Overview
- Fortuna Köln announced the passing of their former player and coach, with president Hanns-Jörg Westendorf praising Linßen’s long connection to the club.
- Linßen made 113 Bundesliga appearances for MSV Duisburg from 1968 to 1974 before moving to Fortuna Köln, where he logged more than 310 second-division matches.
- He reached the 1983 DFB-Pokal final with Fortuna Köln, losing 0:1 to local rival 1. FC Köln.
- As a coach, he led Fortuna through the dramatic 1985/86 promotion playoff, winning 2:0 in the first leg, losing 1:3 late in the return, and falling 0:8 in the decider to Borussia Dortmund.
- He later worked at 1. FC Köln as co-trainer, briefly as interim coach in 1991/92, and as sporting director from 1998 to 2002, and he remains noted for the mistakenly credited first Bundesliga yellow card in 1971 and his cult status among Fortuna supporters.