ARD documentary
The FCK is the pride of the Palatinate and has experienced numerous ups and downs. The documentary “Rise & Fall of 1. FC Kaiserslautern” tells about it – also about what is probably the most sensational championship in Bundesliga history.
1. FC Kaiserslautern is currently in the top half of the 2nd league, even if it is due to the 2:3 against 1. FC Magdeburg there was a setback. Promotion to the Bundesliga – like in 1997 and 2010 – seems ambitious, but not illusory. And who knows – maybe some Red Devils supporters dream of a coup like the one in 1997, when FCK achieved the biggest sensation in the history of the Bundesliga.
The Palatinate team under coach Otto Rehhagel became German champions as promoted teams – still unique today. At a time when the gap between the top international clubs and the rest is widening, this is now almost unthinkable.
Markus Merk: “The greatest miracle in German football”
“It is the greatest miracle in German football – and it will remain that way,” says Markus Merk 27 years later in the SWR sports documentary “Rise & Fall of 1. FC Kaiserslautern”. “We will no longer see a promoted team from the 2nd league become German champions the following year.”
“Rise & Fall of 1. FC Kaiserslautern” reports on this miracle, its consequences and spoke to numerous protagonists. SWR Sport therefore takes another look at 1. FC Kaiserslautern’s sensational year.
Back in the top floor of German football
There were eventful years behind the traditional Palatinate club. The first Bundesliga relegation in 1996, which was followed just a week later by victory in the DFB Cup. The early resurgence, the party on the Betzenberg and in the city as well as the euphoria that you took with you into the summer break. Despite internal quarrels, everyone around the Red Devils was happy to finally be back where they thought they belonged: in the upper echelon of German football.
“Rise & Fall of 1. FC Kaiserslautern” – can be seen in the ARD media library
The new ARD media library series “Rise & Fall” tells the story of large, traditional football clubs and how their rise and fall affects entire regions. The season to 1. FC Kaiserslautern has been since October 25th. available in the ARD media library. That’s what it’s about too the sensational title in 1998.
There was a spicy duel on the first match day: champions Bayern Munich received newly promoted Kaiserslautern. For FCK coach Rehhagel, it was a return to the place where he had been fired 461 days earlier, in April 1996.
Michael Schjönberg with the golden goal against Bayern
The Red Devils immediately caused a bang. They won the German record champions 1-0 thanks to a tactical masterpiece and a header from Danish defender Michael Schjönberg and ensured that the euphoria around Betzenberg was not only maintained, no, they even increased it.
Buoyed by this euphoria, further successes followed and the promoted team plowed through the Bundesliga. It wasn’t until the eighth matchday that they suffered their first defeat with a home defeat against Werder Bremen. But FCK had already been league leaders for weeks.
Many protagonists in top form
The run had made it clear: the Red Devils were back – and how! They had a well-coordinated team, were difficult to play against and even more difficult to score goals against. The defense with libero Miroslav Kadlec and the two man-markers Harry Koch and Schjönberg stood securely, and no one was too ashamed to throw the ball into the stands. The wing players Martin Wagner (on the left) and Andreas Buck (on the right) also worked at the back, but also constantly put pressure on the forwards.
The Swiss Ciriaco Sforza was the boss in the midfield center; he directed the FCK game and his teammates. The Brazilian Ratinho provided the creative element in the offensive game, while the two attackers Marschall and Pavel Kuka were lurking up front for usable passes. With Jürgen Rische, the FCK had a dangerous joker, the youngsters Marco Reich and Michael Ballack were eager to play. With Oliver Schäfer, Axel Roos, Marian Hristov and others, there were numerous other players who became very valuable in various roles in the 1997/1998 season. They all had a high level of form that carried them through the season practically from the start.
Sensational yield
The Red Devils didn’t let their first defeat of the season slow them down and responded with two wins. The sensational interim result was 25 points from ten games. And the Rehhagel team pulled through until the winter break: 39 points at halftime – and that as promoted teams.
The start of the second half of the 1997/1998 season took place at the beginning of December. So there was another duel with Bayern, who had finished the first series with 35 points and were the first pursuers. And the setting couldn’t actually have been better: the game took place on a Friday evening under floodlights, the FCK could have sold out the Betzenberg several times, the demand for tickets was so great. The game electrified the crowds far beyond the Palatinate.
FCK is pulling Bayern’s teeth
The course of the game played into the hands of the home team. After a balanced first half, Munich’s Dietmar Hamann scored into his own net shortly before the break after a sharp left cross – 1-0 for FCK. The Red Devils were able to pull back in the second half and go on the counterattack. The Bulgarian Marian Hristov completed one of these from a good seven meters after a pass from right winger Buck to make the final score 2-0 (85th minute).
After 18 match days, Lautern was seven points ahead of its first pursuer, and the celebration in the Palatinate was boundless. More and more people in and around the FCK believed in the actually impossible, in the title.
