| Dieter Erler | |
| Birth Date: | 28 May 1939 |
| Birth Place: | Glauchau, Germany |
| Death Place: | Chemnitz, Germany |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Youthyears1: | 1953–1957 |
| Youthclubs1: | BSG Chemie Glauchau |
| Years1: | 1957–1958 |
| Clubs1: | BSG Wismut Gera |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 1959–1965 |
| Caps2: | 112 |
| Goals2: | 36 |
| Years3: | 1965–1972 |
| Caps3: | 179 |
| Goals3: | 18 |
| Totalcaps: | 291 |
| Totalgoals: | 52 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1959–1968 |
| Nationalteam1: | East Germany |
| Nationalcaps1: | 47 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 12 |
| Manageryears1: | 1974–1975 |
| Managerclubs1: | FC Karl-Marx-Stadt |
Dieter Erler (28 May 1939 in Glauchau – 10 April 1998 in Chemnitz) was a German footballer.[1]
He began his footballing career with BSG Chemie Glauchau in 1953. He was transferred to BSG Wismut Gera for the 1957 season and then after two seasons[2] moved to sports club SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt in January 1959. Erler was both a playmaker and a goalscoring midfielder.
In 1963, Erler moved to SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, where he played alongside the player described by Pelé as the best left-winger in the world at the time: Eberhard Vogel. In 1966–67 the team was crowned DDR-Oberliga champion.
Between 1959 and 1972 he played for SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt and then FC Karl-Marx-Stadt. During his career he gained between 1959 and 1968[3] 47 international caps and scored 12 goals for East Germany.[4]
He was voted GDR footballer of the year in 1967.
| Club | Season | League | Cup[6] | Continental[7] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| BSG Wismut Gera | 1958 | DDR-Oberliga | – | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | – | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |||||
| SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt | 1959 | DDR-Oberliga | 26 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 8 | |
| 1960 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 6 | |||
| 1961–62 | 39 | 16 | 2 | 1 | – | 41 | 17 | ||||
| 1962–63 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 1 | – | 28 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 112 | 36 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 132 | 40 | |||
| FC Karl-Marx-Stadt | 1963–64 | DDR-Oberliga | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 27 | 4 | ||
| 1964–65 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 24 | 3 | ||||
| 1965–66 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | 29 | 2 | ||||
| 1966–67 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | 23 | 15 | ||||
| 1967–68 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |||
| 1968–69 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 0 | – | 20 | 3 | ||||
| 1969–70 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | 27 | 1 | ||||
| 1970–71 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 1971–72 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | 29 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 179 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 201 | 19 | |||
| Career total | 291 | 54 | 34 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 333 | 59 | |||
| East Germany national team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 1959 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1960 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1961 | 7 | 3 | |
| 1962 | 8 | 4 | |
| 1963 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1964 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1965 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1966 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1967 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1968 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 47 | 12 | |
Scores and results list East Germany's goal tally first.[8]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 30 October 1960 | Ostseestadion, Rostock, East Germany | align=center | 2–0 | align=center | 5–1 | Exhibition game | ||
| 2. | 14 May 1961 | Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany | align=center | 1–1 | align=center | 1–1 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 3. | 10 September 1961 | Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion, East Berlin, East Germany | align=center | 1–1 | align=center | 2–3 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 4. | 22 October 1961 | Olimpijski, Wrocław, Poland | align=center | 1–1 | align=center | 1–3 | Exhibition game | ||
| 5. | 3 May 1962 | Lenin, Moscow, Soviet Union | align=center | 1–2 | align=center | 1–2 | Exhibition game | ||
| 6. | 9 December 1962 | Stade Mamadou Konaté, Bamako, Mali | align=center | 1–0 | 1–2 | Exhibition game | |||
| 7. | align=center | 2–0 | |||||||
| 8. | 21 November 1962 | Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion, East Berlin, East Germany | align=center | 1–0 | align=center | 2–1 | 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying | ||
| 9. | 3 November 1963 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary | align=center | 3–3 | align=center | 3–3 | 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying | ||
| 10. | 4 September 1966 | Dr.-Kurt-Fischer-Stadion, Chemnitz, East Germany | align=center | 2–0 | 6–0 | Exhibition game | |||
| 11. | align=center | 3–0 | |||||||
| 12. | 11 September 1966 | Georgi-Dimitroff-Stadion, Erfurt, East Germany | align=center | 1–0 | align=center | 2–0 | Exhibition game |