The 1965–66 Bundesliga was the third season of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

's premier football league. It began on 14 August 1965 and ended on 28 May 1966.

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

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 A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

. The team with the most points were crowned champions while the two teams with the fewest points were relegated to their respective

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

divisions.

Team changes to 1964–65

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the ...

and

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

would initially have been relegated for finishing in the bottom two places. However,

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...

were found guilty of illegal financial behavior and, as a consequence, had their Bundesliga license revoked. The

German FA The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of ...

then decided to keep Karlsruhe and Schalke in the league and expand its size to 18 teams.

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

and

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional football club based in Mönchengladbach, Nort ...

were promoted after having won their respective promotion play-off groups. In order to still have a representative from West

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in the league, the amateur side Tasmania Berlin were also granted promotion.

Season overview

The 1965–66 season was the inaugural season for the two most successful clubs regarding league titles in Bundesliga history,

and

. It was also the first time that a city had two clubs in the Bundesliga. Bayern were a title contender for large parts of the season, but eventually were held short three points by their cross-town rivals

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts ...

, who won their first championship. Nevertheless, the newcomers had something to celebrate as well, as they won the

DFB Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

one week after the end of the season, which they finished in third place.

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

finished in second place, ahead on

to Bayern Munich. They also had huge title chances until late in the season, but were beaten 2–0 at home by 1860 on the second-to-last match day. However, Dortmund did not end the season without a title as well, as they beat

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

2–1 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

three days earlier. It marked the first time that a German club had won a European championship. At the other end of the table, another famous German club had a historic season as well – but in the worst way possible. Tasmania Berlin were added to the league just two weeks before the start of the season after city rivals

had been thrown out on financial irregularities. They were not even first choice for a replacement as the Berlin representative, as they had only finished in third place in

Regionalliga Berlin The Regionalliga Berlin was the second-highest level of the German football league system in the city of West-Berlin in Germany from 1963 until the formation of the 2. Bundesliga in 1974. It was by far the smallest of the five Regionalligas. Over ...

. But when champions Tennis Borussia were considered too weak after failing in the promotion play-off rounds and therefore were not asked, and runners-up

Spandauer SV Spandauer SV was a German football club from Berlin. History Early years The capital city was one of the earliest centres of German football and was home to 1. Spandauer Fußballklub Triton, formed on 24 May 1894, and Sportclub Germania ...

declined their interest in a Bundesliga spot as well, Tasmania gladly accepted the invitation by the

. The decision turned out to be a fatal one for the club. Tasmania's team was never capable of competing in the Bundesliga. They set up a various number of records, including, among others, lowest point total (8), fewest wins (2), most losses (28), fewest goals scored (15), most goals against (108) and lowest match attendance for a Bundesliga game (827 against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 15 January 1966). Most of the records are still intact.

Team overview

League table

Results

Top scorers

;31 goals *

Lothar Emmerich Lothar "Emma" Emmerich (29 November 1941 – 13 August 2003) was a German football player and manager who played as a forward. He was born in Dortmund-Dorstfeld and died in Hemer. He won five caps for West Germany in 1966. Emmerich scored 115 ...

''(

)'' ;26 goals *

Friedhelm Konietzka Friedhelm "Timo" Konietzka (2 August 1938 – 12 March 2012) was a German professional football player and manager who played as a striker. He earned his nickname "Timo" due to a supposed resemblance to the Soviet commander Semyon Timoshen ...

''(

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members ...

)'' ;20 goals * Arnold Schütz ''(

)'' ;18 goals *

Peter Grosser Peter Grosser (28 September 1938 – 2 March 2021) was a German football player and coach. Club career As a player, he spent six seasons in the Bundesliga with TSV 1860 Munich, captaining the club for the 1965–66 Bundesliga title and scorin ...

''(

)'' * Johannes Löhr ''(

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ball ...

)'' *

Manfred Pohlschmidt Manfred Pohlschmidt (born 27 August 1940) is a retired Germany, German Association football, football player. Career Pohlschmidt started his Bundesliga career with SC Preußen Münster in the 1963–64 season, the club's only season in the Bunde ...

''(

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

)'' ;17 goals * Wilhelm Huberts ''( Eintracht Frankfurt)'' *

Lothar Ulsaß Lothar Ulsaß (9 September 1940 – 18 June 1999) was a German professional footballer who played as a midfielder or striker. Club career Early in his career Ulsaß was a prolific goalscorer at Arminia Hannover in the second tier Amateurobe ...

''(

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

)'' ;16 goals *

Bernd Rupp Bernd Rupp (born 24 February 1942) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played his only game for West Germany on 12 October 1966, scoring a goal in a 2–0 friendly win against Turkey. He scored 119 goals in th ...

''(

)'' ;15 goals *

Rudolf Brunnenmeier Rudolf "Rudi" Brunnenmeier (11 February 1941 – 18 April 2003) was a German football player. The former top scorer of the Bundesliga and five times player for Germany is closely associated with the great era of 1860 Munich in the 1960s. Career ...

''(

)'' * Hans Siemensmayer ''( Hannover 96)''

Champion squad

References

External links

DFB Archive 1965–66
{{DEFAULTSORT:1965-66 Bundesliga Bundesliga seasons 1

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...