The cult coach and 'philosopher' is 75

He was one of the most colourful characters in the Bundesliga in the 1990s and established himself as an idiosyncratic coach with the qualities of an entertainer. Dragoslav Stepanovic won his only trophy as a coach with Bayer 04 in 1993. Nevertheless, the charismatic Serb is seen as one of the big coaching personalities in German football. Today he is 75 years old. Happy birthday, Stepi. A profile on his birthday…

Günter Netzer was once asked in an interview what he thinks of when he hears the name Dragoslav Stepanovic. "A cut-off hammer," was the dry response from Netzer. The World Cup and European Championships winner thus characterised the former player Stepanovic, who earned the reputation of having an "iron foot" in the 1970s. Not many people now know that Stepi back then was not only a rock-hard right-back but was also rated as one of the best in the world. Most people associate him with being a coach with a distinctive moustache, smoking a cigarillo, wearing an elegant double-breasted suit with a tie and a pin plus polished brogues on the touchline. A man of the world, known all over for his clown-like traits and always good for words of wisdom. Stepi, the unique one, who invented the Serbo-Hessian dialect and became a cult figure with three words: "Lebbe geht wider" (Life goes on).

With the Balkan Brazilians against Pelé

There were some colourful moments in his life as a professional footballer. At the age of 22, he played for Yugoslavia in front of 182,000 spectators at the Maracana, the football temple in Rio de Janeiro. The great world star Pelé chose Yugoslavia as opponents in his final game for the Selecao. The footballers from the multi-ethnic state were seen as 'Balkan Brazilians' due to their technical and tactical abilities. In Yugoslavia they played zonal marking where German defenders were still supposed to follow their opponents everywhere. Stepi played 34 international fixtures for his country. But that game at the Maracana was the highlight of his career as a player. Over 30 years later, Stepanovic met Pelé once again in Germany during the Confed Cup in 2005. He asked Pelé when he would receive the promised video of the match from 1971. He said it would be delivered quickly. But a parcel from Brazil never arrived.

Stepanovic started his time in Germany in 1976. As a 28-year-old, he moved from Red Star Belgrade to Eintracht Frankfurt and he put the fear of God into World Cup winners like Jürgen Grabowski and Bernd Hölzenbein in training. Stepi got stuck in with his good old Belgrade style. Even a warhorse like Eintracht record appearance maker Charly Körbel remembers “bruises and loads of pain” when he thinks back to the first months with the Yugoslavian new signing. Stepanovic later lived up to his reputation. In 1978, now at Wormatia Worms, he came up against Rudi Völler with Kickers Offenbach in a game in the second division. Völler gave the clearly superior OFC the lead. Stepanovic wanted to make his mark and went into a tackle with opponent Hermann Bitz with both feet and was shown the red card. But the sacrifice paid off: Worms turned the game round with ten men and won 3-2.

A year later, Stepanovic received an offer from Manchester City. The Serbian was the first foreign player to wear the captain's armband for the Citizens who were back then in the first division of the Football League.

The "Big shot from the Main"

Stepanovic was almost 34 when he ended his playing career at Wormatia Worms in 1982. He earned his coaching badge at the coaching academy in Cologne. A former striker from FC Kaiserslautern was also on the course: Klaus Toppmöller. Both would later go on to be successful at Leverkusen.

Stepanovic took his first steps in coaching in his new home of Frankfurt. First at FSV, then at Rot-Weiss Frankfurt where he coached Jürgen Klopp in the Hessen League in the 1989/90 season. "It was an exceptional and eventful year that links me and Stepi," explained Klopp in the Stepanovic biography written by the authors Peter Moschinski and Martin Thein. "He was the funniest coach I ever had."

Stepanovic became famous in Germany in 1991. When Eintracht Frankfurt signed him, the headline in the Bild Zeitung was: "Sensation – Eintracht get coach from the pub!" The pub ‘Stepis Treff’ in a shopping centre did actually belong to the Serb. But the boss was his wife Jelena. Stepanovic cause a stir at Eintracht and his team play possibly the most attractive football in Germany with players like Uwe Bein, Andreas Möller and Anthony Yeboah. The "Big shot from the Main" nearly led Frankfurt to the German league title. But only nearly. The Eagles through away the title on the final matchday of the season in 1991/92 with a 2-1 defeat away to Hansa Rostock. One point would have been enough. That meant VfB Stuttgart were the champions. Stepi was asked how he felt after the final whistle in Rostock. And the Serb answered: “Lebbe geht weider.” Words for eternity. "People still come up to me today and say: We don't know your name but you’re the one that said: ‘Lebbe geht weider’,” Stepanovic said to the Kicker. That quote became his trademark long ago. Hessen's former Minister-President Volker Bouffier once joked: "To my mind, there are two great philosophers from Frankfurt: The one was Goethe, the other Stepi."

