The long-time Bundesliga striker Manfred Burgsmüller died at the age of 69. This was confirmed by his former club Borussia Dortmund on Monday evening via Twitter.
The club didn’t give any details. According to the Bild newspaper, Burgsmüller had already died a natural death in his apartment in Essen on Saturday.
“A very great Borusse has passed away. Rest in peace, Manni Burgsmüller,” wrote BVB on Twitter.
Burgsmüller, who scored 213 goals in 447 Bundesliga matches and thus ranks fourth on the league’s eternal list of goal scorers, played for Rot-Weiss Essen, Borussia Dortmund, 1st FC Nürnberg and Werder Bremen in his career. Burgsmüller played three international matches for the German national football team.
In 1988 Burgsmüller became German Champion with Bremen, and he also reached the DFB Cup Final twice with Werder. With 135 goals he is still the most successful Bundesliga goal scorer of the BVB.
Following his career as a footballer, Burgsmüller ventured into American football. From 1996 to 2002 he celebrated several successes as a kicker for the Düsseldorf team Rhein Fire, most recently Burgsmüller was active in sports marketing.
