön to debut for the West Germans in a friendly win against Yugoslavia. Steady performances lead to more call-up's and regular caps resulted in Rüssmann earning a spot in the 1978 FIFA World Cup squad of West Germany. He came to action in all six matches, but after their (early) elimination he did feature just one more time for his nation in the rest of his career. In total Rüssmann won 20 caps, scoring one goal (winning goal versus the Soviet Union).

General manager in the Bundesliga

In 1987 Rüßmann returned to FC Schalke 04 as an off-pitch authority and was general-manager of the club from February 25 to August 10, 1987. With Borussia Mönchengladbach's veteran general-manager Helmut Grashoff looking for a successor, Rüssmann started to work as assistant to Grashoff at Mönchengladbach in April 1990 and got Grashoff's replacement later on. On July 8, 1992, Rüssmann was sacked by Mönchengladbach, but re-appointed by the club in September 1992 due to a change of view inside the Mönchengladbach presidium. On November 10, 1998, Rüßmann was finally out of the door at Mönchengladbach following a complete change of environment caused by an ongoing desasterous run of results in Bundesliga since 1996. From February 1, 2001, Rüssmann was general-manager of Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, getting the sack by "Die Schwaben" in December 2002.