40 years ago Forest reached the unimaginable heights of the European Cup Semi Finals - well, it was certainly unimaginable two years earlier, anyway. Three and a half weeks before, I'd been to Wembley to watch Forest retain the League Cup and now, I was on my way to a packed out City Ground to watch what would turn out to be one of the best I'd ever see, a real Titanic struggle, the first leg at home to deutsche Meister, 1FC Köln.
Since our Wembley win, the signing of Trevor Francis, Clough & Taylor's first for 400 days, seemed to have re-galvanized the whole team and Forest had a massive resurgence in their league form. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too late to seriously challenge Liverpool whose form was even better than ours for most of the season, but we really did have a sniff of more silverware in the shape of "The Big Cup".
In this post, I have tried to catch up with three weeks of league activity during which I saw six games, including another new ground for me - a trip to Rotherham United (perish the thought!) - before focusing on Europe and Forest's famous German opponents from Cologne.
I have taught myself a bit of the history of the city, the club, and its involvement in German football which one might imagine is very long and has parallels to that in England. In that story, we'll see how 1 FC Köln (the "Billy Goats") were, in fact, the first ever champions of the Bundesliga and how, their second title win qualified them for this 1978-79 European Cup.
Finally, it gives me no pleasure at all to report on recent events of the current team under the management of Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane. It seems I was completely deluding myself that they might go up this season. Self-delusion, eh? Who would have thought it!?
Previously: Hopping over to Switzerland
In other results, Liverpool won as well to maintain their lead over us.
Here are the highlights of Arsenal 1 Manchester City 1...
I have absolutely no memory of the game itself, of course. But it still has significance for me because it was the 55th English League ground I'd visited. Pretty shoddy it was too..
There was almost a full programme's worth of matches that mid-week and, as Liverpool weren't involved in any of them it meant Forest closed the gap with Liverpool to just five points.
Forest were the in-form team at that time with ten points gained from their last 3 home/away games.
And Forest even stretched their lead at the top of the 1977-79 composite table too.
In other matches that day, Boro beat Spurs at Ayresome Park.
But any thoughts we might have had of retaining the title were deflated at Anfield as Liverpool brushed aside Arsenal 3-0. Forest were in great form but Liverpool were just getting into gear for their run-in to secure the title and their form would eclipse even our's.
Boro beat Spurs again, this time in London and West Bromwich Albion kept their pressure on Liverpool going with an impressive 1-0 win over fellow title challengers Everton.
Here's some highlights of Liverpool's awesome 3-0 win over the Gunners. This was their third league win on the trot.
Watford strolled to an easy 3-0 win, Ross Jenkins getting two and Roger Joslyn the other.
It was a result that seem to confirm that Watford would go on to win the Third Division title and their second successive promotion and that t' Stags would face their second successive relegation. But in the end it would be Shrewsbury who would top the division and Mansfield somehow managed to escape the drop. Walsall were the team that paid the price for Stag's improvement.
So, as Forest's attention turned away from the domestic league to the European Cup and all of four days off to prepare, there were another set of first division matches scheduled to be played that same week.
Five were played the night before and, again, Liverpool won 2-0 at Molineux to open up a four point gap over Forest with a game in hand. Only West Bromwich Albion still had realistic ambitions by this stage.
Boro won yet again as they hit one of their best spells of the season.
League table with ten games to go.
Forest's form was great, but unfortunately Liverpool's was even better. Look at Bolton and Boro too!
Forest stayed ahead of the 1977-78 composite table but Liverpool had a game in hand.
And, in the First Division leading scorers table, Forest now had four players in the top 24 although no-one was sticking 'em in quite like Frank Worthington.
Wednesday, 11th April 1979, Match 323:
What were the teams? I hear you ask...
Garry Birtles returned to the forward line alongside Tony Woodcock. Ian Bowyer stepped in for Brynn Gunn who'd been given a go at Chelsea at the weekend. Gemmill continued but would have to be replaced by Frank Clark in the game. John Robertson made his 134th consecutive start.
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Colin Barrett, 3 Ian Bowyer, 4 John McGovern, 5 Larry Lloyd, 6 David Needham, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Archie Gemmill, 9 Garry Birtles, 10 Tony Woodcock, 11 John Robertson.
Goals: Ian Bowyer 1, Garry Birtles 1, John Robertson 1.
1FC Köln
1 Harald Schumacher, 2 Harald Konopka, 3 Herbert Zimmermann, 4 Bernd Schuster, 5 Roland Gerber, 6 Bernhard Cullmann, 7 Roger Van Gool, 8 Jurgen Glowacz, 9 Dieter Müller, 10 Herbert Neumann, 11 Dieter Prestin. Goals : Roger Van Gool 1, Dieter Müller1, Yasuhiko Okudera 1. Substitutions: Yasuhiko Okudera(12) came on for Jurgen Glowacz (8).
Attendance: 40,838
This was Forest's 50th game of the season. Despite a pretty slow and barren start, Forest had sprung into life and were really on great form again. Three defeats in 50 matches is pretty good, by anyone's standards. Unfortunately for Forest, Liverpool's standards for this season and the next few, would surpass even this!
Since our Wembley win, the signing of Trevor Francis, Clough & Taylor's first for 400 days, seemed to have re-galvanized the whole team and Forest had a massive resurgence in their league form. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too late to seriously challenge Liverpool whose form was even better than ours for most of the season, but we really did have a sniff of more silverware in the shape of "The Big Cup".
In this post, I have tried to catch up with three weeks of league activity during which I saw six games, including another new ground for me - a trip to Rotherham United (perish the thought!) - before focusing on Europe and Forest's famous German opponents from Cologne.
I have taught myself a bit of the history of the city, the club, and its involvement in German football which one might imagine is very long and has parallels to that in England. In that story, we'll see how 1 FC Köln (the "Billy Goats") were, in fact, the first ever champions of the Bundesliga and how, their second title win qualified them for this 1978-79 European Cup.
