Guy Kokou Acolatse (born 28 April 1942) is a Togolese former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was the first Black professional footballer to play in Germany.[1][2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Guy Kokou Acolatse | ||
| Date of birth | (1942-04-28) 28 April 1942 (age 80) | ||
| Place of birth | Togo | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1963–1966 | FC St. Pauli | ||
| 1966–1969 | HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst | ||
| 1970–1973 | FC St. Pauli II | ||
| National team | |||
| Togo | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Acolatse made his debut for the Togo national team at the age of 17.[1] He joined one of the two major clubs in Lomé, the Togolese capital, from Kpalimé.[1] He was courted by French and Belgian clubs but rejected their offers.[1]
German coach Otto Westphal, who had coached the Togo national team and who had become FC St. Pauli coach, convinced Acolatse to join the club in August 1963.[1] The club played in the Regionalliga Nord, which was the German second tier at the time.[2] He made his debut in a 4–1 league win against Altona 93.[2] Acolatse spent three years at the clubs, making 43 appearances and scoring six goals.[2] He then played a further three years for HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst, another Hamburg-based side.[1] He returned to FC St. Pauli in 1970 to play for the club's second team, where he played for three years, occasionally helping out the first team.[1]
Acolatse moved to Saint-Denis, Paris in 1980 where he coached the third team of Paris Saint-Germain and worked at Ford.[2] As of April 2020, he was retired and still lived in the Paris suburb where he trained children in an honorary capacity.[2]
In 2021, he featured in Schwarze Adler [de], a documentary detailing the experiences of Black players in German professional football.[3]