Rehhagels Secret of success: “Bayern beat”
For coach Rehhagel, the second success against Bayern was also a milestone on the way to the eventual championship. “We have achieved something that nobody can do anymore. If you want to become champions, you have to beat Bayern in the first game and in the second leg,” said the now 87-year-old in an interview with SWR Sport. “The euphoria and enthusiasm were great afterwards.”
Trapattoni’s legendary angry speech
The start of the new year was also successful. FCK remained unbeaten in the first seven games and extended their lead in the table, while Bayern were in unrest. This culminated in coach Giovanni Trapattoni’s famous angry speech on matchday 25 after a 1-0 defeat at Schalke.
The lead suddenly melted
On matchday 28 there was a bitter setback – a 3-0 home defeat against Bayer Leverkusen. Three draws followed, at MSV Duisburg, at the Fritz Walter Stadium against BVB and at Hansa Rostock. The lead over Bayern had dwindled to two points three rounds before the end of the season. Suddenly the general euphoria surrounding the Red Devils turned into fear and trembling. The sensation that seemed so close for so long was in danger of bursting.
On matchday 32, FCK had a home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Fritz Walter Stadium was sold out again, and a floodlit game awaited the fans on Friday evening. The tension on the Betzenberg was literally palpable, everyone was hoping for their team – but at the same time they were unsettled.
A football miracle on the Betzenberg
The pessimists among the supporters initially seemed to be right. After goals from Markus Hausweiler and Jörgen Petterson, the score was 0-2 shortly before half-time and the FCK seemed to gamble away everything. What followed went down in history as one of the many football miracles on the Betzenberg.
One last attack by the home team before the half-time whistle. After a confusing action and several Gladbach defensive attempts, the ball fell at Olaf Marschall’s feet. The striker, in the form of his life, shot with his left hand from a good 14 meters under the crossbar of the visitors’ goal to make it 1-2. There was renewed hope among the supporters. Coach Rehhagel still reacted during the break and brought in the two youngsters Ballack and Reich for the second half.
The second 45 minutes were supposed to be a storm, cheered on by the frenetic fans. Especially after Marschall was able to equalize with his second goal (61st minute) – with the kind help of Borussia keeper Uwe Kamps, who fended off a not very well-placed shot from Hristov at the feet of the attacker, who poked the ball into the net.
Olaf Marschall third
After that, the pressure on the Gladbach goal increased, but the FCK ran out of time. Then, in the last minute of the game, the Palatinate attacked again. The 20-year-old Reich received the ball on the left side of the Kaiserslautern attack and crossed into the Gladbach penalty area. There, Marschall ran towards the ball just in front of the six-yard box, rose up, hit the ball perfectly with his head and maneuvered it into the left corner of the visitors’ goal. His teammates, Coach Rehhagel and the entire Betzenberg were freaking out, the Fritz Walter Stadium was an absolute madhouse.
Since Bayern also did their homework and beat Leverkusen 2-1, the FCK continued to be two points ahead going into the 33rd matchday on May 2nd, 1998. The Red Devils hosted Wolfsburg, while the Munich team faced a mandatory task against the Duisburg team, who had already been rescued at the time. But FCB struggled in a tough game, while the Lauter team seemed to have loosened all their shackles thanks to the “football miracle” against Gladbach.
“A sea of red and white!”
After goals from Marschall, Wagner and Rische twice, FCK triumphed 4-0, while Bayern couldn’t get past a zero against the Zebras. The last minute, the last seconds were history.
Rehhagel: “We have written football history”
“We made football history,” Rehhagel looks back today. And in what a convincing manner: FCK was at the top of the table on 32 of 34 matchdays, continuously from the fourth matchday onwards.
For Markus Merk, Rehhagel was the architect of success. “When he came, I didn’t know at first why he was doing this to himself. But once he was there, everything fell into place,” said the 63-year-old. “The entire club structure was absolutely right back then. And that led to success.”
After the title there was an exceptional mood. The whole of Kaiserslautern celebrated the fourth championship title in the club’s history. Well over 30,000 fans came to the city on Saturday evening for the ad hoc, unofficial championship celebration. The bars and cafes were open all night. The Palatinate celebrated an incredibly emotional party. FCK fans still get tears of joy in their eyes today when they remember May 2, 1998.
Rehhagel left the club in 2001
What no one knew at the time: It was 1. FC Kaiserslautern’s last title to date. Rehhagel led the team to fifth place twice in the following two years before he resigned after a weak start to the season on September 30, 2001 and shouts of “Otto out” from the fans. After that, the FCK finally went downhill. In 2006 and 2012 they were relegated from the Bundesliga twice, and in 2018 they were even relegated from the 2nd league, to which they only returned in 2022 and in which they are now fighting for stability in the upper third of the table.
But there is one thing that no one can take away from the FCK: the miracle of Betzenberg in 1998. A piece of football history that, as paradoxical as it sounds, began with the relegation in 1996. A relegated team then became cup winners, was promoted again and triumphed as German champions a year later. A performance that will probably remain unique in the Bundesliga forever. Even if dreaming is allowed.