Finally, it gives me no pleasure at all to report on recent events of the current team under the management of Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane. It seems I was completely deluding myself that they might go up this season. Self-delusion, eh? Who would have thought it!?
Previously: Hopping over to Switzerland
League Form Returns
In the Grasshopper Club Zurich post I forgot to mention that there were a few first division games that took place in the same week that Forest were clinching their place in the European Cup semi finals.
So here they are, just for completion's sake. The key match there is Liverpool's 2-0 win against Wolves which ended an uncharacteristic run of three games without a win (all of them drawn) and moved them back into the driving seat in the race to the title.
Forest, for their part, seemed to be doing everything they could to narrow the gap and seriously challenge Liverpool. Since the quarter final victory against Grasshoppers, Forest's form was very impressive. They played five league games, winning four and drawing the other and they scored 17 goals and conceded just two.
Here's a quick whiz through them...
Here's a quick whiz through them...
Saturday, 24th March 1979, Match 317: Division One, Nottingham Forest 3 Coventry City 0 (City Ground 158, Nottingham Forest 246 Coventry City 7)
They started with a solid 3-0 home win against the Sky Blues who, although not challenging for the title like that had last season, were still a pretty decent mid table side.
Here's the programme.
Here are the teams. Trevor Francis made his fourth full appearance for the club, this time taking the place of Archie Gemmill. Francis failed to score again.
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Colin Barrett, 4 John McGovern, 5 Larry Lloyd, 6 David Needham, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Trevor Francis, 9 Garry Birtles, 10 Tony Woodcock, 11 John Robertson.
Goals: David Needham 1, Garry Birtles 1, Tony Woodcock 1.
Coventry City
1 Les Sealey, 2 Mick Coop, 3 Bobby McDonald, 4 Terry Yorath, 5 Brian Roberts, 6 Jim Hagan, 7 Donato Nardiello, 8 Andy Blair, 9 Gary Thompson, 10 Barry Powell, 11 Tommy Hutchison.
Substitutions: Steve Hunt(12) came on for Tommy Hutchison (11).
Attendance: 29,706
In other results, Liverpool won as well to maintain their lead over us.
Here are the highlights of Arsenal 1 Manchester City 1...
Tuesday, 27th March 1979, Match 318: Division Three,Rotherham United 1 Gillingham 1 (Millmoor 1, Rotherham United 2 Gillingham 2)
In midweek I continued my football craziness with a drive up the M1 to visit Rotherham United's ground for the first time. In those days they played at Millmoor. I still have yet to visit their brand spanking new stadium called "New York Stadium" (because of steel links to the Big Apple, I understand) and I am very glad I wasn't there last Saturday - sadly, more on that at the end.
I have absolutely no memory of the game itself, of course. But it still has significance for me because it was the 55th English League ground I'd visited. Pretty shoddy it was too..
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| Millmoor |
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| 55th Ground up |
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| Getting closer |
Wednesday, 28th March: 1979, Match 319: Division One, Nottingham Forest 6 Chelsea 0 (City Ground 159, Nottingham Forest 247 Chelsea 5)
The next night, back in Nottingham, I had a treat. The short trip to Trentside to watch Forest thrash Chelsea 6-0 with a rare hat-trick from Martin O'Neill but still no goal from the million pound man. This was a match that was originally scheduled to have been played in early December but it was many games called off that day as the big freeze swept over England. We ended up at Northampton that day to watch Portsmouth win 2-0.
This was John Robertson's 130th consecutive appearance for Forest, now well into the second half of his run of 239 successive first team appearances for the reds.
The program was not redesigned in those days so I won't bother including it here. And, as it was a midweek game, I could find no video either. All I have, then, is the Guardian match report the next day.
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Ian Bowyer, 4 John McGovern, 5 Larry Lloyd, 6 David Needham, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Trevor Francis, 9 Garry Birtles, 10 Tony Woodcock, 11 John Robertson.
Goals: Martin O'Neill 3, Garry Birtles 1, Tony Woodcock 2.
Chelsea
1 Petar Borota, 2 Graham Wilkins, 3 David Stride, 4 Eamon Bannon, 5 John Sitton, 6 Michael Nutton, 7 Ron Harris, 8 Ray Wilkins, 9 Trevor Aylott, 10 Tommy Langley, 11 Ian Britton.
Substitutions: Gary Stanley(12) came on for Graham Wilkins (2).
Attendance: 24,514
There was almost a full programme's worth of matches that mid-week and, as Liverpool weren't involved in any of them it meant Forest closed the gap with Liverpool to just five points.
Forest were the in-form team at that time with ten points gained from their last 3 home/away games.
And Forest even stretched their lead at the top of the 1977-79 composite table too.
Saturday, 31st March: 1979, Match 320: Division One, Nottingham Forest 1 Bolton Wanderers 1 (City Ground 160, Nottingham Forest 248 Bolton 4)
Three days later, I had another trip to the City Ground to watch Forest get surprisingly held by struggling Bolton Wanderers. In fact Bolton were winning from the 36th minute until the 65th when Trevor Francis finally got his name on the score sheet for Forest in his sixth full appearance. The goal was set up by Martin O'Neill.
Unsurprisingly Cloughie and Taylor played the same team that had slaughtered Chelsea 6-0.
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Ian Bowyer, 4 John McGovern, 5 Larry Lloyd, 6 David Needham, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Trevor Francis, 9 Garry Birtles, 10 Tony Woodcock, 11 John Robertson.
Goals: Trevor Francis 1.
Bolton Wanderers
1 Jim McDonagh, 2 Peter Nicholson, 3 Tony Dunne, 4 Roy Greaves, 5 Paul Jones, 6 Mike Walsh, 7 Willie Morgan, 8 Neil Whatmore, 9 Alan Gowling, 10 Frank Worthington, 11 Brian Smith.
