Borussia Dortmund mourn the passing of Frank Mill | OneFootball

“Our thoughts are with Frank Mill’s family and loved ones. Borussia Dortmund mourns the loss of a great player from the 1980s and 1990s,” said CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke. “Fränkie was a crafty player on the pitch and a wonderful conversationalist off it. When he joined us in 1986, things started looking up. He played a major role in winning the DFB-Pokal in 1989, finishing runner-up in the league in 1992 and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1993.”

“He was one of my heroes and a welcome guest at our stadium in recent years. Without Frank Mill, Borussia Dortmund would not have won the cup in 1989 and would not be where we are today,” emphasised BVB President Dr Reinhold Lunow.

Frank Mill was born on 23 July 1958 in Essen. He played for Rot-Weiss Essen from 1972 to 1981 and spent the following five years playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga, where he scored in almost every other game (86 goals in 190 appearances). In 1986, he joined BVB together with Norbert Dickel. In the season after the club narrowly avoided relegation, the new strike duo shot the Black & Yellows to fourth place in the table and into the UEFA Cup. In 1989, in the DFB-Pokal final against Werder Bremen (4-1), Dickel was the celebrated hero with two goals – but the best man on the pitch was Mill, who set up the goals to make it 1-1 and 3-1, scored the second himself and cleared off the line to prevent a goal in a crucial phase of the game. “We experienced so much together, always had a close relationship and enjoyed talking about the old days,” said Dickel, adding: “I am very, very sad. I have lost a good friend.”

After eight years with BVB, with whom he reached the DFB-Pokal final in 1993 and finished runner-up in the Bundesliga in 1992, Frank Mill remained closely associated with the club even after his playing career as a committed member of the legends team. (br)