Of course the real strength of German football was the Bundesliga and by 1975 it was arguably the best championship in the world. Unlike the other big European domestic leagues West Germany lacked the thrill of derbies and also lacked large number of potential candidates for the title. Bundesliga was not unpredictable as the English club football. It did not have the massive clash of mighty traditional enemies as in Italy and Spain. In terms of competition Bundesliga was more like the smaller European leagues: dominated by 2 clubs. It was also similar to France – most cities were represented by only one club, thus, local derbies were absent. Also absent was the clash between cities, regions, and social classes. There was nothing like Manchester United vs Manchester City, Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Juventus vs Milan, Ajax vs Feyenoord. Bayern – Borussia Moenchengladbach was paling in comparison and this was the closest West Germany had as a derby – other cities somewhat weakened and second clubs of the same city were never strong enough to make for a derby even when playing in the Bundesliga, which was rare. Bayern – TSV Munchen 1860 had original potential for a big derby, but by 1975 TSV Munchen 1860 was a second division club.
West Germany compensated for the lack of traditional thrills with financial stability of the clubs, good pay, thoughtful selections, vanguard training and tactics, and entertaining football. It was fast, attacking, high scoring open football, employing most elements of total football with specific German addition: very physical brand of game, performed by very fit players. The increasing lack of technicality and imagination was compensated by speed and stamina, and avoidance of defensive tactics. Increasingly better players were hired from abroad and by 1975 foreigners were more than willing to play for German clubs – from salaries to football itself, West Germany was attractive.
The success of German football was to be continued by stabilizing the lower levels – thus, introducing the Second professional division, which immediately affected the First as well – the number of relegated clubs was increased from 2 to three.
Wuperttaler SV ended dead last. It was meteoric performance – Wupertteler SV won promotion in 1971 and finished 4th in their first season in the Bundesliga. They immediately played in the UEFA Cup, although the club was not seen as a potential major force in German football. And it was not – downfall followed. In 1974 Wuperttaler SV barely escaped relegation, but in 1975 the inevitable happened and were to taste the new Second division in the next season. Coming out of nowhere and just as quickly returning back to a level more suitable for them.
Perhaps the squad explains best the downfall: not a single even barely recognizable name in it. Wuperttaler SV exited Bundesliga after a weak season – only 2 wins! They never returned.

Second division teams are hardly full of famous players and inaugural seasons usually are not having any recognizable names, but trivia is trivia too… After many years in Italy, Helmut Haller, one of the greatest players of the 1960s, returned home and joined FC Augsburg. Thus, Haller became to be the first big-name player in the Second Bundesliga.
35 years old and fat, after 10 years playing for Bolgna and Juventus, and after 3 World Cup tournaments, Haller went ‘up’ to 2nd Division football… he returned to his native club FC Augsburg in 1973 and in 1974 was ‘promoted’ to Second Bundesliga. Haller was not thinking of quitting yet – he added one more low club, BSV Schwenningen in 1976-77, before returning again to FC Augsburg, where finally retired in 1979 at 40 years of age. The great player was not really up to his old form anymore and his presence helped FC Augsburg only to 12th place in the 1974-75.
Foreign players were playing in Second Bundesliga, but they were as little known as the Germans playing down there. Except for two, who played at the World Cup 1974: Henri Francillon, the goalkeeper of Haiti, and now TSV Munchen 1860 player, one of the very few blacks in West German football at the time, and
Carlos Babington, the midfielder of Argentina, now 1. FC Saarbrucken player.
TSV Munchen 1860 with easily recognized, if not exactly helpful Haitian goalie Francillon. Just like Haller, neither recent World Cup player elevated their new clubs to success – TSV Munchen 1860 finished 5th and 1. FC Saarbrucken – 7th in the South Second Bundesliga.

Inaugural seasons deserve some more words and statistics. Second Bundesliga established itself and went into two changes – the two divisions were amalgamated into one in 1981, the number of the clubs reduced. The unification of Germany led to two divisions again for the 1991-92 season, reduced to the current one in 1992. This format seems final – one group of 18 teams, matching the number of the Bundesliga. Since by their nature second divisions are transitional level, not a single club played all seasons in the Second: 35 years after creation, by the summer of 2009, a total of 121 played in the Second Bundesliga. Fortuna (Koln) played the most seasons – 26. At the other end are clubs surviving only one year in the Second Bundesliga and if Fortuna (Koln) did not play in the very first season, some unfortunates participated only in the inagural season: 4 clubs were to be relegated by rules. From the total 8 relegated clubs from both divisions, 4 never returned to second level football:
From the North,
Olympia Wilhemshaven (17th) and
HSV Barmbeck-Uhlenhorst (20th). From the South:
VfR Heilbronn (17th) and
VfR Mannheim (20th). Hardly clubs to remember, except for VfR Mannheim – they were West German champions in 1949. Sepp Herberger was player of the club as well – surely his name is familiar: he coached the World champions of 1954. Did not help VfR Mannheim in 1975, or ever since…
Among the relegated was another small , unknown club, hopelessly finishing second to last in the North Second Bundesliga:
VfL Wolfsburg were going back to complete obscurity, where they belonged. Speaking of 2009 German champions… suggesting a title in 1975 would have been a fantastic joke. It would be interesting to compare the first season with the one of 2009-10: eight of the ‘founders’ present – Sanct Pauli, Arminia Bielefeld, Alemannia Aachen, Rot Weiss Oberhausen, Karlsruher SC, TSV Munchen 1860, FC Augsburg, and SpVgg Greuter Furth, which used to be simply SpVgg Furth.

