A season saturated with Borussia photos, that was 1974-75. May be their finest season, but it was increasingly West German scene anyway. The UEFA Cup produced little surprises at first, except for the early exit of the English clubs. So far the third European club tournament has been English domain – now only Derby County managed to reach 1/8 finals and no further. Velez (Mostar) eliminated them, as to confirm the crisis of English football. When the ½ stage arrived it was a manifestation of new order in the European football: Juventus was the only ‘traditional’ club. Two West German had to play against each other and the forth – meeting the Italians – were Dutch. Perhaps this was the greatest hour of Twente (Enschede) – they won both legs against Juventus. Not to be outdone, Borussia also won both matches against 1. FC Koln. As for results, they were exactly the same: Twente won 3-1 and 1-0 in Torino. Same results in favour of Borussia, although in reverse: they won 3-1 visiting Koln and managed 1-0 on home turf. May be that was the important difference at the end, but before the finals one thing was sure: the UEFA Cup final was just a smaller version of the World Cup final a year earlier. May be Dutch victory this time? After all, they were up and coming and Borussia were already established name somewhat lacking international success. One more thing was equal – both finalists hailed from small towns and had small stadiums. Borussia, hosting the first leg, preferred to play it at Dusseldorf. Twente on the other hand played at their even smaller than Borussia’s stadium the second leg. The first match ended 0-0, Borussia playing surpising nominal 4-4-2 and unable to score. Looked like Dutch revenge for the lost World Cup final was coming. But one had to pay closer attention to Borussia’s earlier performances: they appeared to be more comfortable when visiting and their hosts were obliged to play open football. In Enschede Borussia played 4-3-3 – more attacking version than at home. By the 60th minute they were leading 4-0 and the Cup was already theirs. It was 5-1 at the final whistle. Was it a challenge really? Borussia won so easily. To a point, this final spelled out the end of Twente – they never became the forth great Dutch club and faded away. As trivia goes, it had been Germans scoring on compatriots – Twente’s goalkeeper Gross was a West German import. Arnold Muhren, sold by Ajax to Twente continued his misery as a substitute player. Was he an empty promise? Just wait 5 more years. Then add 8 more, but at 1975 he looked like doomed to failure. Stielike was still young and shaky, but Simonsen was already a bright star. Three goals by Heynckes and 2 by Simonsen – one more trophy for the Germans.
For Twente – sweet memories and their squad on the the program:
Final 1st Leg, Rheinstadion, Dusseldorf, 7 May 1975, att 42000

Borussia Monchengladbach (0) 0 FC Twente '65 (Enschede) (0) 0

Borussia Monchengladbach
Kleff; Wittkamp, Stielike, Vogts, Surau; bonhof, Wimmer, Danner
(Del'Haye), Kulik (Schaffer); Simonsen, Jensen
FC Twente '65 (Enschede)
Gross; Drost, Van Ierssel, Overweg, Oranen; Thijssen, Pahlplatz,
Van der Vall, Bos; Jeuring (Achterberg), Zuidema


Final 2nd Leg, Diekman, Enschede, 21 May 1975, att 21000

FC Twente '65 (Enschede) (0) 1 Borussia Monchengladbach (2) 5
2' 0-1 BM: Simonsen
9' 0-2 BM: Heynckes
50' 0-3 BM: Heynckes
60' 0-4 BM: Heynckes
76' 1-4 Tw: Drost
86' 1-5 BM: Simonsen (pen)
Monchengladbach won 5-1 on aggregate

FC Twente '65 (Enschede)
Gross; Drost, Van Ierssel, Overweg, Oranen, Bos (Muhren), Thijssen,
Pahlplatz (Achterberg), Van der Vall, Jeuring, Zuidema
Borussia Monchengladbach
Kleff; Wittkamp, Vogts, Surau (Schaffer), Klinkhammer; Bonhof,
Wimmer (Koppel), Danner; Simonsen, Hensen, Heynckes
German goal in German net.
Heynckes scores his second for the night.
Simonsen makes it 5 from a penalty. Gross is helpless.
And Berti Vogts lifts the UEFA Cup.
First international trophy for Borussia – today UEFA Cup, next year the European Champions Cup? Very likely, with a squad like this. As for the Dutch, there will be some cup lifting too, alas, only for two players – Thijssen and Muhren.