Bert Trautmann
Bert Trautmann
There is the legend everyone knows, that Bert Trautmann, a German goalkeeper who made over 500 appearances for Manchester City between 1949 and 1964, broke his neck during the 1956 FA Cup final and heroically played on to help City win the match 3-1. But really there is so much more to Trautmann's story than that piece of hallowed English football trivia. Trautmann grew up in Nazi Germany and was indoctrinated by the Hitler Youth before fighting in World War Two. His capture in 1945 sent him to a British POW camp where he embraced English culture and through a remarkable journey, became a football icon in the country.