Horst Blankenburg

Blankenburg's career began in the youth team of VfL Heidenheim; his professional career began at 1. FC Nürnberg under Max Merkel in the 1967–68 season. Nürnberg won the Bundesliga in that season, even though his contribution consisted of only 13 games, none of them league matches. He then transferred to Wiener Sportclub in Vienna for 45,000 German marks, where he managed to impress. After the season, he switched to TSV 1860 Munich for 100,000 German marks. In that season, he had 31 appearances and even scored one goal, but his team was relegated, he moved on to Ajax in the Netherlands.

Ajax golden era

Blankenburg played together with Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol, and Arie Haan. His coaches at Ajax were Stefan Kovács and Rinus Michels, who designed the famous Dutch offside trap around him and Velibor Vasović. In the five seasons at Ajax he won the European Cup three consecutive seasons (1971 to 1973) and the Intercontinental Cup in 1972. He became Dutch champion in 1972 and 1973 and won the Dutch Cup in 1971 and 1972.

Hamburger SV

In 1975, Blankenburg returned to Germany to play for Hamburger SV. Under Kuno Klötzer, he won the German Cup in 1976 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1977, although he did not get to play in the final against R.S.C. Anderlecht. In the end, he could not assert himself at the club – during his second season at the club he only played 13 league matches, so he was transferred at the end of that season to Neuchâtel Xamax in…

Blankenburg was never selected for the West Germany national team, one of the reasons being that the outstanding Franz Beckenbauer fulfilled the role of libero there at the time. Johan Cruijff asked him to play for the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup but Blankenburg refused, he was still hoping for selection from his homeland.

1. FC Nürnberg

Bundesliga: 1967–68 Ajax

Eredivisie: 1971–72, 1972–73 KNVB Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72 European Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 European Super Cup: 1972, 1973 Intercontinental Cup: 1972 Hamburger SV

DFB-Pokal: 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1976–77