Ray Richards has remembered his long-time Socceroos teammate Manfred Schaefer as a ‘committed, determined man’ who never left anything on the pitch, and gave his all to Australian football.
Migrating to Australia from the former East Germany at the age of 10 after his family were displaced by World War II, Schaefer rose through the ranks at Blacktown and St. George-Budapest to stand alongside Richards at the centre of the Socceroos’ defence through its most defining era, making 75 national appearances (49 of these ‘A’ Internationals) from 1967-1974.
The pinnacle came as he played every minute of Australia’s maiden World Cup campaign in 1974 where opponents featured both East and West Germany, after which he retired; his club career spanned 450 games with St. George and State titles (in an era without a national league) in 1967, 71, 74 and 75, the final success as player-manager.
‘Around the dressing room he was one of the larrikins, we always had a bit of fun with Manny. But he always did his talking on the field, he was a stalwart and never left anything out there’, Richards told Box2Box.
‘We used to joke about him, saying that we couldn’t let him play in the rain because he’d rust – he was that hard, that stubborn. Anything you could say about someone being determined, that epitomised his attitude.’
Richards and Schaefer entered the Socceroos fold at roughly the same time, called up by ‘Uncle Joe’ Vlatsis for the team’s extraordinary trip to Vietnam for the Friendly Nations Cup at the height of the Vietnam War in 1967. Through that journey and the subsequent 1970 World Tour they grew to form the backbone of the Socceroos’ defence, culminating in the ‘74 World Cup.
‘We came in and went to Vietnam as part of a squad that was picked from all over Australia. Uncle Joe was the coach, myself and Gary Wilkins from Brisbane. Ted de Lyster and other boys from Adelaide, Manny and others from Sydney.
‘Why we went to Vietnam I don’t know, but everybody uses that as the grounding for the ‘74 squad, which is was when you look back at some of the players that went to Vietnam, then went on the World Tour and then to the Word Cup in ‘74.’
From 1975 Schaefer moved into management, leading Sydney Olympic, Brunswick Juventus and West Adelaide among other clubs variously until 2000. His service and success culminated in his induction into Football Australia’s Hall of Fame in its inaugural intake in 1999.
‘He was a stalwart on the field who never left anything out there, and I’d say that was probably his mantra as a coach – to never bring anything back to the dressing room’, said Richards.
‘We were the greatest of opponents. When he played for St. George and I played for Marconi we had little contact – never the twain shall meet – that was our attitude to the game and our responsibility to our clubs.
‘But we were always the closest of friends. I went to his 70th birthday with Rale Rasic. Although we weren’t close away from football, once we got within that collection of players, we would always stick fast.’