Wolfgang “Otto” Kleff was a face of the glorious Fohlenelf from the 1970s, one of the most enigmatic personalities of Borussia Mönchengladbach and in German football in general. This Tuesday, the cult goalkeeper celebrates his 75th birthday.
To this day, Kleff has remained a welcome guest and conversation partner. His qualities as an entertainer were recently demonstrated once again by around 100 Foals fans who had come to Borussia-Park for the event to mark the 50th anniversary of the tusk-throwing game. Kleff garnished his descriptions of the legendary 7:1 against Inter Milan in the European Champions Cup on 20 October 1971, Gladbach’s match of the century, which was later annulled, with a lot of humour and snappy sayings. “For the 100th anniversary,” Kleff called out to the guests at the end of the anniversary event, “hopefully we’ll meet again here at Borussia Park.”
The goalkeeper has played his part in the “Myth Borussia “ and has witnessed memorable moments in the club’s history at first hand. Kleff was standing between the posts when the post broke in the Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen on 7 April 1971. He celebrated the first title defence in the German Bundesliga with Gladbach in 1971. He was the goalkeeper in the frenetic 7:1 spectacle against Inter and the great backstop in the 1973 cup final against 1. FC Köln, which Günter Netzer decided with the goal to make it 2-1 after substituting himself. Kleff once described this match against Cologne as the best of his career. Jupp Heynckes later said: “Our Wolfgang played the game of his life. “
428 competitive matches were played by Kleff for Borussia between 1968 and 1982. During his time at the Bökelberg, Gladbach won five German championships, the UEFA Cup twice and the DFB Cup once. He was in the German national team squad that won the 1974 World Cup title and the 1972 European Championship title, but the native of Westphalia, Schwerte, “only” made six international appearances in total – because Sepp Maier of Bayern Munich was sitting in front of his nose. “Sepp was a great goalkeeper,” Kleff once said, looking back, “but I was the better footballer.
Kleff, whose resemblance (and friendship) to comedian Otto Waalkes led to the nickname “Otto”, refrained from a big 75th birthday celebration. The consequences of a serious corona disease in the spring are still bothering him today, which has “taught him to be more careful”, he says. So on today’s day of honour, things will probably go as they usually have in the past years: For his birthday, the family will go out for a small dinner together.
