Founding the League

The Bundesliga: A History

Course 1 · Chapter 3 · Founding the League, 1963

After decades of regional football, the DFB voted in 1962 to create a national league, and the first Bundesliga season began in 1963. This chapter covers the decision, how the first sixteen clubs were chosen (and who missed out), and how the first season went. Names, dates and results are from general knowledge and flagged for checking.

The Decision

  • The vote. At a DFB congress in Dortmund in the summer of 1962, delegates voted in favour of a national professional league, by a clear majority (check the date and the vote count, often given as 103 to 26).
  • The context. The poor World Cup showing earlier that year and the earlier arguments in Chapter 2 helped the case.
  • The timetable. Only about a year was allowed to set up the new league, choose the clubs and settle the rules (check).
  • Professionalism. The rules now allowed clubs to pay players openly, within limits at first (check the early wage and licence rules).

Choosing the Sixteen

The criteria

Clubs were judged on playing record over earlier seasons, the quality of their stadium and finances, and a spread across the regions (check the exact criteria and any points system).

The founding clubs

The first league included sides from every region, among them Cologne, Dortmund, Schalke, Hamburg, Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, 1860 Munich and Hertha Berlin (check the full list of sixteen).

The absentee

Bayern Munich were not among the first sixteen, with the Munich place going to 1860 (check the reasons given, which are debated).

Fair or not? A selection by record, stadium and region will always leave out some clubs that felt they deserved a place. Disagreement over the choices is part of the founding story, and it is described here without taking a side (check what clubs and the DFB said at the time).

The First Season, 1963-64

  • Kick-off. The first matchday was in the late summer of 1963 (check the date, usually given as 24 August). The first goal is credited to Timo Konietzka of Dortmund, scored very early in a match against Werder Bremen (check the details).
  • The champions. 1. FC Köln won the first title, coached by Hennes Weisweiler (check the points and the margin).
  • The format. Sixteen clubs played each other home and away, with the bottom clubs relegated (check the number going down).
  • Crowds and money. Attendances were encouraging, though smaller than later years, and the league's finances were modest by later standards (check).

Early Coaches

  • Hennes Weisweiler. Coach at Cologne and later Borussia Mönchengladbach, known for developing young players and an attacking style (check the clubs and dates).
  • Max Merkel. A strict Austrian coach linked with success at 1860 Munich and Nuremberg in the mid-1960s (check, and the nature of his methods).
  • The role. Coaches became full-time professionals in a way that had been unusual before, with training methods and tactics getting more attention (check).
A British comparison England's Premier League was created in 1992 when top clubs broke away from the Football League to gain control of television money (check). The Bundesliga came from above, as a decision of the national association, and was formed to raise standards rather than to secure larger earnings. The origins show how the two leagues came to be organised differently.
Check the details The vote count, the list of founding clubs, the date of the first match and the first-season table are all given differently in some sources. Verify against the DFB or the DFL record before quoting any of them.

Exercises

Exercise 1

List three criteria used to choose the founding clubs and say how each could be unfair.

→ Solution
Exercise 2

Explain why professionalism was a turning point for German football.

→ Solution
Exercise 3

Compare how the Bundesliga and the Premier League were created and what that suggests about their aims.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • The vote: DFB congress in Dortmund, 1962 (check the count)
  • The sixteen: chosen by record, stadium, finances and region; Bayern not among them (check)
  • First season: 1963-64; first champions 1. FC Köln (check)
  • Coaches: Weisweiler and Merkel among the early names
  • Aim: raise the standard of German football