The names in the new divisions are misleading: it looks like the North Second Bundesliga was stronger, for there were more familiar names than in the South league. Familiar names, yes, but those were weak clubs back in the 1970s. Thoroughly reflected in the final tables, where the second placed clubs were not familiar clubs at all: Bayer Uerdingen in the North, and FK Pirmasens in the South. They played the play-off for the third club promoted to Bundesliga. The opening match ended 4-4, but the second leg in Uerdingen was no contest – Bayer won 6-0 and went to the Bundesliga.
It should be noted that Uerdingen were the first ‘aspirins’ to play in the Bundesliga – although Bayer Leverkusen is more famous today, it was the ‘smaller’ factory club to get the giant enterprise to the Bundesliga. Fate is tricky, though… Leverkusen brought fame to the pill-makers and eventually Bayer abandoned Uerdingen – today the club has different name, no more ‘aspirins’.
As for the losers, nobody knew FK Pirmasens at the time and nobody knows them now: the first Second Bundesliga was the highest point of FK Pirmasens existence – soon they sunk down and never resurfaced again.
Surely not that good, but the thrill of football – obscure FK Pirmasens almost ended in the Bundesliga!

Forming the North Second Bundesliga was different. It was to be made from three regional leagues, but there more complications. Football in the Northern half of West Germany was weaker bot as a game and financially. One regional league was altogether specific: the West Berlin’s one. Its existence was due to a combination of political and geographical reasons. Since West Berlin was to be a show case in the face of the surrounding Communists, Berlin football was to play part as well – hence, West Berlin was to be presented in the Bundesliga no matter what (leading to enlargement of the Bundesliga itself back in the 1960, just to include Berlin’s club when Hertha faced relegation) and city football was elevated to second level German football as a whole. The other reason for separate West Berlin Regional League was more mundane and practical: travel from and to West Berlin was difficult and expensive. It was more effective to keep West Berlin football in the the surrounded by foreign country city. Unfortunately, West Berlin clubs were not strong at all.
At the end, the North Second Bundesliga was formed by clubs reflecting the strength of the each Regionliga: 12 clubs from West Regionliga; 7 from the North Regionliga; 1 from West Berlin Regionliga, and the two freshly relegated teams from Bundesliga. No aggragate table here.
The season was played and produced the first ever final table: 1. Hannover 96, 2. Bayer Uerdingen, 3. St. Pauli, 4. Arminia Bielefeld, 5. Fortuna Koln, 6. Borussia Dortmund, 7. SG Wattenscheid 09, 8. VfL Osnabruck, 9. Preussen Munster, 10. SC Gottingen 05, 11. 1. FC Mulheim, 12. Schwartz-Weiss Essen, 13. Wacker 04 West Berlin, 14. DJK Gutersloh, 15. Alemannia Aachen, 16. SpVgg Erkenschwick, 17. Olympia Wilhelmshaven, 18. Rot Weiss Oberhausen, 19. VfL Wolfsburg, 20. HSV Barmbeck-Uhlenhorst.
The first champions – Hannover 96, the eternal movers between 1st and 2nd Division. Down to Second in 1974, up to First Bundesliga in 1975.

