1. FC Köln (Germany)

1. FC Köln are a football club from the city of Cologne, North-Rhine Westphalia in Germany who were formed on the 13th February 1948. The club came about following the merger of two local clubs, Kölner Ballspiel-Club and SpVgg Sülz 07.

Both clubs had interesting histories worth examining further.

Kölner BC

Kölner were formed on June 6^th 1901 by a group of young men who were more interested in football than the gymnastics offered at FC Borussia Köln where they had been members. The team played in Zehnerliga West, at Platz an der Vitalisstraße in Müngersdorf from 1904.

In 1907 the club found a new home at Klettenberg, near today's Geißbockheim before lifting the Westdeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft, the West German championship in 1912 after defeating Borussia München-Gladbach 4-2.

The club would reach three further West German finals finishing runners-up on each occasion. In 1920 VfTuR München-Gladbach proved too strong prior to Kölner going down to Duisburger SV in 1921 and Arminia Bielefeld in 1922 after being earlier crowned as Gauliga Rheingau champions in the three same years.

SpVgg Sülz 07

Spielvereinigung 1907 Köln-Sülz were formed in the same year as in their title as Sülzer Sportverein prior to merging with Fußball Club 1908 Hertha Köln to form SpVgg in 1919. The club went on to become Westdeutsche champions in 1928 after defeating Preußen Krefeld under coach Ferdl Swatosch.

The club played in the middle of the cycle track at Müngersdorf but moved major matches into the main stadium which held up to 80,000 spectators while their base was at Fort VI b where the mascot was a billy goat, which remains as a club emblem.

The team went on to become Bezirksmeisterschaft Rhein champions three years in a row around their Westdeutsche triumph. Star player Ferdl Schwatow was banned after it was found he was being paid in a strictly amateur era.

The Gauliga Years

In 1933 the ruling Third Reich divided German football into sixteen regions, each with a Gauliga top division from which each winner, and later runners-up, would enter a competition to find the national champion.

Kölner BC narrowly missed out on promotion from Bezirksligen Mittelrhein in 1933-34 while SpVgg Sülz 07 finished third in Gauliga Mittelrhein which was repeated the following season. In 1936-37 SpVgg again finished in third while Kölner BC won promotion to join them in the Gauliga. Although their spell would last just one season.

At the same point two local rivals, Kölner SC 1899 and Kölner SC 1899 merged to form VfL Köln 1899. SpVgg Sülz were crowned as champions in 1938-39 before ending as runners-up in Gruppe I the following season.

The league was split into two for 1941-42 with SpVgg playing in Gauliga Köln-Aachen where they struggled before merging with VfL Köln 1899 for one season to form Kriegspielgemeinschaft VfL 99/Sülz 07 and going on to win the league in 1943-44. 

 

After World War II

Several clubs concluded that they would struggle going forward alone, so they decided to join forces. Bayenthaler SV, SV 1927 Köln and SV Victoria Kölngot came together to form SC Fortuna Köln.

VfR Köln 04 rrh and Mülheimer SV 06 merged to form SC Rapid Köln who would in time become SC Viktoria Köln after a further amalgamation with Preußen Dellbrück.

Meanwhile Kölner BC and SpVgg Sülz decided to pool their sources and merge to form 1. FC Köln after meetings between club bosses Franz Kremer, Heinz Bremm and Fritz Plate as the new club took the place of Sülz in the Rheinbezirks-Liga.

Hans Schäfer, who would go on to score 304 goals for the club, made his debut in 1948-49 as Köln won the league title and then the play-offs against Bayer 04 Leverkusen to reach Oberliga West, one of five top tier national divisions of the day.

Goalkeeper Frans de Munck and Jupp Röhrig who became the clubs first German international were the star players of the day as the team pushed for Oberliga honours after moving full time into the Hauptkampfbahn at Sportpark Müngersdorf.

Coach Hennes Weisweiler, who the club billy goat mascot is named after, had coached the team before his surprising departure. Undeterred, the team finished in the runners-up berth in 1952-53 with the new club winning their first honour when they defeated Rot Weiss Essen to lift the Westdeutschen Pokal.

