Bruno Pezzey

**Bruno Edmund Pezzey** (3 February 1955 – 31 December 1994) was an Austrian professional footballer. He played as a defender and is regarded one of Austria's best defenders of all times.

## Club career

Pezzey began in the youth of FC Lauterach in Vorarlberg. His professional career started at FC Vorarlberg. Then he moved to FC Wacker Innsbruck With Innsbruck he won two league titles and a cup. In 1978 he went to the Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt In this time he won the UEFA Cup and a DFB-Pokal. Then he spent  four seasons with Werder Bremen. He returned to Innsbruck in 1987 and won two league titles and a domestic cup.

## International career

Pezzey made his debut for Austria in June 1975 against Czechoslovakia and played at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and 1982 FIFA World Cup. In the 1982 World Cup he scored Austria's first goal in the 2–2 draw with Northern Ireland in Madrid. He played 84 matches and shot nine goals. His last match was an August 1990 friendly match against Switzerland.

## International statistics

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="14"|Austria|1975|5|0|
|1976|8|1|||
|1977|8|0|||
|1978|13|2|||
|1979|7|2|||
|1980|5|1|||
|1981|6|0|||
|1982|8|2|||
|1983|5|1|||
|1984|6|0|||
|1985|5|0|||
|1986|1|0|||
|1987|6|0|||
|1990|1|0|||

- _Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pezzey goal._

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|10 November 1976|Nationalstadion,  Kavala, Greece||3-0|3-0|Friendly match||||||||
|2|30 August 1978|Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway||1-0|2-0|UEFA Euro 1980 qualification||||||||
|3|20 September 1978|Prater Stadion,   Vienna,  Austria||1-0|3-2|UEFA Euro 1980 qualification||||||||
|4|13 June 1979|Praterstadion,  Vienna, Austria||1-0|4-3|Friendly match||||||||
|5|4-3|||||||||||||
|6|15 November 1980|Prater Stadion,   Vienna,  Austria||1-0|5-0|1982 FIFA World Cup qualification||||||||
|7|1 July 1982|Estadio Vicente Calderón,    Madrid,   Spain||1-1|2-2|1982 FIFA World Cup||||||||
|8|17 November 1982|Gerhard-Hanappi-Stadion,    Vienna,  Austria||2-0|4-0|UEFA Euro 1984 qualification||||||||
|9|17 May 1983|Prater Stadion,   Vienna,  Austria||2-2|2-2|Friendly match||||||||

## Managing career

He was assistance coach for the Austrian U21 national team from 1991 till 1993. The next season he was headcoach of the team.

## Death and legacy

Pezzey died of heart failure in a hospital on New Year's Eve 1994 after playing in a game of ice hockey short before his 40th birthday. He left behind his wife and two daughters. His youth club, FC Lauterach, named its ground in his honour.Also the Award of the VdF (Vereinigung der Fußballspieler- Union of Football Players) is named after him.

## Honours

**Wacker Innsbruck**
- Austrian Bundesliga: 1975, 1977
- Austrian Cup: 1975

**Eintracht Frankfurt**
- UEFA Cup: 1980
- DFB-Pokal: 1981

**Swarovski Tirol**
- Austrian Bundesliga: 1989, 1990
- Austrian Cup: 1989

## Other websites

- Bruno Pezzey at Eintracht Archiv

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Bruno Pezzey
- **image**: Bruno_Pezzey.jpg
- **caption**: Pezzey in 1978
- **fullname**: Bruno Edmund Pezzey
- **height**: 1.88 m
- **birth place**: Lauterach, Austria
- **death place**: Innsbruck, Austria
- **position**: Defender (association football), Defender
- **youthyears1**: 1965–1973
- **youthclubs1**: FC Lauterach
- **years1**: 1973–1974
- **clubs1**: FC Vorarlberg
- **caps1**: 28
- **goals1**: 3
- **years2**: 1974–1978
- **clubs2**: FC Wacker Innsbruck, Wacker Innsbruck
- **caps2**: 129
- **goals2**: 19
- **years3**: 1978–1983
- **clubs3**: Eintracht Frankfurt
- **caps3**: 141
- **goals3**: 27
- **years4**: 1983–1987
- **clubs4**: SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen
- **caps4**: 114
- **goals4**: 18
- **years5**: 1987–1990
- **clubs5**: FC Swarovski Tirol, Swarovski Tirol
- **caps5**: 86
- **goals5**: 6
- **totalcaps**: 498
- **totalgoals**: 73
- **nationalyears1**: 1975–1990
- **nationalteam1**: Austria national football team, Austria
- **nationalcaps1**: 84
- **nationalgoals1**: 9
- **manageryears1**: 1991–1993
- **managerclubs1**: Austria national under-21 football team, Austria U-21 (assistant)
- **manageryears2**: 1993–1994
- **managerclubs2**: Austria national under-21 football team, Austria U-21