Werner Ipta

Werner Ipta (March 18, 1942–) is a former German soccer player. He played for FC Schalke 04 from 1960 to 1963 in the Oberliga West (Western Premier League), the highest level in the German league system at the time. As from 1964 to 1966 he was active for Grasshopper-Club in Zurich in Swiss Nationalliga A (National League A) and from 1968 to 1970 he played for Berlin team Hertha BSC in the German Bundesliga (Federal League), the highest level in German soccer as from 1963.

Career

Ipta hailed from Wattenscheid and was introduced to FC Schalke 04 by his neighbour, Helmut Jagielski, a Schalke first team player at the time. During his time in Schalke youth teams, Ipta was called up regularly for matches of German national youth teams. At 18, he debuted in Schalke's first team on 1960's Christmas Day. In Schalke's Glückaufkampfbahn stadium, the home team won 3-1 over Hamborn 07. Under coach Georg Gawliczek, attacking midfielder Ipta soon advanced to be the team's playmaker. In the 1961-62 season he reached the final rounds for the German championship and the German Cup semifinal with Schalke. It was in this season, too, that he was called up for the German national team, who played Greece national team in the World Cup 1962 preliminary round on August 22, 1961. However, Ipta remained a reserve during the match, thus not having earned a cap for Germany - he was not called up ever after.

After having made 49 appearances in the Oberliga West during three seasons with Schalke, in which he scored 16 times, he transferred to FC Bayern München, then a participant of the Regionalliga Süd (Southern regional league, then the second highest level), for the 1963-64 season. He could have played first division Bundesliga in Schalke, but he had had to take a new job in Munich. For FC Bayern, he made 28 appearances and scored seven times. After one season he transferred to Grasshopper-Club Zurich, in spite of a bad injury that almost made him stop playing soccer altogether. At Grasshopper-Club he was a team mate of Swiss international Rolf Blättler, who became the league's top scorer that season; Ipta himself achieved ten goals. Zurich finished the season as number four in the table, and as number seven the year after.

For the 1966-67 season, Ipta transferred to Berlin Regionalliga team Hertha BSC. His new team could celebrate two Berlin championships in 1967 and 1968 and promoted to the Bundesliga in 1968. In the first division he remained a regular in the team making 25 appearances during the 1968-69 season. His first of six Bundesliga goals he scored making a direct hit with a free kick when Hertha BSC drew 2-2 at Borussia Dortmund on September 21, 1968. In the 1969-70 season, Ipta contributed in 13 matches to Hertha's reaching number three at the end of the season. On an international level, he also appeared in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup for the Berlin team.

In the summer of 1970 Ipta transferred to local rivals Tasmania Berlin, thus going back to second division Regionalliga Berlin (Berlin regional league). With Tasmania he achieved another Berlin regional championship in 1971. At the end of the 1971-72 season he finished his soccer career.

Clubs

• FC Schalke 04 (1960–1963, Oberliga West, 49 appearances/16 goals)
• FC Bayern München (1963/64, Regionalliga Süd, 28 appearances/7 goals)
• Grasshopper-Club Zürich (1964–1966, Nationalliga A)
• Hertha BSC (1966–1968, Regionalliga Berlin; 1968–1970, Bundesliga, 38 appearances/6 goals)
• Tasmania 1900 Berlin (1970-1972, Regionalliga Berlin)

Private life

After having stopped playing soccer professionally, Ipta stayed in Berlin and worked in the wholesale and retail trade. Later on he was the keeper of a Berlin sports bar. In the beginning of the 2000s decade, due to a Diabetes mellitus his left leg had to be amputated. Since then he has lived in retirement. It was not until January 2008 that he became a club member of Hertha BSC. As he made 83 appearances for Hertha BSC altogether, he was assigned membership number 83. As of March 2008, Ipta lived just a few minutes away from the Berlin Olympic Stadium.