However in Germany, Bayern Munich are seven points clear and look to be on course for their ninth successive title ... yawn ! Growing up in the late 1960's and 1970's, I looked at some names I recalled from European competition ... There are 3 National Leagues in Germany, with Four Regional pyramids below them ..
Halfway through the season, Schalke 04 look doomed to relegation, 11 points away from safety. SV Hamburg, our nemesis in 1961, lead the 2nd division whilst Fortuna Dusseldorf ( losing ECWC finalists in 1979 to Barcelona ) lie just outside the play-offs in 4th. Our fun-loving friends from Hannover occupy 6th place.
Two famous names occupy the top two spots in the 3rd Tier, Dynamo Dresden, regular representatives of the old East Germany, and Munich 1860 ( beaten by West Ham in the 1965 ECWC final ). At the bottom end, both FC Magdeberg ( ECWC winners in 1974 ) and F.C.Kaiserslautern are both battling against relegation to one of the four 4th tier regional leagues.
In the fourth tier, we find Carl Zeiss Jena ( ECWC Runners up 1981 ), and Lokomotive Leipzig ( ECWC Runners up 1987 ), as well as the fabulously named Kickers Offenbach, ( West Germany's ECWC representatives in 1970-71 ). We have to look down to the 6th tier to find Vowarts Berlin ( ECWC semi-finalists in 1971 ), now known as FC Frankfurt. They were renamed after re-unification due to some rather unsavoury links to the East German military ..
I didn't realise that the Bundesliga was only formed in 1963. Previously, the title of German Champions was determined by a series of play offs between the winners of the Regional Leagues. The other strange fact is that no team from the National Capital has ever won the Bundesliga, either from Bonn, or Berlin .... that might just be unique in Europe !
