1. FC Kaiserslautern awarded its championship team honorary membership in 1998 and celebrated Otto Rehhagel’s team.
“What we were able to achieve back then will remain unique,” said the 84-year-old coach at the time. 25 years after the Bundesliga sensation, when FCK won the title as a promoted team, 16 players and Rehhagel accepted the invitation of the second division soccer club to the Fritz Walter Stadium.
Before the game, the former FCK heroes met under the main stand of the stadium to great applause from the fans, after which they received their certificates of honor in the club museum.
“This is the team that wrote German football history,” said the chairman of the supervisory board, Rainer Kessler, in his speech.
“After being relegated in 1996, these guys took responsibility and immediately managed to get back up and then stormed to the top of the Bundesliga table. Money can’t buy that. We salute the team and the coach.”
Shortly before the game against Arminia Bielefeld kicked off, the champion team was called to the west stand and celebrated to loud cheers from the fans. Ex-goalkeeper Gerald Ehrmann and Rehhagel received the biggest round of applause.