Bundesliga: 1. FC Cologne: When the billy goats win the title in 1964
When the Bundesliga premiere was celebrated, Cologne and midfield director Wolfgang Overath took the trophy. FC is currently a long way from such placements, but things are going well.
For the Cologne fans there are holidays again this season. The Effzeh – as the club is affectionately called – plays internationally and is back on the big football stage. However, as a supporter of the Domstädter you need a thick skin: since 1998, the founding member of the Bundesliga has been relegated six times.
Cologne like Madrid: All in white for the title
Speaking of the Bundesliga: This premiered in 1963/64. 16 clubs from Germany belong to the new, highest division of the republic. Also present: 1. FC Köln with young star Wolfgang Overath. The specter of relegation didn’t play a role around the Müngersdorfer Stadion at the time – quite the opposite. With the midfield director in the starting XI, the kickers from the Rhine metropolis defeated 1. FC Saarbrücken in the first Bundesliga game in the club’s history and dominated the league from then on. The billy goats had a prominent role model. Like the Spanish top team Real Madrid, the players all dressed in white.
On the sidelines of the Cologne grandstand coach Georg Knöpfle, who leads his men from victory to victory. The group had already won the national title two years earlier. In the final, 1. FC Nuremberg had been defeated. By the way: The football world had changed in Augsburg in 1962, too. Helmut Haller, whose tenth anniversary of death last Tuesday, had moved from the Fugger city to Italy and was now lacing up his football boots for Bologna.
Winning the title against the defending champions: 1. FC Köln in 1964
But back to the Rhine. In the 1963/64 season, FC was unstoppable in the league. The cup winner with 1860 came from Munich and the top scorer with Uwe Seeler from Hamburg – otherwise the season was all about Cologne. The Red and Whites secured the championship on the third match day, of all things against the reigning title holder from Dortmund, who they had lost in the final a year earlier. After the 5:2 against BVB all dams broke in Cologne-Müngersdorf. The celebration in Geißbockheim overshadowed everything that had happened before. The following statement by a law enforcement officer is handed down late at night: “Hopefully FC will never be champions again.”
Before the 10th matchday: 1. FC Köln and FC Augsburg tied on points
It will be different. Although the club had to wait 15 years for the next triumph in the upper house, they then got the double of league and cup. The current team around coach Steffen Baumgart is a long way from this, but the European Cup nights make up for the loyal audience for many bad hours from the elevator days from 1998. But be careful: When Cologne last moved on the international stage, they promptly got down in the same season. However, the sixth largest sports club in the country is currently quite stable. Although they recently lost the Rhenish derby in Mönchengladbach 2:5, Effzeh’s eleven are just as good as FC Augsburg in terms of points with 13 points.