Koch died at the age of 54

The former goalkeeper for clubs such as MSV Duisburg, Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Kaiserslautern received his diagnosis in April 2023. At that time, the doctors said Georg Koch had perhaps six months left. “The whole mess was discovered during a routine examination. I wasn’t feeling so well before and my blood values ​​were noticeably bad,” Koch told “Bild am Sonntag” at the time.

“It is with great sadness that Fortuna says goodbye to Georg Koch and will always honor his memory. The condolences and compassion of all Fortunes go out to his family, his friends and everyone who knew and appreciated Georg Koch,” the association said. Koch played 118 games for Düsseldorf, more than for any other club. MSV Duisburg and 1. FC Kaiserslautern also mourned their former goalkeeper on social media.

Koch played 213 games in the Bundesliga and 165 games in the 2nd Bundesliga in his career. After his breakthrough in Düsseldorf, he was active in Eindhoven, Bielefeld, Kaiserslautern, Duisburg and Cottbus, among others. He most recently worked in the professional sector as goalkeeping coach for third division club Viktoria Köln in the 2022/23 season.