Goals : Alan Gowling 1.
Attendance : 29,015
In other matches that day, Boro beat Spurs at Ayresome Park.
Wednesday, April 4th 1979: Match 321: Division One, Nottingham Forest 4 Aston Villa 0 (City Ground 161, Nottingham Forest 249 Aston Villa 19)
Another Wednesday night, another Forest home match, another rescheduled game. This time it was midlands rivals Aston Villa's turn to "Cum daan tut City Graan n tek a battarin". 4-0 this time with goals from Martin O'Neill, Trevor Francis and Tony Woodcock.
Garry Birtles missed the game with "a chill" and so Archie Gemmill found himself back in the team with Trevor Francis reverting to an out and out striker again.
Garry Birtles missed the game with "a chill" and so Archie Gemmill found himself back in the team with Trevor Francis reverting to an out and out striker again.
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| Forest v Villa: Another rescheduled match |
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Ian Bowyer, 4 John McGovern, 5 Larry Lloyd, 6 David Needham, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Archie Gemmill, 9 Trevor Francis, 10 Tony Woodcock, 11 John Robertson.
Goals: Martin O'Neill 1, Trevor Francis 1, Tony Woodcock 1.
Aston Villa
1 Jimmy Rimmer, 2 John Gidman, 3 John Gregory, 4 Allan Evans, 5 Kenneth McNaught, 6 Dennis Mortimer, 7 Tommy Craig, 8 Brian Little, 9 Andy Gray, 10 Alex Cropley, 11 Ken Swain.
Attendance: 27,066
Saturday, 7th April: Chelsea 1 Nottingham Forest 3
The following Saturday, The reds were playing Chelsea again, just ten days after the 6-0 mauling. The F.A. must have heard the Trent End sing "Can we play you every week?" and arranged it as best they could.
O'Neill and Francis were both, again on the scoresheet as Forest cantered to a 3-1 win. So O'Neill had scored five goals in four games and Francis three goals in three.
Chelsea
1 Petar Borota, 2 Graham Wilkins, 4 John Sitton, 5 Micky Droy, 6 Michael Nutton, 7 Ron Harris, 8 Ray Wilkins, 9 Trevor Aylott, 10 Tommy Langley, 11 Lee Frost, (12 Gary Stanley.)
Goals: Ray Wilkins 1.
Nottingham Forest
1 Peter Shilton, 2 Viv Anderson, 3 Bryn Gunn, 4 John McGovern, 5 Larry Lloyd, 6 David Needham, 7 Martin O'Neill, 8 Archie Gemmill, 9 Trevor Francis, 10 Ian Bowyer, 11 John Robertson.
Goals : Martin O'Neill 1, Trevor Francis 1, Ian Bowyer 1.
Substitutions: John O'Hare(12) came on for Archie Gemmill (8).
Attendance: 29,213
But any thoughts we might have had of retaining the title were deflated at Anfield as Liverpool brushed aside Arsenal 3-0. Forest were in great form but Liverpool were just getting into gear for their run-in to secure the title and their form would eclipse even our's.
Boro beat Spurs again, this time in London and West Bromwich Albion kept their pressure on Liverpool going with an impressive 1-0 win over fellow title challengers Everton.
Here's some highlights of Liverpool's awesome 3-0 win over the Gunners. This was their third league win on the trot.
Saturday, April 7th 1979: Match 322: Division Three, Mansfield Town 0 Watford 3 (Field Mill 55, Mansfield Town 58 Watford 3)
I missed the trip to Chelsea - probably for fear of getting my head kicked in - so I paid a rare visit to my original (but brief) stomping ground, Field Mill, to watch Mansfield play Watford as they were storming to their second successive promotion.Watford strolled to an easy 3-0 win, Ross Jenkins getting two and Roger Joslyn the other.
It was a result that seem to confirm that Watford would go on to win the Third Division title and their second successive promotion and that t' Stags would face their second successive relegation. But in the end it would be Shrewsbury who would top the division and Mansfield somehow managed to escape the drop. Walsall were the team that paid the price for Stag's improvement.
So, as Forest's attention turned away from the domestic league to the European Cup and all of four days off to prepare, there were another set of first division matches scheduled to be played that same week.
Five were played the night before and, again, Liverpool won 2-0 at Molineux to open up a four point gap over Forest with a game in hand. Only West Bromwich Albion still had realistic ambitions by this stage.
Boro won yet again as they hit one of their best spells of the season.
League table with ten games to go.
Forest stayed ahead of the 1977-78 composite table but Liverpool had a game in hand.
And, in the First Division leading scorers table, Forest now had four players in the top 24 although no-one was sticking 'em in quite like Frank Worthington.
European Cup Semi Final: Nottingham Forest v Cologne
Right. Enough of the First Division. After a five week break, Forest were back "in Europe", at least mentally, if not geographically, in continental Europe.
I feel a bit embarrassed that at the time I wasn't very interested in our opponents. At least I didn't really research much about the city or the club. Like many Forest fans, I suspect, I just assumed "German champions. This is going to be tough". And so it proved.
But first, making up for my earlier ignorance, here's the result of at least a little research into the city of Cologne (or Köln in German) and their quite famous football club.
I feel a bit embarrassed that at the time I wasn't very interested in our opponents. At least I didn't really research much about the city or the club. Like many Forest fans, I suspect, I just assumed "German champions. This is going to be tough". And so it proved.
But first, making up for my earlier ignorance, here's the result of at least a little research into the city of Cologne (or Köln in German) and their quite famous football club.
Cologne or Köln? Historical Summary
According to Professor Google, Cologne (I'll use the English name to start with for reasons you'll soon see) began in the 1st Century AD. as Roman colony. It was originally called "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium", a bit of a mouthful, which basically means something like "the colony of Claudius' wife Agrippa".
