History of Berliner FC Dynamo (1978–1989)

East German football club BFC Dynamo had developed a very successful youth academy during the 1970s. The first team had an average age of only 22.7 years before the 1978–79 season. Young talented players in the team were Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Lutz Eigendorf, Norbert Trieloff, Michael Noack, Roland Jüngling, Rainer Troppa, Bodo Rudwaleit, Ralf Sträßer, Hartmut Pelka and Arthur Ullrich. The veterans in the team were Reinhard Lauck, Frank Terletzki, Wolf-Rüdiger Netz and Bernd Brillat. The young team was coached by 31-year-old coach Jürgen Bogs.

BFC Dynamo got off to a strong start in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga and won the first ten matches. Lutz Eigendorf defected to West Germany during a friendly match in Kaiserslautern on 20 March 1979. His defection was considered a slap in the face to the East German regime. BFC Dynamo finally won its first DDR-Oberliga title after defeating rival SG Dynamo Dresden 3–1 on the 24th matchday in front of 22,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. The team set a number of league records during the season.

BFC Dynamo made its debut in the European Cup in the 1979–80 season. The team made it all the way to the quarter-finals of the 1979-80 European Cup, where it faced Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough. BFC Dynamo won the first leg away 1–0. BFC Dynamo thus became the first German team to defeat an English team in England in the European Cup. The success in the league continued, but the competition was fierce: BFC Dynamo won the 1979-80 DDR-Oberliga by defeating first-placed SG Dynamo Dresden on the final matchday, and then the 1980-81 DDR-Oberliga by defeating second-placed FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the final matchday. More young talented players from the youth department were integrated into the first team at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s, such as Rainer Ernst, Bernd Schulz, Olaf Seier, Frank Rohde, Falko Götz, and Christian Backs.

BFC Dynamo reached the quarter-finals of the 1981-82 European Cup but was eventually eliminated by Aston Villa. BFC Dynamo now began a period of dominance in the league. The team secured its fourth consecutive league title at the end of the 1981-82 DDR-Oberliga and would go through the entire 1982-83 DDR-Oberliga undefeated. BFC Dynamo was only defeated by FC Karl-Marx-Stadt on the seventh matchday of the 1983-84 DDR-Oberliga. It was the team's first loss in 36 league matches. BFC Dynamo was drawn against Partizan Belgrade in the second round of the 1983–84 European Cup. The players Falko Götz and Dirk Schlegel defected to West Germany during a shopping tour in Belgrade before the return leg. Young talented forward Andreas Thom from the youth department would make his international debut in the match, as a replacement for Götz. BFC Dynamo lost the match but advanced to the quarter-finals on goal difference. The team was eventually eliminated by AS Roma in the quarter-finals. It was the fourth time in five seasons that BFC Dynamo had been eliminated by an eventual finalist. The team reached the final of the 1983-84 FDGB-Pokal but was defeated by SG Dynamo Dresden.

BFC Dynamo was drawn against Aberdeen F.C. under Alex Ferguson in the first round of the 1984-85 European Cup. The team advanced, after a dramatic penalty shoot-out at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in the return leg. BFC Dynamo continued to dominate the league. The team scored a whopping 90 goals in the 1984-85 DDR-Oberliga. No other team would ever score more goals during a season in the DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo faced rival SG Dynamo Dresden in the final of the 1984–85 FDGB-Pokal. The team lost the match 2–3. For the second consecutive season, SG Dynamo Dresden had stopped BFC Dynamo from winning the Double. The match between 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig and BFC Dynamo on the 18th matchday of the 1985-86 DDR-Oberliga become historic due to a controversial penalty for BFC Dynamo in extra time. The match ended 1-1. BFC Dynamo captured its eighth consecutive league title on the final matchday of the 1985-86 DDR-Oberliga. The team finished just two points ahead of second-placed 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

BFC Dynamo had the best material conditions in the league and was the best team by far. But controversial refereeing decisions in favor of BFC Dynamo gave rise to speculation that the team's dominance was also due to help from referees. Complaints of alleged referee bias accumulated as the team came to dominate the DDR-Oberliga. The German Football Association of the GDR (DFV) conducted a secret review of the 1984–85 season. Among other things, the review showed that BFC Dynamo received significantly fewer yellow cards than rivals SG Dynamo Dresden and 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig. A review was also carried out of the final of the 1984-85 FDGB-Pokal. This analysis concluded that the referees had committed several errors in the final to the disadvantage of SG Dynamo Dresden. However, there is no evidence to show that referees were under direct instructions from the Stasi and no document has ever been found in the archives that gave the Stasi a mandate to bribe referees. Former East German referee Bernd Heynemann concluded that: "The BFC is not ten times champions because the referees only whistled for Dynamo. They were already strong as a bear."

