Key Figures — Fortuna Düsseldorf

Klaus and Thomas Allofs: the brothers with the most Bundesliga appearances.

Klaus and Thomas Allofs: the brothers with the

Klaus and Thomas Allofs: the brothers with the most Bundesliga appearances.

Klaus and Thomas Allofs: the brothers with the most Bundesliga appearances. Together they played 802 matches in Germany’s top flight. European champion and World Cup runner-up Klaus Allofs made 424 appearances, his younger brother Thomas 378. That puts the Düsseldorf pair ahead of Ditmar and Michael Jakobs (689) and Friedhelm and Wolfgang Funkel (625). With 71 goals in 169 matches between 1975 and 1981, Klaus Allofs is also Fortuna’s all-time Bundesliga top scorer and the first player to become top scorer for two different clubs – Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Köln, in 1979 and 1985.

Gerd Zewe: the record appearance holder. The Saarland-born

Gerd Zewe: the record appearance holder.

Gerd Zewe: the record appearance holder. The Saarland-born defender arrived in 1972 from former Bundesliga side Borussia Neunkirchen and, by the time he left in 1987, had made 440 Bundesliga appearances, most of them as libero for the club from the NRW capital. A record likely to stand for a very long time.

Aleksandar Ristić: “King Aleks”. No coach enjoys cult

Aleksandar Ristić: “King Aleks”.

Aleksandar Ristić: “King Aleks”. No coach enjoys cult status in Düsseldorf quite like Aleks Ristić. His press conferences and his one-liners – “Ich mechte einen Tee trinken” / “Die kennen sagen, was die wollen” – are as unforgettable as the cough sweets he handed to assistant referees and his “Pattex” coach’s chair. He led Fortuna into the Bundesliga in 1989 and 1995, into the second division in 1994, and to the DFB-Pokal semi-finals in 1996. Only his third spell in Düsseldorf ended in failure. After six months, it was over in late 2000 in the Regionalliga Nord for the Bosnian-born coach, for whom Fortuna fans even sang the Toten Hosen anthem “Hier kommt Alex”.

Toni Turek (1919–1984): “football god” and world champion.

Toni Turek (1919–1984): “football god” and world champion.

Toni Turek (1919–1984): “football god” and world champion. The goalkeeper of Germany’s Miracle of Bern side played 133 Oberliga matches for Fortuna between 1950 and 1956. His save from Hungary superstar Ferenc Puskás in the 1954 World Cup final entered footballing folklore forever thanks to Herbert Zimmermann’s immortal commentary: “Turek, you devil of a fellow! Turek, you are a football god!” A bronze statue of the goalkeeper now stands in front of the Düsseldorf arena. Since 2012, Fortuna Düsseldorf’s offices have carried the name Toni-Turek-Haus.

Paul Janes (1912–1987): the great silent one. The

Paul Janes (1912–1987): the great silent one.

Paul Janes (1912–1987): the great silent one. The defender and championship player from Fortuna’s 1933 title-winning team was never a man of many words. He once described good timing in the air this way: “You have to jump higher than your opponent at the right moment.” That settled that. His special gift was thunderous free-kicks. Janes won 71 caps for Germany and helped the national team finish third at the 1934 World Cup in Italy, which was seen as a sensation because the Germans were still amateurs competing against professional sides. Only Uwe Seeler overtook him as Germany’s record international in 1970.

Klaus Allofs took over as sporting board member in 2022 and brought with him his network and his experience from Wolfsburg and Bremen.