The following season Köln went all the way to the final of the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, before going down 1-0 in extra time to VfB Stuttgart in Ludwigshafen. The side also lifted the Oberliga West title with the side including Hans Graf, Georg Stollenwerk and Herbert Dörner.

Players Paul Mebus and Hans Schäfer played their part in West Germany’s World Cup win in 1954 while their side finished third in the league in 1956-57 after a few disappointing finishes. 

The old Mungersdorfer

Karl-Heinz Schnellinger joined FC as the club is commonly known at the start of a stellar career with the team finishing as 1958-59 league runners-up; a performance that was repeated twelve months later before Köln won the Oberliga title in 1959-60 with Christian Müller supplying the goals.

The team went all the way to the national final before going down 3-2 to Hamburger SV at Frankfurt’s Waldstadion under coach Oswald Pfau. The Oberliga West title was retained in 1960-61 and again in 1961-62.

1. FC Köln would be crowned as national champions for the first time after defeating 1. FC Nürnberg 4-0 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin as Ernst-Günter Habig scored twice alongside goals from Schäfer and Fritz Pott for the team of coach Zlatko Čajkovski.

A fourth consecutive Oberliga West championship was won in 1961-62 with the team going on to another national final. Borussia Dortmund won the showpiece 3-1 at Neckarstadion in Stuttgart before the club became founder members of the Bundesliga the following season.

FC became the first winners of the competition under coach Georg Knöpfle with Karl-Heinz Thielen topping the scoring. The following season FC reached the quarter finals of the European Cup, where they went out to Liverpool in the most astonishing of circumstances, after both legs ended 0-0 and a third match finished in a 2-2 draw.

It was in the days before penalty kicks were used to decide matches. The contest was to be decided by the toss of a coin. he first toss ended with the coin sticking vertically in the ground. The second time Liverpool called right, or Köln wrongly, with the English side going through.

Zézé became the first ever Brazilian to play in the Bundesliga when signed by Köln but his time was short lived as he suffered from snow allergy as his side ended as league runners-up in 1964-65 prior to Hannes Löhr becoming the new Müngersdorfer scoring hero.

The 1968-69 season saw the next major honour for the club as VfL Bochum were defeated 4-1 in the DFB-Pokal final in Ludwigshafen as Carl-Heinz Rühl netted twice along with an own goal and Löhr efforts for Willi Multhaup’s team which included stars Heinz Flohe, Wolfgang Weber and Wolfgang Overath.

A third place in the league came in 1969-70 with the team losing in the final of the Pokal 2-1 to Kickers Offenbach before missing out in the 1970-71 to Bayern München 2-1 after extra time. The team reached the semi-final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1971-72 before falling to Juventus with Gyula Lóránt in charge of the team.

FC suffered further DFB-Pokal heartache going down 2-1 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1972-73 final as well as second place in the league with defender Bernd Cullmann starring while Bernd Rupp scored the goals under coach Rudi Schlott.

Köln finished in fourth place in the Bundesliga in the same season before a couple of fifth places followed with goalkeeper Toni Schumacher making his mark along with striker Dieter Müller and defenders Gerd Strack and Herbert Zimmermann.

FC lost in the semi-final of the 1974-75 UEFA Cup to local rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach. The team had been forced to play matches at the smaller Müngersdorfer Radrennbahn while the old stadium was knocked down in 1971 before the new Müngersdorfer Stadion opened in November 1975.

Former player Stollenwerk was appointed as coach before Weisweiler returned for a third spell along with new signing Roger Van Gool as the team lifted the 1976-77 DFB-Pokal with a 1-0 replay win against Hertha BSC with a Müller goal.

The trophy was retained with a 2-0 victory against Fortuna Düsseldorf with goals from Van Gool and Cullmann with FC becoming the fourth German side to complete the league and cup double when the Bundesliga title was lifted with Yasuhiko Okudera starring.

Youngsters Pierre Littbarski, Stephan Engels and Bernd Schuster made their way into the side as Köln went on a run all the way to the semi-final of the European Cup before losing to Nottingham Forest.

To see extended highlights of an absolutely classic first leg of the semi-final, click here.

Fortuna Düsseldorf defeated Köln in the final of the 1979-80 DFB-Pokal before another UEFA Cup semi-final was reached in 1980-81, where ‘Die Geißböcke’ went out to Ipswich Town with Klaus Allofs, Klaus Fischer, Paul Steiner and Matthias Hönerbach leading the attacking line.