It would seem that the origin of the word "colony" comes from these Roman Outposts. "Colonia" in Latin and and hence "Cologne" in French and we used their name for the city in English. This colony was built in honour of Agrippina the younger, the 4th wife of Emperor Claudius, who followed the infamous Caligula and ruled for thirteen years from AD 41. The story is he had the settlement built in response to a request from her who originated from a nearby village in an area controlled by the Germanic tribe the Ubii. This has to be one of the most impressive "nagging wife" stories!
As the Roman empire began to recede, the colony was attacked by local "ripuarian" Franks (Franks of the riverside) and was finally taken over by them in 462 AD. Although largely ruled by Frankish people for almost 450 years, the early middle ages was notable for a series of take overs and counter- take overs by local peoples. By the early part of the 10th century, Cologne had become established as part of the Holy Roman Empire, a largely German-speaking territory that tried to recreate the grandeur and legacy of the old Roman Empire, now heavily under the influence of Catholic Church. The magnificent old Gothic cathedral that the city is famous for was started soon after this, in 1248.
From the 16th Century, Cologne became a significant part of the Hanseatic League, a string of cities from London in the west to Riga, Tallinn and Novgorod in the east, that traded with each other and improved the prosperity of all.
One rapidly growing element of that commerce in those days was the sale of beer and the area became well known for a style that is still famous today - Kölsch beer - although it didn't start getting labelled that way until the early 20th century.
After 225 years, the building of the cathedral was stopped and only resumed in the 19th century, after a brief twenty year period (1794-1814) when the area was controlled by Napolean's France. Soon after the reconquest (by Prussia, not Germany) work recommenced. It was only completed in 1880. So that's 632 years to build a bloody church!
It's the most visited tourist site in Germany, apparently, and, of course, it was on my list to visit it too when I went to Cologne for the second leg.
It would seem that the origin of the word "colony" comes from these Roman Outposts. "Colonia" in Latin and and hence "Cologne" in French and we used their name for the city in English. This colony was built in honour of Agrippina the younger, the 4th wife of Emperor Claudius, who followed the infamous Caligula and ruled for thirteen years from AD 41. The story is he had the settlement built in response to a request from her who originated from a nearby village in an area controlled by the Germanic tribe the Ubii. This has to be one of the most impressive "nagging wife" stories!
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| Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium |
As the Roman empire began to recede, the colony was attacked by local "ripuarian" Franks (Franks of the riverside) and was finally taken over by them in 462 AD. Although largely ruled by Frankish people for almost 450 years, the early middle ages was notable for a series of take overs and counter- take overs by local peoples. By the early part of the 10th century, Cologne had become established as part of the Holy Roman Empire, a largely German-speaking territory that tried to recreate the grandeur and legacy of the old Roman Empire, now heavily under the influence of Catholic Church. The magnificent old Gothic cathedral that the city is famous for was started soon after this, in 1248.
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| "Holy" Roman Empire - the one before wasn't holy |
From the 16th Century, Cologne became a significant part of the Hanseatic League, a string of cities from London in the west to Riga, Tallinn and Novgorod in the east, that traded with each other and improved the prosperity of all.
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| Ein Kölsch Bier Bitte |
One rapidly growing element of that commerce in those days was the sale of beer and the area became well known for a style that is still famous today - Kölsch beer - although it didn't start getting labelled that way until the early 20th century.
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| Medieval Koln |
After 225 years, the building of the cathedral was stopped and only resumed in the 19th century, after a brief twenty year period (1794-1814) when the area was controlled by Napolean's France. Soon after the reconquest (by Prussia, not Germany) work recommenced. It was only completed in 1880. So that's 632 years to build a bloody church!
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| Kolner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) |
The History of the Bundesliga and 1FC Cologne
So, what about football? When I started writing this piece I had imagined that after a brief history of the city of Cologne I'd dovetail into the plot the origin of the Bundesliga and the start of 1FC Cologne. By the way, as a sign of respect, from now on, I am going to refer to them as 1FC Köln.
I still have images in my head of the German national team with the European Championship in 1996 arriving back in Frankfurt and gloating in what seemed to me a rather smug and horrible way by singing "Football's coming home" to their fans...
Thanks, Jurgen!
At the time, I remember thinking "oh well, maybe it was a bit arrogant of us to sing the lyric in the first place." Maybe, I imagined, the Germans had a good claim to being the home of football too. If so, who could blame them for claiming the lyric (and therefore actually being the 'joint' home of football?)
So, as I prepared myself to write this post, I was anticipating learning and then writing about football's early origins in Germany and how it might have paralleled that of England. Maybe they had come up with similar rules of the game around 1848 like we did in Cambridge? Maybe they had their own Pokal which started in the early 1870s and their own Fussballiga in the late 1880s?
Nope. I admit to being surprised how late football developed in Germany, although I admit my source was only the (German language) Wikipedia page "Fußball in Deutschland."
It seems that the very first 'proper' football (and not rugby, or some other variant) played in Germany was in Lüneburg, near Hamburg in 1875, ironically under the guidance of an Australian from Adelaide (but born in England) called Richard Twopenny who was a leading light of AFL in South Australia.
It wasn't until the 1880s that the game started to get popular and one of the first German football clubs was formed in Berlin in 1888, called BFC Germania, apparently the oldest club still playing in Germany. (ahem, that's 28 years after Sheffield FC) It wasn't until 1903 when the German Football Association formed (40 years after the F.A.) and the around the same time, the first German championship was played, won by VfB Leipzig (31 years after the first F.A. Cup.)
Ironically, for a club called 1.F.C. Köln, they weren't the first club in the city. Not by a long way. Ultimately, in 1948, the club would form from the result of a merger of two local teams both of which were formed in the early part of the century.
