The Seventies

The Bundesliga: A History

Course 1 · Chapter 4 · The Seventies: Bayern, Gladbach and the Golden Era

The 1970s are often called the golden era of German football. Bayern Munich rose from outside the founding clubs to dominate at home and in Europe, Borussia Mönchengladbach became their great rival, and West Germany won the 1974 World Cup. The decade also had a serious scandal. This chapter follows the two clubs, the national team and the scandal. Names, dates and results are from general knowledge and flagged for checking.

Bayern Munich

Promotion

Bayern joined the Bundesliga in the mid-1960s (check the year, usually given as 1965) and won the title for the first time at the end of the decade (check).

The core

A group of home-grown and local players formed the heart of the team: Franz Beckenbauer in defence, Gerd Müller as the scorer and Sepp Maier in goal (check their roles and career dates).

Success

Three league titles in a row in the early 1970s (check the years) and three consecutive European Cup wins in the mid-1970s (check the years and opponents).

Borussia Mönchengladbach

  • The rival. Gladbach, a club from a small city, built an attacking team under Hennes Weisweiler (Chapter 3), with players such as Günter Netzer, Berti Vogts and Jupp Heynckes (check the squad and years).
  • Titles. The club won several league titles in the 1970s, including a run late in the decade (check the count and years).
  • Europe. Gladbach won the UEFA Cup and reached a European Cup final (check which seasons and results).
  • The contrast. A small-town club against a big-city one is part of why the rivalry is remembered as a golden age (check, and see Chapter 10).

The National Team

  • European champions. West Germany won the European Championship in 1972 (check the final and score).
  • World champions. They won the World Cup at home in 1974, beating the Netherlands in the final in Munich (check the score, usually given as 2-1).
  • The link to the league. The squads were drawn largely from Bayern and Gladbach, which helped the league's reputation (check the numbers).
Why it counts as a golden era The league had talent, rivalry and success in Europe at the same time, and television carried it to a wide audience. Whether it was golden because of the football or because of how it is remembered is a question to bear in mind (see the method in Chapter 10).

The 1971 Scandal

  • What happened. At the end of the 1970-71 season, evidence emerged that some matches had been fixed, with players and officials accepting money to affect results (check the clubs, the matches and the sums).
  • How it came out. The case became public after a club official spoke about it (check the individual and the sequence).
  • The consequences. Players, officials and some clubs were punished with bans and fines, and the league's reputation suffered (check the sanctions and later reductions).
  • The aftermath. Stricter rules and controls followed, and the case is a reminder that open professionalism raised new risks (check).
A British comparison Liverpool dominated English football and Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s, much as Bayern did in Germany (check). Britain also had match-fixing cases, such as the 1964 betting scandal that led to prison sentences for players (check). The Bundesliga case belongs to a pattern in which a new professional system found out where its controls were weak.
Check the details Title years, final scores, European results and the details of the scandal differ in some sources, and the story is often retold in simplified form. Verify against club records, the DFL or a reliable history before quoting any figure.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Describe the rivalry between Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach and explain why it was good for the league.

→ Solution
Exercise 2

Explain how the success of the club sides and of the national team supported each other.

→ Solution
Exercise 3

Discuss why professional football can create new risks of match-fixing, and what rules could reduce them.

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • Bayern: promoted mid-1960s; Beckenbauer, Müller, Maier; league and European Cup success (check)
  • Gladbach: Weisweiler, Netzer, Vogts, Heynckes; titles and the UEFA Cup (check)
  • National team: European champions 1972, World champions 1974 (check)
  • 1971: a match-fixing scandal with bans and fines (check)
  • Question: was it golden because of the football or the memory?