The Pokal was won in 1982-83 with a single goal from Littbarski seeing off city rivals SC Fortuna Köln. Former player Löhr took over as coach in the summer of 1984 as Thomas Häßler joined the squad along with Olaf Janßen before the appointment of new coach Georg Keßler.

Despite a poor league season, the team recovered to reach the final of the UEFA Cup in 1985-86 where they were defeated 5-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid prior to Thomas Allofs, Armin Görtz and Morten Olsen being added to the squad with Christoph Daum taking over as coach.

Flemming Povlsen und Jürgen Kohler were signed as Bodo Illgner took over in goal as the team finished third in 1986-87 before ending in the runners-up spot the following two seasons with Falko Götz scoring goals. The 1990-91 campaign saw Köln reach the DFB-Pokal final where they lost on penalties to Werder Bremen under Erich Rutemöller.

The club was hit by financial troubles which saw low Bundesliga finishes with a constant turnover in the coach’s role while young striker Maurice Banach was killed in a road accident. The signing of striker Toni Polster under coach and former player Olsen gave some hope to the Müngersdorfer faithful.

Bruno Labbadia also added goals before the struggles culminated in relegation in 1997-98. Former player Schuster was appointed as coach before being replaced by Ewald Lienen whose side won the 2. Bundesliga title in 1999-00 with Dirk Lottner top scoring.

Friedhelm Funkel arrived as coach in 2001-02 but couldn’t save his team from another relegation before the goals of Matthias Scherz helped FC regain their top flight status at the first attempt.

However, the jump proved too steep as Köln went straight back down in 2003-04. Huub Stevens came in as the new coach at a time when the work on gradually demolishing Müngersdorfer Stadion and transforming it into the track free RheinEnergieStadion was completed.

Star youngster Lukas Podolski moved on before a returning Daum led his charges to promotion in 2007-08 as the performances of Patrick Helmes and Milivoje Novakovič stood out. Podolski returned to the club in 2009 prior to Frank Schaefer taking over as coach.

Ståle Solbakken proved an unpopular choice as his successor for the 2011-12 season which saw FC relegated once more before he was replaced by a short spell by Holger Stanislawski and then Peter Stöger.

Köln won the 2. Bundesliga title in 2013-14 as Anthony Ujah helped the goals tally before the contributions of Anthony Modeste helped the team stabilise at the top level before finishing fifth in 2016-17.

The success was short lived with Stöger being sacked and replaced by Stefan Ruthenbeck as the team went down in bottom place at the end of the 2017-18 season. Markus Anfang arrived as coach, leading FC to the title and promotion in 2018-19 with the strike partnership of Simon Terodde and Jhon Córdoba scoring the goals with Timo Horn keeping goal at the other end.

Achim Beierlorzer took charge of the team for 2019-20 but was replaced by Markus Gisdol whose appointment brought about an upturn in form in the Coronavirus disrupted season.

1. FC Köln will play in the Bundesliga in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

1. FC Köln 3 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3 (Friday 26th October 2012) 2. Bundesliga (att: 44,601)

I had arrived by plane at Cologne/Bonn airport early in the morning to start what I hoped to be four very enjoyable days of football, groundhopping and socialising. I had already visited the stadiums of SC Fortuna Köln, FC Viktoria Köln 1904 and TuS Köln rrh earlier in the day before heading to my budget hotel in Dusseldorf for a much needed siesta.

I headed back south to the lovely city, which I'd visited briefly on a few earlier occasions. I already had my ticket, having bought it online and delivered for a total of €27.50. My morning's experience showed me that alighting at Messe station was a good move as trams ran all the way to the RheinEnergieStadion, as the Müngersdorfer had been re-named in a sponsorship deal.

I had intended to have a couple of kolsch's on a nearby bar I'd spotted, but the time was getting on and I wanted to be in good time to soak up the atmosphere. I went downstairs in the station just as a packed tram with some very rowdy Kaiserslautern fans was trying to depart. I wasn't too upset that I'd just missed it. 

Within two minutes another tram was on the platform and I got a seat. It wasn't too busy as we set off, and it was destined to have the same numbers on board at our destination. It was a non stopping service, which didn't exactly please one young lady who was making frantic phone calls to a friend as we continued past every stop.

