From the Faber-Castell box: The ugliest jersey in Bundesliga history

Wonderful Bundesliga season 1997/98: Kaiserslautern marches to the title, in Dortmund young star Lars Ricken denounces commercialism in football.

From the Faber-Castell box: The ugliest jersey in Bundesliga history

Wonderful Bundesliga season 1997/98: Kaiserslautern marches to the title, in Dortmund young star Lars Ricken denounces commercialism in football. In Cologne, Peter Neururer demands the "Nobel Prize in Football", even though FC are relegated. And Bochum is the laughing stock of the league.

It's one of those actions that you don't forget - if you saw it on TV that evening in the roundup of the games. On August 5th of the 1997/98 season, referee Malbranc whistled for a foul by Munich's Abédi Pelé on Markus Schroth from Karlsruher SC. Loud and easily audible for the entire stadium. But Sean Dundee ignored the whistle and made it 2-2. Even wild protests from the lions didn't change Malbranc's strange change of heart: "I didn't whistle. The noise must have come from somewhere else." However, the evaluation of the TV pictures showed without a doubt that Malbranc had whistled, which he now admitted in view of the clear situation: “I must have made a mistake. I misjudged the situation on the field. The goal wasn’t according to the rules." But the admission came too late: The DFB scored the game 2-2 because it was a regrettable but unfortunately irrevocable factual decision.

In the Ruhr area, VfL Bochum secured the first - albeit unofficial - title in the club's history. He became the club with the ugliest jerseys in Bundesliga history. VfL rainbow jerseys were all the rage in the league. The Kaiserslautern fans chanted for minutes during their game in the Ruhr Stadium: "You have ugly jerseys!" But they didn't actually have to say that twice to the VfL supporters. When the jerseys were presented during a ceremony in the Bochum theater for the first entry into the UEFA Cup, the voice of a horrified VfL fan could be heard live on WDR television, who shouted when the curtain went up: "Whoa, how shitty looks that's over!"

Bochum's sponsor Norman Faber took over the production of the jerseys himself and immortalized the bright colors of his lottery company on the jersey. That's why people like to talk about the "jerseys from the Faber-Castell box". When the team was received the day after the evening in the theater in Bochum town hall, the supporters on the forecourt sang again and again: "We want blue and white jerseys, blue and white jerseys, we want blue and white jerseys". The wish was not answered. No, it got even worse. Because of the Europe-wide presence in the UEFA Cup with the games against Trabzonspor, Bruges and Amsterdam, VfL fans were still being asked about the "ugliest jerseys in the world" by football fans while they were on vacation long after this season.

In Dortmund, on the other hand, "The Prince from the Pot" ("Sports", Zurich), young BVB star Lars Ricken, provided an equally unforgettable action. In solemn advertising words he said: "I see VIP boxes where standing room used to be. I see players who talk to the press more often than to their coach. I see clubs that buy expensive professionals instead of promoting their own youngsters. I I see guys in pinstripes and lots of profiteering. And then I see what's really important." Another Dortmunder became almost more well-known than Ricken through the spot: bus driver Horst Kowalski, Borussia's most loyal fan, commented on the games and players of BVB in the advertising campaign of a sporting goods manufacturer. Actor and Kowalski actor Willi Thomczyk proudly: "I don't think there are many spots that you can still remember after more than ten years. A piece of advertising history was written there." As a matter of fact!

Claims were made in Dortmund and Leverkusen before the season started. Reiner Calmund and Christoph Daum in unison: "We want to be champions!" And at BVB, goalkeeper Stefan Klos said: "It is our aim, indeed our duty, to become German champions. And that will also work if we are spared injuries." Nobody expected Kaiserslautern to be promoted. No one? Not quite. One of them, Berti Vogts, had already guessed the winning streak: "1. FCK shouldn't be seen through the eyes of a promoted team. In terms of potential, FCK, with six current national players, is a top Bundesliga team."

And the Lauterers themselves? "We're just fighting to stay up in the league. It will be years before FCK have finally come to terms with the fall in 1996 into the second division." Those were the words of Lautern's coach Otto Rehhagel after Bayern's opening win in Munich. After the 13th matchday and meanwhile 30 points on the credit side, a Lauterer used the word "championship" for the first time, although coach Otto Rehhagel actually wanted to be sure of staying up in the league. But Andy Brehme didn't have much to lose; at the end of the season he stopped: "And of course it would be great if I could resign with the championship title." It worked! In the end, the promoted team secured the championship trophy with two points ahead of Bayern.

In Cologne, on the other hand, the grief was great. The first German champions in the Bundesliga were relegated. A development that was foreseeable. When FC coach Peter Neururer was fired at the end of September, he summed up the problem of 1. FC Köln in those years with an offended undertone: "It's not a shame to be kicked out in Cologne. I even extended my contract twice - who did that? I hadn't done anything else in Cologne. There's no such thing as a Nobel Prize in football. But actually I deserve it!" A real neuror, that saying. And FC? It actually took him a little longer to recover.