Jürgen Croy

Goalkeeper Jürgen Croy played an important role for East Germany (GDR) as they beat Poland 3-1 at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, to become the first German team to win the Olympic title. Four years earlier, Croy was in the GDR team that won the bronze medal at the München Olympics, following a 2-2 draw, after extra-time, against the Soviet Union. During the period of extra-time, neither team tried to win, because they knew a draw would secure both of them a medal. Croy was also in the East German team that surprisingly beat West Germany 1-0 in the 1974 World Cup.

Croy played 94 international matches between 1967-76, as well as 23 matches with the GDR Olympic team. As he was a world class goalkeeper, he was therefore allowed to play with one of the non-prominent GDR clubs, BSG Motor Zwickau, later renamed BSG Sachsenring Zwickau. In 1967 and 1975 he helped them to win the East German Cup. He was also named Footballer of the Year in 1972, 1976 and 1978.

Croy graduated as a sports teacher and football coach, and coached his home club until 1988. He then became a technical worker at Hochschule Zwickau, and worked as a sports teacher. After reunification, Croy became a representative of the sports goods company Puma, and was also editor of some Saxony newspapers. In addition, he served on the board of Sachsenring Zwickau. In 1994 Croy was elected major for culture, school and sports in Zwickau.