The 1968–69 Bundesliga was the sixth season of the Bundesliga, West Germany's premier football league. It began on 17 August 1968 and ended on 7 June 1969. 1. FC Nürnberg were the defending champions.
Competition modus Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal average. The team with the most points were crowned champions while the two teams with the fewest points were relegated to their respective Regionalliga divisions.
Team changes to 1967–68 Borussia Neunkirchen and Karlsruher SC were relegated to the Regionalliga after finishing in the last two places. They were replaced by Hertha BSC Berlin and Kickers Offenbach, who won their respective promotion play-off groups.
Season overview The dominant team of the 1968–69 season was FC Bayern Munich. Bayern were in first place of the standings from the very first matchday and never looked back, continuously increasing their margin to eventually eight points, the biggest so far in league history. They were victorious in the DFB Cup as well, beating Schalke in the final by a 2–1 score. Keys to their double win were their improved defense and top scorer Gerd Müller, who scored 30 goals.
Behind Bayern, the league continued to create surprises. Alemannia Aachen ended up in second place after a campaign which featured almost every position between second and 16th. Other notable astonishments were Eintracht Braunschweig, who finished in fourth place, and 1. FC Köln, who ended their season in a dismal 13th position.
Köln even were in danger of being relegated prior to the last matchday, sitting in 15th place with 30 points at that time. They played 1. FC Nürnberg at home, who also were in relegation trouble as 16th-placed team, one point behind Köln. Another match on that day was the clash between 17th-placed Borussia Dortmund and 18th-placed Kickers Offenbach. Both teams had 28 points prior to the game. After the matches were over, both Nürnberg and Offenbach had received 3–0 defeats, resulting in the demotion of both teams.
The demotion of Nürnberg was especially tragic as they had been Bundesliga champions only 12 months ago. Nevertheless, a pre-season sell-out of their best players and continuous quarrels between coach Max Merkel and his players proved to be costly, and although Merkel was sacked in late March 1969, it was too late to reverse tides. A home draw to Dortmund on matchday 33 and the defeat against Köln one week later eventually sealed their fate.
Team overview
Club Ground Capacity Tivoli 30,000 Olympiastadion 100,000 Eintracht-Stadion 38,000 Weserstadion 32,000 Stadion Rote Erde 30,000 Wedaustadion 38,500 Waldstadion 87,000 Volksparkstadion 80,000 Niedersachsenstadion 86,000 Stadion Betzenberg 42,000 Müngersdorfer Stadion 76,000 Bökelbergstadion 34,500 Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße 44,300 Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße 44,300 Städtisches Stadion 64,238 Bieberer Berg 30,000 Glückauf-Kampfbahn 35,000 Neckarstadion 53,000
League table
Results
Top goalscorers 30 goals Gerd Müller (FC Bayern Munich)
23 goals Uwe Seeler (Hamburger SV)
17 goals Josip Skoblar (Hannover 96)
15 goals Werner Görts (SV Werder Bremen) Herbert Laumen (Borussia Mönchengladbach) Hartmut Weiß (Eintracht Braunschweig)
14 goals Carl-Heinz Rühl (1. FC Köln)
13 goals Bernd Rupp (SV Werder Bremen)
12 goals Lothar Emmerich (Borussia Dortmund) Heinz-Dieter Hasebrink (1. FC Kaiserslautern) Heinz-Gerd Klostermann (Alemannia Aachen)
Champion squad
FC Bayern MunichGoalkeeper: Sepp Maier (34). Defenders: Werner Olk (34 / 1); Peter Pumm (34); Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck (34); Franz Beckenbauer (33 / 2); Peter Kupferschmidt (22). Midfielders: August Starek (34 / 4); Franz Roth (34 / 2); Helmut Schmidt (21 / 2). Forwards: Rainer Ohlhauser (34 / 10); Dieter Brenninger (34 / 9); Gerd Müller (30 / 30); Gustav Jung (4). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Branko Zebec .
On the roster but have not played in a league game: Fritz Kosar; Benno Zellermayer; Peter Stegmann; Albrecht Wachsmann; Reinhard Lippert.
Attendances Source:
No. Team Attendance Change Highest 1 Hertha BSC 44,176 925.8% 70,000 2 1. FC Nürnberg 26,647 -33.0% 50,000 3 Bayern München 25,029 15.3% 40,000 4 1. FC Köln 24,882 7.4% 53,000 5 Schalke 04 23,412 2.8% 40,000 6 Borussia Dortmund 22,824 4.3% 38,000 7 Hannover 96 22,706 1.5% 40,000 8 OFC Kickers 22,353 151.7% 33,000 9 Hamburger SV 21,059 9.3% 50,000 10 Eintracht Frankfurt 20,765 2.5% 60,000 11 Borussia Mönchengladbach 20,500 -6.9% 32,000 12 VfB Stuttgart 20,482 -14.6% 74,700 13 Alemannia 19,059 -16.3% 30,000 14 Werder Bremen 18,412 -11.6% 35,000 15 MSV Duisburg 17,324 3.9% 37,000 16 Eintracht Braunschweig 15,882 1.5% 38,000 17 TSV 1860 14,824 -23.3% 44,000 18 1. FC Kaiserslautern 14,176 4.8% 25,000
See also 1968–69 DFB-Pokal
References
External links DFB Bundesliga archive 1968/1969