Hamburger SV is mourning the death of its former captain and club legend Peter Nogly. The defender, known as "The Oak", died on Thursday at the age of 79 after a long and serious illness.
The club paid tribute to Nogly in an official obituary. "The HSV family loses another outstanding personality and leading figure," it stated. "Nogly was an absolute crowd favourite and one of the best defenders to ever wear the shirt with the diamond on the chest."
Peter Nogly moved from Lübeck to HSV in 1969 and remained loyal to the club until 1980. During this time he made 414 competitive appearances and scored 52 goals. His greatest successes were winning the German championship in 1979, the DFB-Pokal in 1976 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1977. He scored the opening goal in the 1976 cup final against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. His headed goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach in January 1975 was voted 'Goal of the Month'.
Nogly owes his legendary nickname to a serious injury. During an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup match against Gent, he suffered a quadruple cheekbone fracture from an elbow strike. Goalkeeper Gert Girschkowski then said: "Now the oak has been felled." The name stuck. Nogly's greatest defeat was the 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in the 1980 European Cup final.
After his playing career at Hertha BSC and FC St. Pauli, Nogly returned to HSV and served on the club's supervisory board from 2014 to 2017. In the fan vote for the club's Century XI on its 125th anniversary in 2012, he was selected into the all-time best HSV team. Only Uwe Seeler captained HSV more often.
His death comes at a challenging time for the club on the pitch. Hamburger SV sits 16th in the Bundesliga with just three points from four games and has already conceded 13 goals this season. The team must now face its next away match against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on October 10th without one of its great iconic figures. The current standings and upcoming fixtures outline the path ahead for HSV.
First reported at Der Spiegel Fussball