The team was joined by Thomas Doll from relegated F.C. Hansa Rostock for the 1986–87 season. Doll and Andreas Thom would form one of the most effective attacking duos in East German football in the late 1980s. BFC Dynamo met fierce competition from 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig in the 1986-87 DDR-Oberliga and the 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo and 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was level on points heading into the final matchday of the 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga. Both teams won their final matches, but BFC Dynamo finished with a better goal difference, thus winning its tenth consecutive league title. BFC Dynamo then defeated FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2–0 in front of 40,000 spectators at the Stadion der Weltjugend in the final of the 1987–88 FDGB-Pokal. BFC Dynamo had thus finally won the Double. Andreas Thom became the 1988 East German footballer of the year.

BFC Dynamo was drawn against West German champions SV Werder Bremen in the first round of the 1988-89 European Cup. BFC Dynamo sensationally won the first leg 3–0 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. However, the team lost the return leg 5–0 at the Weser-Stadion. The return leg would become known as "The Second Miracle on the Weser". BFC Dynamo finished the first half of the 1988-89 DDR-Oberliga in fourth place. It was the team's worst result after a first half of a league season in 14 years. The team's ten-year dominance in the league was eventually broken by SG Dynamo Dresden in the 1988-89 DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo again won the FDGB-Pokal by defeating FC Karl-Marx-Stadt 1–0 in the final of the 1988-89 FDGB-Pokal. BFC Dynamo then defeated SG Dynamo Dresden 4–1 in the first edition of the DFV-Supercup. BFC Dynamo eventually became the only winner of the DFV-Supercup in the history of East German football.

East German champions and the loss of Lutz Eigendorf (1978–1979) BFC Dynamo fielded a young team in the 1978–79 season. The average age of the team was only 22,7 years. The team included several young talented players such as Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Lutz Eigendorf, Norbert Trieloff, Michael Noack, Roland Jüngling, Rainer Troppa, Bodo Rudwaleit, Ralf Sträßer and Artur Ullrich. Reinhard Lauck, Frank Terletzki, Wolf-Rüdiger Netz and Bernd Brillat were the veterans of the team. Terletzki was the team captain. The team was coached by 31-year-old Jürgen Bogs. BFC Dynamo under Bogs would play an aggressive football that focused on attacking.

BFC Dynamo defeated HFC Chemie 4–1 at home and BSG Wismut Aue 2–3 away in the first two matchdays of the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga. The team then won the derby against 1. FC Union Berlin 5–0 in the third matchday in front of 32,000 spectators at the Stadion der Weltjugend on 2 September 1979. Wolf-Rüdiger Netz scored four goals in the match. BFC Dynamo had finished the 1977-78 DDR-Oberliga in third place and was qualified for the 1978-79 UEFA Cup. The team was drawn against the Yugoslav powerhouse Red Star Belgrade in the first round. BFC Dynamo won the first leg 5–2 in front of 26,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 13 September 1979–78. Hans-Jürgen Riediger scored the first three goals for BFC Dynamo in the match. The return leg was played in front of 60,000 spectators at the Red Star Stadium on 27 September 1978. The score was 3–1 at the end of the match. Miloš Šestić then scored a goal for Red Star Belgrade in stoppage time. BFC Dynamo eventually lost the match 4-1 and was eliminated on the away goal rule. Coach Bogs would many years later describe the defeat to Red Star Belgrade in the return leg as the most bitter defeat of his entire career.

BFC Dynamo defeated 1. FC Union Berlin with 1–8 and then 7–1 in the round of 16 of the 1978-79 FDGB-Pokal. Riediger scored a hat-trick in both legs. He amassed eight goals against 1. FC Union Berlin in the round. The 1978–79 season marked a change in East German football. BFC Dynamo opened the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga with ten consecutive wins and thus set a record for the number of consecutive wins at the start of a league season. The previous record was held by SG Dynamo Dresden, who had won seven consecutive matches at the opening of the 1972-73 DDR-Oberliga. The team met SG Dynamo Dresden away on the 11th matchday. SG Dynamo Dresden stood in second place in the league. The match was played in front of 33,000 spectators at Dynamo-Stadion in Dresden on 2 December 1978. Hartmut Schade scored 1-0 for SG Dynamo Dresden in the 57th minute. The match eventually ended in a 1–1 draw after an equaliser by Hans-Jürgen Riediger in the 68th minute on a pass from Lutz Eigendorf. The match was marked by unrest, with numerous fans of both teams arrested. The inexperienced linesman Günter Supp had missed a clear offside position on Riediger in the situation that led up to the equaliser. Snowballs were thrown at the departing BFC Dynamo team bus after the match. BFC Dynamo then defeated BSG Chemie Böhlen 6–0 at home on the 12th matchday on 9 December 1978 and FC Karl-Marx-Stadt 1–2 away on the 13th matchday on 16 December 1978. The team finished the first half of the season as Herbstmeister. BFC Dynamo had won 25 points during the first half of the season and thus also set a record for the number of points won during the first half of a season in the DDR-Oberliga under the current format. The team had won 12 matches and played one draw in its first 13 matches in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga.