Uwe Seeler

Uwe Seeler

Uwe Seeler in 2016
Personal information
Date of birth	(1936-11-05) 5 November 1936 (age 80)
Place of birth	Hamburg, Germany
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1946–1953	Hamburger SV
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1953–1972	Hamburger SV	476	(404)
1978	Cork Celtic	1	(2)
Total		477	(406)
National team
1953–1954	West Germany U-18	10	(15)
1954–1970	West Germany	72	(43)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Uwe Seeler (born 5 November 1936) is a former German footballer and football official. He played for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West German national team. Usually regarded as one of the greatest players in German football history, in 2004, he was named as one of FIFA's 125 greatest living players, by Pelé. His grandson, Levin Öztunalı, is also a professional footballer.

Seeler followed in his father's footsteps as a player for Hamburger SV, making his first team debut in 1954 in a DFB-Pokal match, aged just under 18, scoring four goals (8–2 vs. Holstein Kiel). In later years, despite tempting offers from Italian and Spanish clubs, he remained loyal to Hamburg, working on a second career as a merchant besides playing football.

Seeler was a gifted, powerful, and prolific striker who, among other things, was most of all renowned for his leadership, consistency, overhead kicks, and aerial ability. He scored 137 times in 239 Bundesliga games, 43 times in 72 international games for the German national team, and 21 times in 29 European club tournament games. He was captain of both his club team and the national team for many years. He and his club won the German championship in 1960 and the DFB-Pokal in 1963. He was top scorer of the first Bundesliga season in 1963–64 and German Footballer of the Year in 1960, 1964 and 1970. During the 1960–61 season, Seeler, alongside his brother Dieter, helped to lead Hamburger SV to the semi-finals of the European Cup, where they narrowly missed out on the final against Benfica, losing out to Barcelona in a play-off match. During the 1967–68 season, Seeler also helped Hamburg to reach the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, finishing the competition as top scorer, only to lose out to AC Milan.