Werner Baßler

Werner Baßler

Personal information
Date of birth	(1921-10-02)2 October 1921
Place of birth	Trippstadt, Germany
Date of death	21 October 1999(1999-10-21) (aged 78)
Place of death	Germany
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	1. FC Kaiserslautern
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1938–1942	1. FC Kaiserslautern
1942–1944	Holstein Kiel	2+	(3+)
1944–1951	1. FC Kaiserslautern		(199)
1951–1953	VfR Mannheim		(22+)
1953–1957	1. FC Kaiserslautern
1957–1960	VfR Kaiserslautern	22+	(39+)
Total		295+	(263+)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Werner Baßler (2 October 1921 – 21 October 1999) was a German footballer who played as a forward.

Baßler's footballing career started at the youth side of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where he played with Fritz Walter and Richard Schneider. He was a multi-talented athlete who played handball, track, field and he also cycled.

In 1938 Baßler appeared in the first team of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In the 1939–40 season were the champions of the Saarpfalz region in the Gauliga Südwest, however could not advance to the finals of the German Championship, after losing 7–4 on aggregate to Kickers Offenbach. In the 1941–42 Gauliga Westmark season, Baßler scored 21 goals. For the first time 1. FC Kaiserslautern advanced to the German Championship. On 10 May 1942, 1. FC Kaiserslautern beat Waldhof Mannheim 7–1 with Baßler scoring a goal.^[1] 1. FC Kaiserslautern could not progress further, as they lost 9–3, on aggregate, to a Schalke 04 side that boasted the likes of Fritz Szepan and Ernst Kuzorra.^[2]

Baßler was drafted into the navy in 1942 and would play as a war-guest for Holstein Kiel for two seasons. He would play just a few more games for 1. FC Kaiserslautern before the introduction of the Oberliga.

Baßler's first game in the Oberliga came against Phoenix Ludwigshafen, He scored 3 in a 10–0 victory. Up until 1950–51, 1. FC Kaiserslautern would win four Oberliga Sudwest championships. 1947–48 was a great year for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, as they won the championship with a 151:18 ratio of goals scored to goals conceded. Baßler ended up with 28 goals in the championship, which put him in 4th place. First place was none other than teammate Ottmar Walter with 51 goals. The next season would be even better for Baßler as he totalled a record 54 goals for 1. FC Kaiserslautern. The following season Baßler scored another 45 goals, equal to Ottmar Walter. In 1951, Baßler finished with 25 goals, behind Ottmar Walter, who scored 28 goals. In 1951, together with the 1. FC Kaiserslautern team, he was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf.^[3][4]

In the Oberliga Südwest he played 215 games from 1945 to 1957, scoring 226 goals. Baßler played his last competitive game for the Red Devils in the final round of 1957 on 9 June in Hannover, against the defending champions Borussia Dortmund, when Lautern lost 3–2 in front of 75,000 spectators, he had to deal with the 23-year-old Borussia left winger Helmut Kapitulski.

Baßler was employed as a construction mechanic by the sewing machine manufacturer Pfaff in Kaiserslautern and, after his return from Mannheim, also ran a lottery and pools acceptance point. According to his own records, Baßler scored at least 1388 goals during his career.^[5]