Career
Höttges joined Borussia Mönchengladbach at the age of seventeen from neighbourhood side Rheydter SV (to whom he went from his first club, Blau-Weiß Bahl). After three years in the youth of Mönchengladbach he was taking part for them in their Regionalliga West campaign of 1963-1964 with Mönchengladbach manager Hennes Weisweiler feeling Höttges" way of playing wouldn"t be what he was looking for and, though, the defender was forced to move on. This outstanding success with Werder Bremen was a key for the full back to be called up by Helmut Schön for the German team already in 1965, a time when his toughness in tackling duels earned him his "Eisenfuß" (iron foot) nickname.
Although Werder Bremen couldn"t recopy the success of 1965, and became rather a relegation battler than a title chaser, Höttges remained loyal to them and served in the Bundesliga until 1978, scoring 55 goals in his 420 appearances for the North German side.
His commitment to a half-a-day employment as sales representative for a manufacturer of sports goods forced him to hang up his boots that summer. Höttges put job before club, unwilling to give up his business, and got named "Ehrenspielführer" (honorary captain) due to his career efforts by Werder Bremen.
Later on he was showing up for some time on amateur level for Bad Oeynhausen"s South Carolina Oberbecksen and Turn- und Sportverein Achim, a club in a village near Bremen, where he settled down. He was partly coaching that club in an honorary capacity in the 1990s.
On 13 March 1965, Horst-Dieter Höttges debuted for West Germany in a friendly against Italy (1–1) at Hamburg"s Volksparkstadion.
The defeat of the West Germans in the politically and emotionally exaggerated match lead coach Helmut Schön to significant changes in his line-up and limiting Höttges to a bench role was one of those. His first of altogether three World Cup participations Höttges enjoyed in 1966 as part of the runner-up squad of (West) Germany in England.