Name: Gerhard Welz



Country: Germany
Club: 1. FC Köln (1971-1975)
Position: *GK
Side: RF/BS
Age: 27-28 years (01/02/1945)

Height: 183 cm
Weight: 80 kg


Attack: 30
Defence: 84
Balance: 82
Stamina: 62
Top Speed: 65
Acceleration: 68
Response: 88
Agility: 74
Dribble Accuracy: 49
Dribble Speed: 53
Short Pass Accuracy: 60
Short Pass Speed: 60
Long Pass Accuracy: 62
Long Pass Speed: 64
Shot Accuracy: 44
Shot Power: 83
Shot Technique: 44
Free Kick Accuracy: 44
Curling: 45
Header: 45
Jump: 85
Technique: 48
Aggression: 52
Mentality: 80
Goalkeeper Skills: 83
Team Work: 73

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 4
Weak Foot Frequency: 4
Consistency: 5
Growth Type: Standard

CARDS:

SPECIAL ABILITIES:

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence Minded


INFO:
Welz was a goalkeeper who was good on the line, with fantastic reaction, lots of jumping ability. He wasn't the best at crosses, usually would jump into it to punch the ball. But in many instances, his reflexes saved FC Koln's goal. Due to an injury in 1974, a possible career in the national team was also thwarted; At the time, Welz was considered one of the most promising candidates for the position of substitute goalkeeper at the upcoming 1974 World Cup in his own country, ahead of Wolfgang Kleff (Mönchengladbach) and Norbert Nigbur (Schalke). Coach Schon promised him the position, even though Welz didn't have any A team caps at that time.

Emerging from the youth ranks of VfL Germania 1894, Welz moved to Viktoria Aschaffenburg in the 1st Amateur League Hesse (third highest league) for the 1965/66 season. He then spent one season in the FC Bayern Munich squad before making 45 appearances in goal. In 1969 he moved to the Bundesliga relegated 1. FC Nürnberg in the Regionalliga Süd and helped the club to participate in the promotion round to the Bundesliga in 1971 as regional league champions, in which FCN failed. However, Welz still played in the Bundesliga the following season, as he became the successor to Manfred Manglitz, who was suspended due to the Bundesliga scandal. After 89 appearances, he left the "Geißböcke" because he had to make way for the young reserve goalkeeper "Toni" Schumacher due to a serious and long-lasting injury that he had sustained in a collision with Peter Hidien in the 2-1 home defeat against Hamburger SV on 2 March 1974.

The collision in the game, after which Welz had been briefly unconscious, was followed by another accident in training when Welz hit his head against the goal post. Upon closer examination, a blood clot was detected, which resulted in emergency surgery, costing him a possible place in the 1974 WC German squad. Having recovered, Welz was only the third goalkeeper behind Schumacher and Slobodan Topalović at 1. FC Köln, despite great ambition and good training performances. In November 1975 he moved to the second division club Preußen Münster. After two seasons with consistently good performances, another two followed with league rivals Tennis Borussia Berlin. In the 1979–80 season, he was a member of Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart, for whom he only played in the 4–0 away defeat against FC Bayern Munich in 1979. From 1980 to 1982 he played for the second division club Fortuna Köln, then one season each for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and again for VfB Stuttgart. In the 1984–85 season, he made nine league appearances for SV Sandhausen in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg under coach Slobodan Jovanić and won the championship with the club, but missed out on promotion with only one win in the promotion round to the 2nd Bundesliga. In the season after next, he made appearances in the same league for the amateur team of VfB Stuttgart, and from 1987 he played eleven games for Spfr./DJK Freiburg in the Amateur-Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. With the club, he missed out on staying in the third highest division.

Welz was also the goalkeeper who, despite an outstanding performance in the legendary 1973 cup final against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Düsseldorf, had to accept Netzer's winning goal and goal of the century in extra time to make it 2-1.

Welz wore the jersey of the national team three times, once for the B team and twice for the U-23 team. He made his debut on 14 November 1972 in Winterthur in a 3–1 win over Switzerland's B team. On 27 March and 8 May 1973, he was in goal in the 5–1 and 2–0 victories over the U-23s of the USA and Denmark respectively in Duisburg and Randers.