As a teenager he played for SpVg Brakel and he broke through to the first XI at his hometown club. In a game against the Schalke 04 second team he was spotted by their then general manager Rudi Assauer and he brought him to Gelsenkirchen in 1987. Together with his older brother Michael, who joined Schalke from FC Köln, he was unable to prevent the team getting relegated. Claus-Dieter was approached by Bayer 04 in 1988 and he signed for Leverkusen.
Under coach Rinus Michels, ‘Pelle’, as he was ironically known in our team, as he could not really be compared to the football ability of the Brazilian star, did not get a good deal. He only made nine appearances, seven in the Bundesliga and one each in the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Cup. The attacking midfielder with a very good left foot could not find a berth in the Dutch system of the former Netherlands coach. After that disappointing season he moved on to Bundesliga 2.
Initially at VfL Osnabrück, then Hertha Berlin and VfL Wolfsburg. He just missed out on promotion with the Wolves but reached the DFB Pokal final. VfL lost 3-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in Berlin. Wollitz had great success a year later with a move to FC Kaiserslautern. He was relegated from the Bundesliga with the team from the Pfalz but he came on in the Pokal final in Berlin on 87 minutes and a 1-0 win against Karlsruher SC made him a DFB Pokal winner. Then he returned to Bundesliga 2 to play for KFC Uerdingen.
After two years with the side from Krefeld he moved on to FC Köln. Wollitz played there for three seasons in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. He made 48 appearances for the Goats. His next and final club was the Oberliga team TuS Lingen. Claus-Dieter Wollitz hung up his boots after one season in 2002.
From that point he dedicated himself to his second career – as a coach. His first job in 2003 was taking over the reins at KFC Uerdingen. After a year in Krefeld he went to VfL Osnabrück – another club where he had played. He achieved promotion to Bundesliga 2 with the Lower Saxony club in 2007. During the season he completed his coaching course and he kept Osnabrück up until 2009. After relegation in 2009 Wollitz took charge of Energie Cottbus after they went down from the Bundesliga.
However, together with his assistant coach Markus Feldhoff, also a former Bayer 04 player, he was unable to take them up straight away. In 2011/12 Wollitz asked to be released by club for personal, sporting and family reasons.
He returned to VfL Osnabrück as head coach on 1 January 2012. After two very successful years in Lower Saxony and eighteen months at Viktoria Köln he went back to Cottbus for a second spell.
After nearly four years with promotion and relegation between the Regional League and the third division ways parted for Energie Cottbus and Pele Wollitz on 1 January 2020 – the club were top of the Regional League North East at the time. But the coach would not be away for long.
He coached FC Magdeburg for 18 months but Wollitz has been back in the Energie dugout since 18 May 2021.
With his genuine and emotional leadership style, that can lead to angry outbursts from time to time, Pele finally took Energie Cottbus back to the third division in 2024 as champions of the Regional League North East after five years in the fourth tier. Cottbus not only stayed up comfortably but were close to a remarkable finish: On the final matchday, they lose third spot due to defeat at home and the chance to go up to Bundesliga 2.
Claus-Dieter Wollitz, father of three daughters, lives in Brandenburg and is 60 this month.
Dear Pele, I wish you many happy returns on your birthday. Stay as you are!
Claus-Dieter, known as ‘Pele’, Wollitz was born in Brakel on 19 July 1965 in Brakel. He earned the nickname of the Brazilian global super star at the age of six because he was able to the juggle the ball for a long time as a child. What was originally meant as a stunt would follow him all his life. Every football fan associates the name Wollwitz with his nickname: Pele.
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José Roberto da Silva Junior, Zé Roberto for short, was born in the Brazilian city of São Paulo on 6 July 1974. He started playing football at the Pequeninos de Joquey soccer school at the age of seven. Via the club Palestra Sao Bernardo, the left footer moved on to the professional club Portuguesa de Desportos where he made his debut in 1994.
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25 years ago, the Bayer 04 U19 team under their two coaches Thomas Hörster and Dirk Dreher were Regional League West champions and thereby participants in the finals of the German championship.
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After promotion to Bundesliga 2, the football boss Hermann Bacall had his hands full putting together a powerful team. For the first training session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 14 July 1975 there were nine new signings including five players who became regular starters in the team that won promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979.
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After the success of the previous year, the gymnastics and sports club Leverkusen hold the ‘Wiesdorfer Sportwoche’ week of sports for a second time (the city of Leverkusen is only founded in 1930). The week of sport started on Sunday, 12 July 1925. In the years before World War I there were municipal gymnastics and games festivals. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the club in 1924 the board and many helping hands started the week of sports. An internal municipal games festival developed into a national event which made a name for itself after a year particularly due to the relay element.
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