Karl-Heinz “Kalli” Feldkamp spent over 35 years as a coach on the sidelines and led 1. FC Kaiserslautern to the championship and DFB Cup victory, among others. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, long-time companions paid tribute to the “person of trust and respect”.
Still in top shape despite being 90 years old: Karl-Heinz Feldkamp. imago images / Christian Schroedter
Rudi Bommer…
… played for Bayer 05 Uerdingen under Feldkamp from 1985 to 1987:
“I have many great memories of Kalli – and I’m very happy that he’s still in top shape. He was a person we respected, but also someone we trusted. Whether it was sporting or private, you could discuss any problem openly with him and always be sure that it would stay in the dressing room and not be used against you. Kalli would never have made a personal name for himself at the expense of a player or the team.
Karl-Heinz Feldkamp turns 90
What was characteristic of him as a football coach was that he placed great value on a central axis, from the goalkeeper to the centre forward. I later took this as a guide as well. He was a motivator who could do all kinds of things. During our legendary 7:3 win with Uerdingen against Dresden, he remained very level-headed when the score was 1:3 at half-time. His order to us was that we should not fall apart completely. That worked out quite well.”
He was a groundbreaking trainer for me.
Friedhelm Funkel …
… played from 1980 to 1982 for 1. FC Kaiserslautern and from 1984 to 1987 for Bayer 05 Uerdingen under Feldkamp – including the DFB Cup victory in 1985.
“I could talk about Kalli for hours. He is an outstanding personality with an incredible ability to relate to people. The way he treated players, motivated them, got them excited and showed emotions, but never forgot his humanity – that was really admirable. I really learned a lot from him in the five years that I was able to work with him. He was a pioneering coach for me. No matter what situation we were in, he always kept his composure. He always tried to move forward in a positive way.
To this day, he is a role model for me when it comes to getting older. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see each other at the cup final in Berlin, which I found very unfortunate, but we spoke on the phone straight after and agreed on one thing: I will visit him in Marbella sometime this year. We will play tennis there, which he still does two or three times a week. That’s fantastic, actually unbelievable at his age. I’m looking forward to being able to fulfill his wish of playing against me.”
Wolfgang Funkel …
… played from 1984 to 1987 for Bayer 05 Uerdingen and from 1991 to 1992 for 1. FC Kaiserslautern under Feldkamp – including the DFB Cup victory in 1985.
“I met Karl-Heinz Feldkamp again by chance at the cup final in Berlin. It was sensational – after so many years. Feldkamp was my first coach in the professional sector after he brought me to Uerdingen in 1984 when I was 26. He had already been through a lot at the time and had an aura, which is why I always looked up to him – even though he is smaller than me.
Feldkamp had a lot of fire in his gut, was a real fighter and always had one foot on the field during games. When he did say something, the dressing room immediately became quiet, but overall it was always easy to have a discussion with him – although of course it is always easy when things are going well, which is what happened in Uerdingen.
Before the games, the players always slept in the team hotel, but Feldkamp then drove home to his wife in the evening. We often took advantage of this and went to the disco downstairs in the hotel for an hour. I don’t know if he knew that, but he didn’t check it either.
I followed him to Kaiserslautern in 1991, and a year later he even wanted to take me to Galatasaray in Istanbul. But Kaiserslautern wouldn’t let me go. I don’t know if I would have followed him, but the time I spent with him was really great and I’m very happy that he’s still so fit today.”
As a player, I sometimes cursed him for his training. As a coach, I later realized: Kalli had done everything right
Wolfgang Wolf …
… played under Feldkamp at 1. FC Kaiserslautern from 1978 to 1982.
“Kalli Feldkamp made me a professional in Kaiserslautern, I owe everything to him. And it is an honour for me to be such good friends with him and his wife Helma to this day. We still see each other several times a year. As a player, I sometimes cursed him for his training. As a coach, I later realised that Kalli had done everything right. Not just in terms of sport, but also in terms of human interaction. He was a person we absolutely respected and trusted.
Our game of the year was of course the 5-0 win with FCK against Real Madrid in the 1982 UEFA Cup quarter-finals. Kalli had us train at 10 a.m. – one hour of man-to-man play all over the pitch. We were so exhausted that we couldn’t even eat a proper lunch. In the evening he said very little: “Show them that we are FCK. Go out and eat them up.” He also wrote a number on the board – our bonus for progressing. We went all out from the start – high pressing, as we would say today. And we really did eat up Real. The success proved Kalli right, as so often.”
2024-06-02 09:05:20
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