Bert Trautmann, the Manchester City goalkeeper who played on with a broken neck in an FA Cup final, has died aged 89.
The German, who was captured as a prisoner of war before settling in the north-west of England, died unexpectedly at his Spain home.
Trautmann played more than 500 games during a 15-year career with City, but he is best remembered for playing the final 17 minutes of the 1956 FA Cup final with a broken neck following a collision with Birmingham's Peter Murphy.
City went on to win 3-1, giving the keeper a Wembley winners' medal to go with the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year award he had won eight days earlier.
Trautmann, whose arrival at City initially led to protests, went on to attract almost 50,000 to his testimonial game when he retired.
German FA president Wolfgang Niersbach said: "Bert Trautmann was an amazing sportsman and a true gentleman.
"He went to England as a soldier, and thus a war enemy, and he became a celebrated hero there. He was a legend.
"His extraordinary career will remain forever in the history books."
Trautmann survived two heart attacks this year, but passed away unexpectedly in La Llosa, near Valencia, this morning.
"We were in very close contact since 1996, when he was part of our official delegation when we won the European Championships in England," continued Niersbach.
"The DFB had invited him to Nuremberg in October, but he turned down the invitation because it was the same time he wanted to celebrate his 90th birthday.
"That makes this news even more surprising."