Kölner BC (Ballspeil club) was formed in 1901 and SpVgg, themselves the result of a merger, formed in 1919. It was pretty complicated. Spielvereinigung 1907 Köln-Sülz was established in 1907 as Sülzer Sportverein and on 1 January 1919 merged with Fußball Club 1908 Hertha Sülz to form SpVgg. Sülz is a suburb of south-west Cologne.
This simplifies it a bit...
The distinction of the oldest club in the city seems to fall to a club called Kölner FC 1899 which won the first regional football championship of Western Germany in 1903 and again three years later. There was no national league at the time (and wouldn't be until 1963 - that's 75 years after the Football League!) - and all these clubs (and some more besides) played in the Western German Football Championship. Kölner BC won it in 1912. The winners of the regional leagues would then play in a knock out competition against other regional winners across Germany but Kölner BC or SpVgg were never successful.
After the first world war, Cologne and the surrounding area were occupied by British forces under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, until 1926, when it was given to Germany. In this period, it seems Kölner BC continued to participate in the regional competition and they were runners up in 1921 and 1922.
From 1933, despite the rise of the National Socialists, German football continued to be played regionally, in so-called "Gauliga" (regional leagues).
The champions of the 16 regions would then play in a finals knock-out tournament. This format pretty much continued from 1933 until 1945 although as the Nazis annexed other territories, extra regions were added.
SpVgg were not even the top club in Cologne during this period (that distinction, it seems, would go to another club VfL 04 Köln - don't ask?) but they played most of their seasons in the Mittelrhein (Mid-Rheine) liga.
Incidentally, in the south, (the gauliga Bayern) football was dominated, not by Bayern Munich as it is these days, but by 1FC Nuremberg (where my grandma used to live) and SpVgg Fürth.
Cologne was a major target for allied bombing in World War II. By the end pretty much the only building left intact was the cathedral.
Rising from the ashes of the city after the war, in 1948, finally came 1 F.C. Köln. In their early years they played in what was called the Oberliga West, which ran for 16 years from 1947 until 1963.
The player-manager of the club in those first few post-war years was Hennes Weisweiler and he would become immortalized into the club folklore when a circus entrepreneur donated a billy goat called "Hennes" to the club as a mascot. By the time they played Forest, Weisweiler was back at Koln for his third spell, after a couple of years as national coach and even a couple at Barcelona.
Borussia Dortmund won the Oberliga West most (6) times but 1FC Köln won it second-most with 5 titles, including the last 4.
1FC Köln were peaking at exactly the time as the Bundesliga was formed. Their fourth straight oberliga west title win saw them qualify for the new, all-German league, the famous Bundesliga, which only started in 1963 (so much for my naive thought that it might have mirrored the English equivalent from 1888!)
And, it would be the team from the west that won the very first Bundesliga, in 1963-64.
The first Bundesliga table looked like this, with 16 teams.
If, like me, you were wondering who the Dickens Meidericher SV was, it's just another name for MSV Duisburg. That's so satisfying to know, isn't it?
Here's a lovely historical clip of them winning the title which even features Hennes the famous billy Goat.
1FC Köln finished runners up the next season but, of course, their title qualified them for the European Cup. 1FC Köln made it to the quarter finals, beating Albanian champions Partizani 2-0 at home after getting a 0-0 draw away in the first round and Greek champions, Panathinaikos 3-2 on aggregate in the second.
1FC Köln drew English champions, Liverpool in the quarter final. It was a very close affair with both legs ending 0-0.
So, the game went to a replay. The third tie was played in Rotterdam and also ended in a draw, this time 2-2. You have to feel a little sorry for 1FC Köln as they came back from 2-0 down to equalise. It seems bizarre from today's era of penalty shootouts but in those days the game was decided on a coin toss! Alas, for the Billy Goats, the tie went the way of Liverpool.
Highlights of the replay - including the dramatic coin toss at the end - here...
Liverpool would lose to eventual winners, Inter-Milan in the semi finals.
1FC Köln's next silverware was in 1968 when they won the German Cup beating VfL Bochum 4-1 in the final.
They won the cup a second time in 1977, beating Hertha Berlin 1-0 in a replay.
1FC Köln would not win the Bundesliga again until 1978 to qualify, like Forest, for the 1978-79 European Cup. They only won the title on goal difference - with a margin of just three goals - from Borussia Moenchengladbach.
1FC Koln actually did the double that season, as they won the German cup too, beating Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-0.
So, once again, doing a bit of research demonstrated how naive my personal expectations were. The history football in Germany, in terms of a national league, stretches back only from 1964.
So, in 1996, football hardly came home then, did it, meine Freunde?
I know you're dying to know, like I was. Of the mere 15 seasons that the Bundesliga had been going, how did it compare with other European leagues in terms of "openness" back in 1978?
I still have images in my head of the German national team with the European Championship in 1996 arriving back in Frankfurt and gloating in what seemed to me a rather smug and horrible way by singing "Football's coming home" to their fans...
Thanks, Jurgen!
At the time, I remember thinking "oh well, maybe it was a bit arrogant of us to sing the lyric in the first place." Maybe, I imagined, the Germans had a good claim to being the home of football too. If so, who could blame them for claiming the lyric (and therefore actually being the 'joint' home of football?)
So, as I prepared myself to write this post, I was anticipating learning and then writing about football's early origins in Germany and how it might have paralleled that of England. Maybe they had come up with similar rules of the game around 1848 like we did in Cambridge? Maybe they had their own Pokal which started in the early 1870s and their own Fussballiga in the late 1880s?
Nope. I admit to being surprised how late football developed in Germany, although I admit my source was only the (German language) Wikipedia page "Fußball in Deutschland."
It seems that the very first 'proper' football (and not rugby, or some other variant) played in Germany was in Lüneburg, near Hamburg in 1875, ironically under the guidance of an Australian from Adelaide (but born in England) called Richard Twopenny who was a leading light of AFL in South Australia.