We had the company of police vans and motor cyclists whizzing by with their sirens booming out, obviously trying to catch up with the tram ahead. It was like a scene from the Italian Job as the bikes raced up the footpaths. It was a chaotic, with many workers trying to head home at the same time. The ride to the stadium took the best part of thirty minutes, meaning I had nearly an hour to kill before the 6pm kick off.

The 'Lautern fans were being held by the police, awaiting more to arrive. I walked across the large field between the tram stop on Aachener Strasse and the stadium. It was a completely different scene to the one I'd scene from a distance some twenty four years earlier while on a coach on the way down the Rhine Valley on a memorable holiday with the Gas Club. 

I cut across to walk down the side of the stadium just as the away fans escort was nearing. One or two local likely lads were being monitored by the polizei. I arrived at my entrance for the Sudtribune and got through without any dramas, picking up my free club/magazine programme and looking around. 

After popping into the supporters club hut where forthcoming coach away match trips were being booked, I purchased a card required to purchase food and drink from a helpful vendor who spoke perfect English.

My hunger was growing, so I tried a couple of the local sausages in bread, as well as a local beer. I went upstairs with a coffee to keep out the cold and very wet weather. I was a little confused as my ticket had four numbers on it. 

While I was used to having numbers for block, row and seat number, but the extra digit was baffling me. I sent a text to my brother Nick and asked him to have a look on Google Translate. Within minutes I knew that the '6' on my ticket, signified that it was the sixth home game of the season. 

As I figured out my intended seat, a large local and a group of youngsters were positioned I was meant to be. However, a wonderful feature of the stadium negated any need for a seat. At the back there was an area of flat standing with a barrier to lean on, and the stewards were fine about it. I'd originally wanted a ticket for the terracing, but it had sold out, so this was really welcome. I looked down on the pitch and took in a really impressive arena.

All four stands had two tiers, mainly of seating and were linked in the corners as the floodlight blocks stuck threw and helped to keep the roofs up. The Westtribune to my left is where the players emerged from and had two levels of corporate boxes in between the tiers. 

The Nordtribune had a section of terracing in the corner for visiting fans. The Osttribune had just the one level of boxes between the tiers and finally the Sudtribune where I was places had terracing downstairs for the home fans.

Before the teams came out, fans joined in a rousing rendition of the club anthem; Ein Club. Ein Gefühl. Mein Verein, meaning One Club, One Feeling, My Club, which has a very close resemblance to the Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond.

To hear the fans give it their best and see 1. FC Köln convert a penalty, click here:

I was quite at home stood at the back watching a team with a wonky defence, as 'Lautern went one up as Alexander Baumjohann opened the scoring after nine minutes, to set off joyous scenes in the away section and the lighting of a flare. Köln slowly got into the match and equalised from a penalty, which was converted by Adil Chihi.

I thought the award was a bit soft as the forward pushed the ball too far in front and then conveniently went over the keeper as he'd gone to narrow the angle. I went to stand by the exit as half time approached. Some went down to the concourse, but I'm glad I remained as Christian Clemens put the home side ahead with an absolute beauty from the edge of the box.

I retired to use the cramped toilets and then purchase a large bread topped with cheese and bits of meat. This was to fill me on the train home before taking in some fine alt beer in Dusseldorf's Altstadt.

After the interval the visitors levelled through the dangerous Cameroon forward Mohammadou Idrissou. The pitch was wet and it was helping the entertainment as errors crept in. Köln were going for it as they attacked their choir. 

Daniel Royer put them ahead once again and they should have sealed the game, but the squandered a few opportunities. Despite the fans seeming confident, Kaiserslautern were not finished as Idrissou added a second with just two minutes remaining.

At full time I made a run for it, knowing full well that the trams would be packed. I was greatly impressed by the organisation as they were all lined up and the set up allowed two on the long platform at the same time and all headed into the city. 

I had to change at Neaumarkt, but within two minutes I was on board another tram to Messe. The train back north arrived ten minutes later and just over an hour after leaving the game I was enjoying a beer in down town Dusseldorf.

It had been a great game in a superb venue and a really promising start to my stay. Wunderbar!