TITLE = Wuppertaler SV AUTHOR = Otto Krschak and Peter Keller PRICE = 16.90 Euros (DM 33) SIZE = 128 pages YEAR = 2001 SOURCE = www.amazon.de RATING = 4 stars
(In German)
Finally, an available book on Germany's greatest soccer club, whose very
name strikes fear in the heart of footballers everywhere.
A nice collection of photographs following the history of WSV and its
predecessors. The photos are great, but they are all black and white.
That's OK for the older ones, but it would have been nice to have some
color, especially for more recent years. Also, it would have been nice to
have things like the various club emblems in color.
The other weakness is that there is minimal text. While the book is
divided in chapters, there is no accompanying text. The commentary is
based on the photos. While that does do a good job in explaining things,
there are lots of gaps that could have been filled in. Also, the whole
Nazi period is pretty much glossed over, although the field performance
wasn't too bad. There is a dedicated chapter on WSV's greatest player,
Horst Szymaniak. He was certainly the most talented player ever to wear
the WSV jersey, although fans from the early 70s are also partial
to "Meister" Pröpper. The most recent era is not neglected; indeed
the
penultimate chapter is entitled "From the 2.Liga to the 4th Liga". The
last "chapter" is merely a one page statisical table.
Of course, the photographs are the strength of the book, as most of them
cannot be seen anywhere else. Certainly it will bring back memories to
long time fans.