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| This blady bloke put his tuppence into German football |
It wasn't until the 1880s that the game started to get popular and one of the first German football clubs was formed in Berlin in 1888, called BFC Germania, apparently the oldest club still playing in Germany. (ahem, that's 28 years after Sheffield FC) It wasn't until 1903 when the German Football Association formed (40 years after the F.A.) and the around the same time, the first German championship was played, won by VfB Leipzig (31 years after the first F.A. Cup.)
Ironically, for a club called 1.F.C. Köln, they weren't the first club in the city. Not by a long way. Ultimately, in 1948, the club would form from the result of a merger of two local teams both of which were formed in the early part of the century.
Kölner BC (Ballspeil club) was formed in 1901 and SpVgg, themselves the result of a merger, formed in 1919. It was pretty complicated. Spielvereinigung 1907 Köln-Sülz was established in 1907 as Sülzer Sportverein and on 1 January 1919 merged with Fußball Club 1908 Hertha Sülz to form SpVgg. Sülz is a suburb of south-west Cologne.
This simplifies it a bit...
The distinction of the oldest club in the city seems to fall to a club called Kölner FC 1899 which won the first regional football championship of Western Germany in 1903 and again three years later. There was no national league at the time (and wouldn't be until 1963 - that's 75 years after the Football League!) - and all these clubs (and some more besides) played in the Western German Football Championship. Kölner BC won it in 1912. The winners of the regional leagues would then play in a knock out competition against other regional winners across Germany but Kölner BC or SpVgg were never successful.
After the first world war, Cologne and the surrounding area were occupied by British forces under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, until 1926, when it was given to Germany. In this period, it seems Kölner BC continued to participate in the regional competition and they were runners up in 1921 and 1922.
From 1933, despite the rise of the National Socialists, German football continued to be played regionally, in so-called "Gauliga" (regional leagues).
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| "Gauliga" System of regional leagues under the Nazis |
The champions of the 16 regions would then play in a finals knock-out tournament. This format pretty much continued from 1933 until 1945 although as the Nazis annexed other territories, extra regions were added.
SpVgg were not even the top club in Cologne during this period (that distinction, it seems, would go to another club VfL 04 Köln - don't ask?) but they played most of their seasons in the Mittelrhein (Mid-Rheine) liga.
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| Cologne clubs involved in the Gauliga Mittelrheine 1933-45 |
Incidentally, in the south, (the gauliga Bayern) football was dominated, not by Bayern Munich as it is these days, but by 1FC Nuremberg (where my grandma used to live) and SpVgg Fürth.
Cologne was a major target for allied bombing in World War II. By the end pretty much the only building left intact was the cathedral.
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| Cologne all but destroyed in World War II |
Rising from the ashes of the city after the war, in 1948, finally came 1 F.C. Köln. In their early years they played in what was called the Oberliga West, which ran for 16 years from 1947 until 1963.
The player-manager of the club in those first few post-war years was Hennes Weisweiler and he would become immortalized into the club folklore when a circus entrepreneur donated a billy goat called "Hennes" to the club as a mascot. By the time they played Forest, Weisweiler was back at Koln for his third spell, after a couple of years as national coach and even a couple at Barcelona.
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| Hennes - the coach |
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| Hennes - the Billy Goat |
Borussia Dortmund won the Oberliga West most (6) times but 1FC Köln won it second-most with 5 titles, including the last 4.
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| The Oberliga West ran for 16 seasons. Here is the composite table |
1FC Köln were peaking at exactly the time as the Bundesliga was formed. Their fourth straight oberliga west title win saw them qualify for the new, all-German league, the famous Bundesliga, which only started in 1963 (so much for my naive thought that it might have mirrored the English equivalent from 1888!)
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| Last Oberliga West Title 1962-63 |
And, it would be the team from the west that won the very first Bundesliga, in 1963-64.
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| 1FC Koln - the First Bundesliga Champions |
The first Bundesliga table looked like this, with 16 teams.
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| First Bundesliga Title 1963-64 |
If, like me, you were wondering who the Dickens Meidericher SV was, it's just another name for MSV Duisburg. That's so satisfying to know, isn't it?
Here's a lovely historical clip of them winning the title which even features Hennes the famous billy Goat.
1FC Köln finished runners up the next season but, of course, their title qualified them for the European Cup. 1FC Köln made it to the quarter finals, beating Albanian champions Partizani 2-0 at home after getting a 0-0 draw away in the first round and Greek champions, Panathinaikos 3-2 on aggregate in the second.
1FC Köln drew English champions, Liverpool in the quarter final. It was a very close affair with both legs ending 0-0.
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| Liverpool 0 1FC Koln 0 |
So, the game went to a replay. The third tie was played in Rotterdam and also ended in a draw, this time 2-2. You have to feel a little sorry for 1FC Köln as they came back from 2-0 down to equalise. It seems bizarre from today's era of penalty shootouts but in those days the game was decided on a coin toss! Alas, for the Billy Goats, the tie went the way of Liverpool.
Highlights of the replay - including the dramatic coin toss at the end - here...
Liverpool would lose to eventual winners, Inter-Milan in the semi finals.
1FC Köln's next silverware was in 1968 when they won the German Cup beating VfL Bochum 4-1 in the final.
They won the cup a second time in 1977, beating Hertha Berlin 1-0 in a replay.
1FC Köln would not win the Bundesliga again until 1978 to qualify, like Forest, for the 1978-79 European Cup. They only won the title on goal difference - with a margin of just three goals - from Borussia Moenchengladbach.
1FC Koln actually did the double that season, as they won the German cup too, beating Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-0.
So, once again, doing a bit of research demonstrated how naive my personal expectations were. The history football in Germany, in terms of a national league, stretches back only from 1964.
So, in 1996, football hardly came home then, did it, meine Freunde?
I know you're dying to know, like I was. Of the mere 15 seasons that the Bundesliga had been going, how did it compare with other European leagues in terms of "openness" back in 1978?
