Richard (real name: Walter) Hanke (18 March 1910 – 2 September 1980) was a German international footballer.[1] He left Germany and went professional in 1931 which was most unusual at the time, spending eight seasons in Austria, Czechoslovakia and France.

Walter Hanke
Walter Hanke, in 1978
Personal information
Date of birth (1910-03-18)18 March 1910
Place of birth Breslau, German Empire
Date of death 2 September 1980(1980-09-02) (aged 70)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
(...)–1931 Breslau 06
1931 Wiener AC
1932–1934 DSV Saaz
1934–35 SK Prostějov
1935–1937 FC Metz 49 (15)
1937–1939 Stade Rennes 52 (15)
International career
1930 Germany 1 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Soon after joining Wiener AC he was in the team that finished runners-up in the 1931 Mitropa Cup. He scored in both finals but asked for a transfer only a few weeks later.[2] Hanke subsequently joined DSV Saaz during that same season. In later years, he was with SK Prostějov for a while[3] and then, during the second half of the 1930s, found success in France.

Hanke has signed autograph pictures as Walter Hanke. For unknown reasons, he was mistakenly referred to as Richard in later years.[4]

Some sources[5] have confused Walter and Josef Hanke, an Austrian player who was with a couple of (different) French clubs at the same time.

References

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  1. ^ Kicker Fußball-Almanach 2011: Mit aktuellem Bundesliga-Spieler-ABC. Stiebner Verlag GmbH. August 2010. pp. 115–. ISBN 978-3-7679-0914-4. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. ^ Prager Tageblatt, Dec 23, 1931, p. 5
  3. ^ Wiener Sport-Tagblatt, June 5, 1935, p. 4
  4. ^ Lorenz Knieriem & Hardy Grüne: Spielerlexikon 1890-1963, Kassel, p. 130
  5. ^ e.g. Marc Barreaud: Dictionnaire des footballeurs étrangers du Championat Professionell Francais (1932-1997), Paris 1998, p. 22 and p. 26... and David Forster et alii: Die Legionäre. Österreichische Fußballer in aller Welt, Vienna 2013, p. 268
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