The 1974-75 marked a significant shift in European football: England no longer was considered the best championship – West Germany edged the Brits and became the best domestic championship for the rest of 1970s. It was not only the most entertaining, but also financially the best. Sound German clubs maintained financial stability when English football was plummeting into financial troubles and increasing debts. German clubs were paying top salaries; played attractive football; and had very good recruiting policies – unlike Spain, the German clubs hardly looked for superstars, but for able players fitting well into club’s concepts. The Germans were building strong squads, not a show. The show was secondary, but eventually followed – strong teams playing total football amounted to competitive and entertaining championship, increasingly attracting foreign stars: if Cruyff and Netzer elected to play in Spain, Keegan preferred to move to Germany – the quality of the game was higher. And, from 1975 on, West Germany had more high profile players spread in the clubs than Spain. For foreign stars West Germany was the championship to be. The strong position of German football was further reinforced by the introduction of the Second Professional Division – 1974-75 was the first season of the Second Bundesliga. In fact – two Second Divisions: Northern and Southern, each 20 teams strong. The Germans were clearly aiming to keep their top position in world football: fully professional second division provided stable quality – no more relegated club had to fear bankruptcy by playing with semi-professional and amateur clubs; a professional second division club was able to plan better future by recruiting good players. At the end, it was to be prosperous future for German clubs and maintaining class. It was building on success, preserving the success, and aiming at more success. And it was very German approach – very careful and thorough building and investing: the Second Division was introduced a good ten years after the establishment of the Bundesliga. Just good planning, nothing rush.
Forming the Second Bundesliga was another matter. First of all, it was decided that from this season 3 clubs were to be relegated from Bundesliga – and replaced by the winners of the the two Second Divisions, plus the winners of 2-legged play off between the second placed clubs. But it was a decision to affect 1975 – in 1974 two clubs came down from the top: Fortuna (Koln) and Hannover 96. Since the new leagues were geographically divided, both clubs ended in the North Second Bundelsiga. The other 38 clubs were to meet some ‘sound’ criteria – first of all, financial one. It was not easy – so far 5 Regional leagues served as second level of German football structure. Football in the South was stronger and better financially off and this affected the methods of selecting clubs for the new leagues: the two Southern Regionalligas made aggregate tables of the total points of the participating clubs in the 1973-74 – a total record of their results from 1969 to 1974. SV Alsenborn ended 5th by total points in Regianalliga Sudwest, but was denied 2nd Bundesliga license and 1. FC Saarbrucken took the spot instead.
Reginalliga Sud total table provided anomaly: Hessen Kassel, Freiburger FC, and Jahn Regensburg were highly placed by their 5-years totals, but the three clubs ended in the relegation zone in the 1973-74 championship and were barred from gaining access to the new league.
At the end, the first South Second Bundesliga was completed, played the inaugural season, and produced the first final table: 1. Karlsruher SC, 2. FK Pirmasens, 3. FC Schweinfurt 05, 4. FC Bayern Hof, 5. TSV Munchen 1860, 6. 1.FC Nurnberg, 7. 1.FC Saarbrucken, 8. SV Waldhof Mannheim, 9. SpVgg Bayreuth, 10. SV Darmstadt 98, 11. FSV Mainz 05, 12. FC Augsburg, 13. SV Rochling Volklingen, 14. FC Homburg, 15. SpVgg Furth, 16. Stuttgarter Kickers, 17. VfR Heilbronn, 18. Borussia Neunkirchen, 19. VfR Wormatia Worms, 20. VfR Mannheim.
The first champion, directly promoted for the Bundesliga was Karlsruher SC.

Above Ipswich Town were only two clubs. Liverpool finished 2nd, hardly a surprise – if anything, they were steady maintaining place among the best. However, Derby County finished as champions. The Rams were not overwhelming – they did not have the best attack (Burnley scored more goals); they did not have the best defense (five teams allowed less goals than the champions); they were not the team with most wins and they were not the team with least losses. If anything, Derby County were steady and, point by point, ended first, only 2 points ahead of Liverpool and Ipswich Town. True to their nickname, the Rams stubbornly fought their way to a second title without greatness.
Top, left to right: D. Anderson – assistant manager, K. Hector, J. McGovern, J. O’Hare, R. Webstar, C. Boulton, G. Mosley, P. Daniel, S. Powell, C. Todd, J. Gordon – trainer.
Bottom: A. Hinton, J. Bourne, D. Nish, A. Gemill, D. Mackay – manager, R. McFarland, R. Davies, B. Rioch, R. Thomas, H. Newton.
At the top, left: Francis Lee.
Well, hoe this squad differ from the champions of 1972? Not at all… it was the same, Brian Clough’s creation, except Clough was no longer around, but in 2nd Division with Nottingham Forest. Mackay exploited Clough built – a sturdy squad of reliable and spirited players. Mostly second stringers, though… Francis Lee, McFarland, and Todd were big stars. David Nish, a new addition, too. The rest depended largely on work ethic – surely Rioch and Gemill were regulars in the national team of Scotland, but hardly superstars. And in any case it was not a team to be called ‘great’: Lee was getting old and no longer called in the English national team. Nish, Todd, and McFarland, good as they were, never really established themselves in the national team – perhaps unjustly, but still not seen as truly great players. Derby County was never seen as a ‘dynastic’ team – it was experienced, stubborn, steady, but hardly great. Except for Brian Clough… it was his selection and, interestingly enough, it was to remain his: the trainer Gordon already moved to Nottingham and was to be followed by some players as well. By the end of the 1970s O’Hare, Gemill, and McGovern won the European Champions Cup with Clough and Nottingham Forest. Without Cloughie, his strange creation did not last long… and the great days of Derby County practically ended in 1975. Given the squad, the Rams achieved more than expected – their only titles ever! Hats off! Personally, I still have a soft spot for them.