Stepi provides circus atmosphere at Leverkusen

The season after does not go so well for him and Eintracht. Frankfurt lose 3-0 at home to Bayer 04 in the DFB Pokal semi-final. ""That's it," said Stepi in front of the cameras as he immediately announced his resignation as coach. He had already signed a contract for the following season at Leverkusen. But Bayer 04 boss Reiner Calmund did not want to take him under the Cross straightaway. Stepi was in the dugout as successor to Reinhard Saftig at the cup final against Hertha Berlin Reserves although the latter had already parted ways with Bayer 04 in that season.

The DFB-Pokal win in 1993 was the only honour for Stepanovic in his coaching career. At Bayer 04, he provided a bit of a circus atmosphere that liberated the club from the image of a grey mouse. And, of course, he played positive football. Carrot and stick: Stepi had humour and charisma, appeared relaxed and he was always up for a joke. But he could also be different. He liked to use unconventional training methods, sometimes sitting with a megaphone in his hand on a two-metre tall umpire's chair on the edge of the pitch giving instructions like a sergeant. He did not shirk conflict with world stars like Bernd Schuster and Rudi Völler. And he could not only be jocular but also quite obstinate. "Stepi is not a candidate for the diplomatic corps," was the assessment of Reiner Calmund, "with all his rough edges, Stepi has a huge, soft heart.” He had a decent record in his first season at Leverkusen. For the first time, the Werkself are top of the table after 20 matchdays at the winter break – three games from the Rückrunde were brought forward due to the forthcoming World Cup in the USA. Bernd Schuster, Ulf Kirsten and Paulo Sergio, who scored 17 goals in his first season under the Bayer Cross, were primarily the main men in attack. 1994 did not start so well. Of the first five games, Bayer lost the first four and slipped down to seventh place. But the team recovered and were in third place with four games to play with a four-point gap to league leaders Bayern Munich. The season ended with a third-place finish that was the highest ever in the club's history at that point.

Rudi Völler made his debut for Bayer 04 on matchday three in the following 1994/95 season. Stepanovic, who once played against him, brought the new signing from Olympique Marseille on in the 73rd minute in the game against his former club Eintracht Frankfurt. The score was already 3-0 with Völler rounding it off in style with a headed fourth goal in the final minute. Bernd Schuster scored the first goal in the game with a shot from 50 metres over the head of the Eintracht keeper Andreas Köpke that was later voted Goal of the Decade. The attacking football that Stepanovic brought to Leverkusen was thrilling. The spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium experienced a particular football fest in the 5-4 win against PSV Eindhoven in the first round of the UEFA Cup. Ulf Kirsten and the Brazilian Ronaldo as the up-and-coming world star each scored three goals in this exciting match.

But there was also a tough phase after the winter break in that season. When Bayer 04 lose six of seven games at the start of 1995, slip down to eleventh in the table and lose 2-1 in the UEFA Cup semi-final against Parma, the club part company with Stepanovic. His time at Leverkusen ends after two years.

He then moves on to a number of other clubs. In Germany, he again briefly coaches Eintracht Frankfurt, later VfB Leipzig, Stuttgart Kickers, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Kickers Offenbach. He works for the European clubs Athletic Bilbao and AEK Athens but then takes part in adventures in Egypt (at Zamalek Cairo) and China (at Shenyang Jinde), both of which lasted for just a few months. Stepi returned to his home country and coached clubs like FK Vojvodina Novi Sad. He experienced and witnessed a lot in his long career as a player and coach. He visited Leverkusen in 2013 when he was promoting his biography. The Stadioneck bar on Bismarckstraße is sold out for his visit. Stepi is still popular amongst the Bayer 04 fans almost 20 years after his time under the Cross.

Still on the road as an honorary coach

He is still not completely disengaged from football. When his passion for community involvement allows, he is happy to return to the dugout on an honorary basis. For example, as the coach of the Hessen team for people with learning difficulties. Or, as recently at the end of June of this year, as the coach of the Germany team of refugees. Of course, success on the pitch was not the main aim of the second European Championships in Frankfurt organised by UEFA and the UNHCR. The results from a German perspective were modest. The Germany team lost all three group matches against France, Latvia and Finland. The team could only win their game against Austria. Stepi accepted it with humour: "They’ll sack me," joked the football globetrotter and he added his famous phrase: "Aber Lebbe gent wider."