1.FC Köln

1.FC Köln is one of Germany's most popular clubs, and was only founded after the war in 1948 through a merger of Kölner BC 1901 and Sülz 07.

Although the last title was won back in 1978, throughout the late 1980s and in to the early 90s, Köln was often a contender for the championship. However, the rot began to set in by the mid 90s, as overpriced "stars" failed to produce, and management generally was out of control

Prior to 1.FC Köln, there really was no dominant club in the large Rhein city. For the most part, the city clubs were too weak to challenge against their stronger rivals to the north. Both KBC and Sülz each one a western regional title - but that was between the years 1909-33. During the 3rd Reich, they played in the Gauliga Mittelrhein, but rarely achieved anything noteworthy. So in a sense, the WWII collapse turned out to be a blessing for footballing fans, as all the clubs were banned immedaitely after the war, and refounded. The president of KBC was a certain Fritz Kremer, who had the vision to recognize that Köln would never mount to anything on a national scale unless a more powerful club was built. He persuaded Sülz to merge with KBC and they became 1.FC Köln. (OK, they were hardly the first football club founded in Köln, but I guess you could argue they quickly became the top club in the city in no time.) Kremer also brought in more professional management, which laid the foundation for Köln's rise in the 1950s and 1960s. After almost immediate promotion into the top flight Oberliga West, 1.FC Köln proceeded to win the Oberliga title 5 times until the founding of the Bundesliga. By eth 1960s, they were one of Germany's top clubs, and Kremer was one of the vocal proponents of the new Bundesliga - of which Köln became the first champion.

In the 70s, Köln was pushed aside by M'gladbach and Bayern. Although they were usually among the top clubs, they generally had no look at the title, except on TV. Furthermore, the club was shook by the Bundesliga Skandal when it was revealed that GK Manfred Manglitz was one of the ringleaders in the bribery attempts. (Ironically, Köln actually won the matches that Manglitz supposedly took bribes for.) In any case, Manglitz, a German international, was banned for life. Köln continued to play decently in the league, but hardware remained elusive. Ironically, it was the architect of Gladbach's rise, Hennes Weisweiler, who would turn things around. In 1978, Köln did the double. The title was not without some contraversy though. Köln and Gladbach were neck-and-neck through the end, but after 33 matches, with a +10 goal differential in their favor, Köln seemingly had the title in the bag. But then Gladbach won against a disgraceful Borussia Dortmund by a ridiculous 12-0, which surely would bring back a hint of the bribery scandals. Fortunately, Köln was away to hapless, already relegated St.Pauli, although it took a strong 2nd half effort, they won 5-0 and took the title. This would prove to be the last hurrah for some of the Köln stars of the era, such as defender Wolfgang Weber and midfielder Hannes Löhr. The next season it seemed that European glory was on the horizon as well. After a 3-3 at Nottingham Forest, they seemed to be in a perfect position to advance to the finals, but stunningly lost at home 0-1. Nevertheless, the future seemed bright. New players came on the horizon, surrounding long serving superstar Wolfgang Overath - Bernd Schuster, Pierre Littbarski, and (from Nottingham Forest) Tony Woodcock.

The 1980s were generally successful, but Köln was not good enough to take the title. Still, under coach Christoph Daum, they had finished runner-up the last two years of the decade, and the future looked promising. But Daum was then stunningly fired (later revealed probably because he was a coke-head), and the club started a painful decline. Apparently the club had been mismanged financially for years, and debts mounted as the club struggled to pay off costs of stadium renovations and expensive player contracts.

Disaster finally struck in 1998, as Köln became one of the last orginal Bundesliga members to get relegated. Ironically, the club was beginning to get out of the financial doldrums, as strong fan support and the stadium renovation moved forward. But although success might be measured in euros, it's also dependent on the field, and here Köln had become an also-ran.

The 1998-99 season, the first in the 2nd division, proved to be very trying for Köln. Despite the presence a few high priced "stars", they basically stunk. Early on, they even looked like a relegation candidate. Redemption would come next season, as they played well from the start and then coasted home to the 2.Liga championship. The return was only two seasons, but in 2002-03, a great 1st half allowed Köln to coast home in the 2.Liga, and bounce back to the top flight. Yet the Bundesliga proved to be too difficult a task, and once again Köln found itself headed back to the 2.Liga. What has become increasingly clear is that this once mighty club is now a member of the vastly increasing "elevator" brigade. In 2008, they were back up, and managed to survive, largely due to the strike rate of Slovenian Milivoje Novakovic, who tallied almost half of Köln's total.

(c) Abseits Guide to Germany : www.abseits-soccer.com