Friedrich "Fritz" Szepan (2 September 1907 – 14 December 1974) was a German footballer in the period leading up to and including World War II.

[citation needed] To celebrate the 100th birthday of the club, the supporters voted the Schalker Jahrhundertelf, the "Team of the century": he was included in the midfield.

After leaving school without a degree, Szepan completed an apprenticeship as a tinsmith at Küppersbusch and also ensured that his company's apprentice football team was successful.

At the instigation of his friend Ernst Kuzorra, Szepan joined the first team squad of FC Schalke 04 in 1925 at the age of 18.

[3] He and his brother-in-law Ernst Kuzorra led Schalke during the era of the team's greatest success in the 1930s when it was the dominant club in Germany.

Because of his extraordinary understanding of the game and his leadership on the pitch, Szepan was subsequently ennobled as a "pre-war cymbal builder".

On 12 November 1950, Szepan and his brother-in-law Kuzorra officially bid farewell in a game against Clube Atlético Mineiro in Schalke's Glückauf-Kampfbahn.

His displays again reached the high level of his 1934 World Cup performance and by 1937 Szepan was the outstanding playmaker of the Breslau XI.

After his retirement in 1950, Szepan remained active as coach for Wuppertaler SV, Schalke 04 and Rot-Weiß Essen,[11] leading that club to the German championship in 1955.