A unique item from the Bundesliga’s childhood days is celebrating a milestone birthday. Willi Lippens was nicknamed “Duck” by fans because of his running style. His show on the pitch was well calculated. Even after his career he markets it profitably.
His nickname and an anecdote stay with him throughout his life. Willi Lippens, the former professional footballer for Rot-Weiss Essen and Borussia Dortmund, is still considered one of the biggest jokers of the early Bundesliga. Because of his running style, which looked more like a waddle, fans called him “Duck”. Since then he has probably heard this name more often than his own first name.
He also sometimes used the football stage as a comedy stadium. He dribbled out opponents with shaky physical illusions, sometimes simply sat on the ball and invited the goalkeepers to do a one-two when taking a goal kick. “The Lippens show was practicality and entertainment,” said the son of a German mother and a Dutch father.
This Monday the RWE record player turns 80 years old. His old club holds an official reception in Lips’ honor. But he rarely watches Rot-Weiss Essen games in the stadium anymore.
Lippens only has one international cap to his name – for the Netherlands
There, in the old stadium on Essen’s Hafenstrasse, he lived for little money in a room under the stands – just a few steps from the field. At that time he played for 80 marks a month, the room cost 30. Bonuses were added later. You couldn’t get rich from it back then.
From the very beginning, Lippens had a special relationship with the referees. The dialogue from the regional league game at Westfalia Herne in 1965 is legendary. “Mr. Lippens, I warn you,” said the referee. “Mr. Referee, thank you,” replied Lippens and was expelled from the field and suspended.
The anecdote lives to this day. At the gate to his Lippens Ranch near Bottrop, a large farm with an inn and restaurant, a duck adorns the iron gate. The restaurant is called “Thank you – Mitten im Pott”. You can study the origin of the name on the menu.
Lippens, who played one international match for the Netherlands, would also have been a candidate for the German national team due to his two nationalities. National coach Helmut Schön was very interested in the special winger with a goalscoring instinct. But his father didn’t want that.
“He told me that then I wouldn’t have to come home anymore,” Lippens once said. So it remained with the one international match, because in the Elftal he was considered German. His comment: “With me, Holland and only one German would have become world champion in 1974.”
For RWE he played 457 competitive games in which he scored 245 goals. In total he made 242 Bundesliga games and 92 goals. The evening of the special day is traditionally celebrated on his ranch.
pk/dpa
