Born and bred in the lavish coastal holiday hub Swakopmund on 25 January 1956, ‘Holli’ Gruttemeyer started his elementary education in his hometown before earning his school-leaving certificate from the revered Swakopmund Secondary School.
Like many ‘Pikininis’ his age of German descent, ‘Holli’ was football-crazy and would play the game at the slightest provocation. Such was his enormous talent that by the time he was 15, the free-scoring attacker got selected to represent South West Africa (SWA) in the South African Inter-Provincial Schools Cup in Pretoria in 1971.
His goals propelled the uncompromising seasiders to a well-deserved bronze medal after finishing third in the U/16 age group. ‘Holli’ played in two finals of the hotly-contested youth tourney representing Swakopmund Secondary School in the ProNutro Cup.
The Namibians confronted New Forest (Durban) and Boksburg High (Johannesburg) in 1973 and 74, respectively. Both finals served as a curtain raiser for the popular Castle Cup final in front of a sold-out crowd of 35 000 spectators at the iconic Rand Stadium in Johannesburg. Sadly, the Namibians had to settle for silver medals on both occasions.
Upon completing his secondary school assignment in 1975, the flying winger was dispatched to Northern Transvaal to start his mandatory training with the South African camouflaged armed forces. The Namibian cemented himself as a vital cog in the Northern Transvaal Defence Force squad, scoring astonishing well-taken goals. Three years later, the boy with a sweet left foot temporarily exchanged his native land (Namibia) for Deutschland to undergo extensive training in electric engineering in Leverkusen. “To be brutally honest, I was shocked to the core and surprised watching the gap between our football at home and German football. Germans operate at a different level and were more advanced tactically, technically and overall approach towards the game of football. Nevertheless, I was very fortunate and privileged to train under experienced mentor Gerhard Kenschke at Bayern Leverkusen.”
After his five-year long stint in Deutschland, ‘Holli’ retreated to his native town Swakopmund. He joined SFC featuring in various high-profile cup tournaments, including the popular yearly Christmas Cup, and league football.
‘Holli’ played a pivotal role when SFC clinched a hard-fought victory in the annual Christmas Cup final against coastal cousins Atlantis in an electrifying final played in front of a packed-to-rafters SFC stadium in 1977. He started the riot by scoring the only goal in the 1-0 triumph against the stubborn Stellenbosch side in the quarterfinal to set up a mouthwatering date against Ramblers in the semifinal.
The hosts found themselves a goal down through Hasso Ahrens’ strike, but a pair of quicksilver goals by Axel Paetzoldt and ‘Holli’ turned the tie in favour of SFC 2-1. The goal-hungry, speedy attacker netted the decisive winning goal in the seven-goal thriller, which ended 4-3 in favour of SFC.
However, the prodigal son developed itchy feet and jumped ship, only to resurface 30 kilometres southwards in the harbour town Walvis Bay. He found shelter with the newly-formed, predominantly Portuguese-speaking outfit Maritimo, rubbing shoulders with well-established greats shepherded by the highly-gifted De Gouveia siblings Ivo, Louis and Sandro, Colin Lackey, Malcolm Jacobs, Alan Dickson and other ‘footies’ of remarkable pedigree. His impressive display did not go unnoticed as ‘Holli’ was selected for the ASA Currie Cup side under the stewardship of head coach Hasso Ahrens and his trusted Lieutenant Gernot Ahrens in 1987. Tellingly, his romance with the Portuguese side ended abruptly when he vacated the sinking ship, only to resurface at Mondesa outfit United Stars in his hometown in 1991, exactly a year after Namibia’s much-anticipated Independence.
Admittedly, the lethal goalpoacher announced his arrival with breathtaking displays, complimented by a winning mentality second to none. His impressive performance propelled United to victory in the Rossing-sponsored Etosha Trophy.
United saw off Super Stars via Habasen Gurirab’s solitary goal (1-0), in a closely-contested final at the extremely impolit, freezing Kuisebmond Stadium in Walvis Bay. United pocketed N$4 000 for their troubles, in addition to the trophy.
Soon after the 2010 Fifa World Cup held in South Africa, ‘Holli’ jetted out to Deutschland to boost his coaching credentials. He successfully obtained a DFB B and C coaching licence in Koblenz Oberwerth. By his own admission, ‘Holli’ still has fond memories of his countless on-field battles with African Stars’ midfield general Oscar Mengo, and the silky Black Africa unplayable siblings Albert and Hannes Louw.
Apart from football, the retired ‘footie’ lists camping, travelling and nature exploration as his favourite hobbies. Though he has retired from playing competitive football, the brother is still very actively involved with his former club SFC.
The 69-year-old ‘Fox’ is happily hitched to his childhood ‘bird’ Antje Wuensch- Gruttemeyer, who bore him beautiful daughter Daniela, currently residing down under in the beautiful city of Brisbane, holed up in the land of ‘Kangaroos’, Australia, and grand old man to a pair of beautiful kids Olivia and Lucas.