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1.03.2022Bayer 04

From the archives: 'Wow, what an incredible show’

70 years ago saw the first Oberliga West clash with FC Köln at the old Stadtpark ground. Supported by 3,000 fans from Cologne, FC immediately take control of the game and go 1-0 up on eight minutes through Hans Schäfer, a future World Cup winner in 1954, and they continue to have more of the game. All Bayer 04 can offer is a battling performance and an outstanding goalkeeper in Fredi Mutz.
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From 50 minutes, FC Köln, in front of a full house of 20,000 fans, try to manage the game. Then on 80 minutes: Centre-forward Bubi Becks suddenly decides to shake off his marker Hennes Weisweiler and hammer the ball into the back of the net. The previously quiet Black and Red supporters turn the Stadtpark into a madhouse.

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They have just recovered from the fortunate equaliser as Becks again races down the touchline, outwits an FC Köln defender and plays the ball to the unmarked Karl-Heinz Spikofski who slots it into the far corner. The Bayer team score two goals in three minutes after not having much luck at all in the previous 80.

Both the fans and the team of ‘FC Sülz-Klettenberg’ (Kölnische Rundschau) head home unhappy. The words of a Bayer 04 fan reflect what many of the 17,000 Werkself supporters feel: "Wow, what an incredible show!"

 

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