Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. In this week's episode, co-hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper tell the remarkable story of Bert Trautmann — the former Nazi paratrooper who became Manchester City's beloved goalkeeper and an unlikely symbol of Anglo-German reconciliation. 70 years on from the legendary 1956 FA Cup final, Wilson and Draper trace Trautmann's extraordinary journey: from Hitler Youth member and fighting on the Eastern Front, to prisoner of war in England, to the man who played on with a broken neck at Wembley. They examine his teenage indoctrination, the atrocity he witnessed, that shattered his faith in Nazism and the 25,000 protesters at Maine Road. Along the way, they explore the brutal treatment of goalkeepers in this era and how three successive cup final incidents began to change the game's laws. Finally, they reflect on how a flawed, charismatic man became the perfect bridge between two nations.

00:00 Jimmy Ashcroft and the Goalkeeper's Lot

06:30 Hitler Youth — Trautmann's Indoctrination

12:45 The Eastern Front

19:20 Witnessing the SS Massacre

25:00 Captured Three Times — Soviets, Americans, and a Cup of Tea

27:10 Prisoner of War and the Accidental Goalkeeper

34:50 Staying in England

42:15 25,000 Protesters

48:00 Winning Over Manchester

53:40 The 1956 FA Cup Final — Playing On with a Broken Neck

58:10 The Dangerous Life of the Goalkeeper

01:03:20 Footballer of the Year and Personal Tragedy

01:09:00 Burma, Women's Football, and an OBE

01:14:30 The Perfect Symbol of Reconciliation

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bert trautmann