How open was the Bundesliga until 1978?
Even though this was 1. FC Köln's second title win and seven clubs had won the title altogether, including Eintracht Braunschweig, Werder Bremen, 1860 Munich and even 1. FC Nürnberg, the Bundesliga was already being dominated by two clubs: Bayern Munich were one of them, of course, but perhaps surprisingly the most titles at that time had been won by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
With seven teams winning the German championship in just 15 years, it did make the competition fairly open-looking. In fact, according to my calculations, the Bundesliga, in 1979 was the second most open league in Europe. I think it's a fair bet that this was about to change, though. We'll see?
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| Only 15 years of a national league |
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| German Pie - quite a spread! |
With seven teams winning the German championship in just 15 years, it did make the competition fairly open-looking. In fact, according to my calculations, the Bundesliga, in 1979 was the second most open league in Europe. I think it's a fair bet that this was about to change, though. We'll see?
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| Bundesliga - 2nd most open in 1979 |
1FC Köln's passage to the semi-finals
1. FC Köln's passage to the semi-finals was probably a little easier than Forest's. In the first round they brushed off the challenge of Icelandic champions Ikranes 5-2 on aggregate and in the second they made light work of Bulgarian champions, Lokomotiv Sofia, winning 5-0 on aggregate.
In the quarter finals, the German champions overcame the Scottish title winners, Glasgow Rangers 2-1 on aggregate. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that in the late 1970s, playing the Scottish champions was probably a more formidable prospect than it is today.
So, 1FC Köln were drawn to play us in the semi final and for the second time we cursed our luck as, surely, the two weakest teams, Malmo and Austria Vienna were in the other semi final.
Stories also emerged that 1. FC Köln were really taking the game seriously and so this did not bode well either.
In the quarter finals, the German champions overcame the Scottish title winners, Glasgow Rangers 2-1 on aggregate. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that in the late 1970s, playing the Scottish champions was probably a more formidable prospect than it is today.
So, 1FC Köln were drawn to play us in the semi final and for the second time we cursed our luck as, surely, the two weakest teams, Malmo and Austria Vienna were in the other semi final.
Stories also emerged that 1. FC Köln were really taking the game seriously and so this did not bode well either.
Wednesday, 11th April 1979, Match 323:
European Cup Semi Final (First Leg)
Nottingham Forest 3 1FC Köln 3
(City Ground 162, Nottingham Forest 250, 1 F.C. Köln 1)
That was a big night of European Cup football, that was. If only. If only I could turn the clock back and relive it again. It's so frustrating that all that remains in my head are the faintest shadows of what it was like. It really is the saddest part of getting old and, ultimately, dying. All those experiences, innocent joys, naive thrills and unwarranted fears all faded into oblivion - even now. And, for most, once you hang your boots up, they're gone forever never to be retrieved. This is, of course, why I try to write down these desperate scratchings of nostalgia somewhere - to help me remember what I went through so I can at least cling on to what I do remember, and if anyone else out there is the slightest bit interested - maybe they might contribute with a comment or two and maybe it might bring a smile to one of two faces in the future. Maybe the interweb will keep them around for a while longer, after I have gone.
Blimey. That quickly got a bit morbid!
What were the teams? I hear you ask...
The Teams
Trevor Francis was still ineligible to play in the match as UEFA rules stipulated that a player couldn't play for a club he'd just signed for for three months. It's fair enough really, otherwise the biggest wealthiest clubs could buy players to fill injury gaps at the last minute - I guess, as a kind of forerunner to the financial Fair Play rules of today.
Garry Birtles returned to the forward line alongside Tony Woodcock. Ian Bowyer stepped in for Brynn Gunn who'd been given a go at Chelsea at the weekend. Gemmill continued but would have to be replaced by Frank Clark in the game. John Robertson made his 134th consecutive start.
In goal for 1FC Köln was Harald (aka Toni) Schumacher the German international. He made 422 appearances for 1FC Köln and 76 for West Germany. Another stalwart, another Harald. Tough tackling Right back Knopka played over 300 times for the club but was only capped twice for West Germany. Center back Herbert Zimmermann also made over 200 appearances for the club and 14 for the national team. The other defenders were the relatively unsuccessful Roland Gerber and Dieter Prestin.
In midfield, 1FC Köln had the quite famous Bernd Schuster. Although he only played for the club 60 times he had a great career in Spain playing 316 times for the three biggest clubs Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico. Bernd is the same age as me and is still managing (in China) his tenth club.
In midfield, 1FC Köln had the quite famous Bernd Schuster. Although he only played for the club 60 times he had a great career in Spain playing 316 times for the three biggest clubs Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico. Bernd is the same age as me and is still managing (in China) his tenth club.
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| Bernd Schuster at his peak. He made 170 appearances (and scored 63 goals) for Barcelona |
Another regular for the Billy Goats was Berhard Cullmann who made over 300 appearances for the club as well as 40 for West Germany. More experience in midfield took the shape of Herbert Neumann who made over 170 appearances for the club. The fourth midfielder in the side that night was Jurgen Glowacz who was born in Köln and who is the current vice president of the club. It would be Glowacz who would make way for the player that made the headlines the next day. Yasihiko Okudera, as a Japanese import, was a bit of a rarity - to say the least - in the day. Okudera's last gasp equaliser was the first ever goal scored by an Asian national in the European Cup. He'd make 75 appearances for 1FC Köln before a fairly long playing career that included over 150 games for Werder Bremen. Okudera made 32 international appearances for Japan.
Up front, 1FC Köln had two pretty dangerous strikers in the Belgian Roger Van Gool and Dieter Müller. Both scored. Müller, in particular was prolific for the Billy Goats. He scored 159 goals in 258 appearances for the club, including six in one game (a 7-2 win over Werder Bremen.) He would also make 12 appearances for West Germany, scoring 9 goals. Van Gool, after making almost 200 appearances in the Belgian League for FC Antwerp and then Clubbe Bruge, he joined 1FC Köln where he scored 28 goals in 96 appearances. The next season Van Gool played in England for First Division Coventry City. He was not very successful and made only 17 appearances (none against Forest) and didn't score a single goal.
