Cause of death unknown

Cologne cult coach Hannes Linßen found dead!

Johannes "Hannes" Linßen (1995)(Bild: Jürgen Fromme / dpa Picture Alliance / picturedesk.com)

Soccer Germany is mourning the loss of a footballer, coach and official who became a legend in Cologne in particular: Johannes Linßen has died at the age of 76! Despite playing 113 Bundesliga games for MSV Duisburg, the man who was always known as "Hannes" made a name for himself at second division club Fortuna Köln and 1. FC Köln - Linßen was coach at both clubs. Nothing is known about the cause of death ...

Linßen played 332 competitive matches for the smaller of the two Cologne clubs. He soon became a cult figure, mainly because of his thinning hair - no obituary in the German media is complete without a quote from TV commentator Rolf Töpperwien, who once described the footballer as follows: "That's Hannes Linßen, who always has a stormy hairstyle, no matter what the weather is like."

Of course, the defensive midfielder and his Fortuna were never granted great success - Fortuna, the goddess of luck, always gave the team a wide berth both in terms of promotion and in the DFB Cup. This was also the case on June 11, 1983, when Fortuna met their great city rivals 1. FC Köln in the cup final - and lost 1:0.

Dream of promotion shattered by Borussia Dortmund
Soon after his playing career ended, Linßen continued as a coach - again at Fortuna Köln, of course. And in this constellation, promotion to the Bundesliga was suddenly within reach via the relegation play-off in May 1986. As third in the second division, they had to play the third-last team in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund: After a 2:0 home win and a 1:3 in Dortmund, there was a deciding match - and this was lost 0:8 ...

Between July 1990 and February 1993, Linßen was also assistant coach at 1. FC Köln, and even interim head coach at the "Geißböcken" for one match, before returning to Fortuna Köln from summer 1993 to the end of October 1995. After a stopover as coach at FC Gütersloh, he then took over the post of sports director at FC Köln between July 1998 and February 2002. On a Carnival Monday, of all days, which was so important for Cologne, Linßen said goodbye to the club at the height of a crisis - and to being an official in professional soccer ...