Wynton Rufer

Football player infobox| playername= Wynton Rufer


fullname = Wynton Alan Whai Rufer


nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|12|29
cityofbirth = Wellington
countryofbirth = New Zealand
height = height|m=1.81
currentclub = retired
job = Manager
position = Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1980-1981
1981
1982
1982-1986
1987-1988
1988-1989
1989-1995
1995-1996
1996-1997
1997
1998
1999-2002
clubs = Wellington United
Norwich City
Miramar Rangers
FC Zürich
FC Aarau
FC Grasshoppers
Werder Bremen
JEF United Ichihara
1.FC Kaiserslautern
Central United
North Shore United
FC Kingz
caps(goals) = 024 0(9)
000 0(0)
008 0(3)
100 (38)
055 (31)
036 (18)
174 (59)
049 (25)
013 0(4)
048 (12)
nationalyears =
nationalteam = New Zealand
nationalcaps(goals) = 023 (12)
manageryears = 1998-1999
1999
1999-2002
managerclubs = North Shore United
New Zealand Women Under-16
FC Kingz

Wynton Alan Whai "Kiwi" Rufer CNZM (born 29 December 1962 to a Swiss father and a mother of Māori descent) is the current manager of Northern Thunder F.C.. He was a New Zealand international footballer remembered as his country's greatest ever player, finishing his international career with 23 A-international caps and 12 goals.cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1708.htm|title=A-International Appearances - Overall|author=|publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website|date=|accessdate=2008-07-25] cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1842.htm|title=A-International Scorers - Overall|author=|publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website|date=|accessdate=2008-07-25] His Brother Shane Rufer also represented New Zealand.

Playing career

After graduating from Rongotai College, Rufer began his playing career with Wellington United in his native New Zealand, before representing Stop Out and Miramar Rangers. Having made his debut for New Zealand on 16 October 1980 against Kuwait, Rufer quickly established himself in the All Whites side, and his youthful promise (he was voted New Zealand's Young Player of the Year in 1981 and 1982)cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id170.htm|title=Honours List|author=|publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website|date=|accessdate=2008-07-25] attracted the attention of Norwich City manager Ken Brown, who invited Wynton and his brother Shane Rufer to Norfolk for a trial.

Rufer impressed and signed a professional contract on 23 October 1981 [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=694177.html Rufer's a Wynr in New Zealand] ] , the first Kiwi footballer ever to do so. However, he was denied a work permit to play in England, so he joined FC Zurich in May 1982, having helped New Zealand to the 1982 FIFA World Cup, scoring the winning goal in a qualification play-off against China. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=523&ObjectID=283515 Rufer - simply the best we've had] ]

At 19 he was the youngest member of the All Whites squad at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, where they lost all 3 group games to Scotland, USSR and Brazil.cite web|url=http://www.nzsoccer.com/page/1982_world_cup_team.html|title=NZ 1982 World Cup|author=|publisher=New Zealand Football|date=|accessdate=2008-07-25]

During his time in Switzerland, Rufer converted to Christianity and married his wife, Lisa in 1986 - they have two sons, Caleb and Joshua. He also played for FC Aarau (Switzerland) and FC Grasshoppers, winning the Swiss Cup in 1988-1989 before moving to Werder Bremen, managed by Otto Rehhagel.

Rufer was an enormous success as part of Rehhagel's team, winning the German Cup in 1990-1991, and scoring in Werder's 2-0 win over AS Monaco in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. His partnership with Klaus Allofs played a major part in Werder's 1992-1993 Bundesliga success, and he was the top scorer in the 1993-1994 UEFA Champions League tournament, winning another German Cup that same season.

Rufer was also voted Oceania's Player of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1992. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/oce-poy.html Oceania Player of the Year] ]

During the 1994-1995 season, Rufer left Bremen to join JEF United of Ichihara in the Japanese J.League, finishing as the club's leading scorer in 1995. However, when Rehhagel took on the task of resurrecting 1.FC Kaiserslautern's fortunes in 1996, he called upon Rufer to help fire the club back into the German top flight - Rufer's contribution helped the club win the Bundesliga II, although he left before Rehhagel remarkably won the Bundesliga the next season.

In 1997 he returned to his homeland, joining Central United and establishing his own coaching school, Wynrs, producing Kiwi football stars such as Mario Hofmann and Michael Fitzgerald, as well as women's international Annalie Longo.

Along with his brother Shane, Rufer took on player-coaching duties at North Shore United in 1998, before coaching the national Under-16 squad ahead of the 1999 Junior World Cup Finals. He was appointed player-coach of New Zealand's first professional football team, FC Kingz (later renamed Auckland Kingz), participating in the Australian Soccer League for two seasons before finally retiring in 2001, having been named Oceania's Player of the Century ahead of Frank Farina (Australia) and Christian Karembeu (New Caledonia/France).

Rufer is currently a member of the FIFA Football Committee, alongside Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini and Sir Bobby Charlton [ [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=82361.html The greatest honour for any footballer] ] . He is also involved with the FIFA Ambassadors Against Racism Committee [ [http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/footballforhope/news/newsid=518207.html FIFA Ambassadors against Racism] ] . In 2005 Rufer was the first football/soccer player to be inducted into the NZ Sports Hall of Fame.

Wynton Rufer founded the Wynrs football academy for young players [ [*http://www.wynrs.co.nz WYNRS] ] . The academy is based in Auckland, New Zealand but has had few promising players graduate through the academy.

Honours

Individual

*New Zealand Young Player of the Year: 1981, 1982,
*Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1990, 1992,
*Oceania Footballer of the Century
*FIFA World XI: Tokyo 1995, Sydney 1999,
*Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to soccer, 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours. [cite web|url=http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/lists/list.asp?id=43|title=Queen's Birthday Honours 2008|date=2008-06-02|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|accessdate=2008-06-02]

Club

FC Grasshoppers
*Swiss Cup: 1989

Werder Bremen
*German Cup: 1991, 1994
*European Cup Winners' Cup: 1992
*Bundesliga: 1993
*German Super Cup Winner: 1994

1.FC Kaiserslautern
*Bundesliga II: 1997

References

External links

*FIFA player|57199|Wynton Rufer
* [http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id820.htm Statistics and biography] - Statistics and biography
* [http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/rufer.htm Career] - Rufer biography at Flown from the Nest, dedicated to former Norwich City players
* [http://www.wynrs.co.nz The official Wynrs site]