Up front, 1FC Köln had two pretty dangerous strikers in the Belgian Roger Van Gool and Dieter Müller. Both scored. Müller, in particular was prolific for the Billy Goats. He scored 159 goals in 258 appearances for the club, including six in one game (a 7-2 win over Werder Bremen.) He would also make 12 appearances for West Germany, scoring 9 goals. Van Gool, after making almost 200 appearances in the Belgian League for FC Antwerp and then Clubbe Bruge, he joined 1FC Köln where he scored 28 goals in 96 appearances. The next season Van Gool played in England for First Division Coventry City. He was not very successful and made only 17 appearances (none against Forest) and didn't score a single goal.
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| 1FC Köln 1978-79 |
Nottingham Forest
Substitutions: Frank Clark (12) came on for Archie Gemmill(8).
1FC Köln
1 Harald Schumacher, 2 Harald Konopka, 3 Herbert Zimmermann, 4 Bernd Schuster, 5 Roland Gerber, 6 Bernhard Cullmann, 7 Roger Van Gool, 8 Jurgen Glowacz, 9 Dieter Müller, 10 Herbert Neumann, 11 Dieter Prestin. Goals : Roger Van Gool 1, Dieter Müller1, Yasuhiko Okudera 1. Substitutions: Yasuhiko Okudera(12) came on for Jurgen Glowacz (8).
Attendance: 40,838
The programme
Forest continued with their colorful UEFA flagged front cover.
The Match
It was a classic match with 1FC Köln going into an early, shock 2-0 lead, only for Forest to claw their way back and seem to clinch the home win when John Robertson put us 3-2 up, most uncharacteristically, with a diving header. But tragedy deemed to strike when the substitute, Yasuhiko Okudera equalised for the billy goats later on, inspiring any half-decent sub-editor to come up with a headline including the notion of a "Japanese Sub". I couldn't resist it myself.
Here's some great footage of the match, in three parts...
Here is a strange clip of some BBC radio coverage of the match...
And here are some match reports...
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| The match report in the Mirror |
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| Match Report in the Guardian (yes, this was it!) |
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| Spot the Forest report? |
This was Forest's 50th game of the season. Despite a pretty slow and barren start, Forest had sprung into life and were really on great form again. Three defeats in 50 matches is pretty good, by anyone's standards. Unfortunately for Forest, Liverpool's standards for this season and the next few, would surpass even this!
Anyone writing us off?
One of the most memorable moments surrounding this match will surely, for ever more, be the outrageous confidence shown by Brian Clough after the game.
Can you imagine anyone doing that today?
The Other Semi-Final
Austria Wein v Malmo
Whilst we were battling away in Nottingham, in the Austrian capital, Vienna, the other two clubs left in the tournament, Austria Vienna and Malmo, were playing out a 0-0 draw. Very satisfactory for the Swedes.
I'll cover all about the Austrian champions and their league in the blog for the return leg. Also still, to come in that post is a look at what happened to 1FC Koln - and the Bundesliga - in the years after this match.
But here, for now, are the highlights of the other semi-final.
Situation Today: Forest's Promotion Push 2018-19 Ends
As I write this, on Wednesday 10th April 2019, Forest have just lost yet another away game - this time 3-0 at Hillsborough to Sheffield Wednesday - and even I have to admit that this signals the end of our promotion hopes. After the crushingly disappointing 2-1 defeat at relegation threatened Rotherham United on Saturday those hopes took a huge blow but my faith in Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane remained strong enough to believe that they were still capable of winning tonight and that the season might still have a glorious twist to it.
It was not to be. After a pretty decent first half display, Forest pressed the suicide button again and conceded two stupid goals pretty quickly to kill off any lingering hopes.
Up until this point I still maintained that if we'd have had a bit of luck here and there since O'Neill's appointment - such as refereeing decisions that were fair and shots going in instead of hitting the post - then Forest might well have been in the play off positions even now. Not any more.
I now really fear that Evangalos Marinakis' patience with Martin and Roy might well run out before the new season starts, especially if the club don not find some sparkling form from somewhere to impress.
Most sad of all, I am even beginning to doubt that their appointment was right in the first place. I really thought Martin's and Roy's motivational abilities would improve the team but their record in their first 14 games in charge has now slipped into the bottom half of the all-time forest manager's table. I really expected better than this.
Martin remained up-beat in the post-match interview but I can only imagine what the kids on the Social Media are ranting about that right now. I got so sick of the vitriolic hostility poured out on Martin and Roy after the Rotherham defeat I had to leave the Forest Supporters Facebook Group.
It was not to be. After a pretty decent first half display, Forest pressed the suicide button again and conceded two stupid goals pretty quickly to kill off any lingering hopes.
Up until this point I still maintained that if we'd have had a bit of luck here and there since O'Neill's appointment - such as refereeing decisions that were fair and shots going in instead of hitting the post - then Forest might well have been in the play off positions even now. Not any more.
I now really fear that Evangalos Marinakis' patience with Martin and Roy might well run out before the new season starts, especially if the club don not find some sparkling form from somewhere to impress.
Most sad of all, I am even beginning to doubt that their appointment was right in the first place. I really thought Martin's and Roy's motivational abilities would improve the team but their record in their first 14 games in charge has now slipped into the bottom half of the all-time forest manager's table. I really expected better than this.
Martin remained up-beat in the post-match interview but I can only imagine what the kids on the Social Media are ranting about that right now. I got so sick of the vitriolic hostility poured out on Martin and Roy after the Rotherham defeat I had to leave the Forest Supporters Facebook Group.
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