50 years ago: Borussia’s triumphant Bundesliga return against HSV | OneFootball

1,508 days lay between the 298th and 299th Bundesliga match in the club’s history. With a 3-2 win at Hannover 96, BVB had bid farewell to the top flight on June 28, 1972, and then languished in the second tier for four years. 1,508 days until their return. And it came with a bang: on August 14, 1976, the Black and Yellows announced their comeback with a 4-3 away win over cup holders Hamburger SV, who had just signed an absolute superstar in Kevin “Mighty Mouse” Keegan.

For the first time in more than three years, HSV icon Rudi Kargus had to concede more than three goals at the Volkspark. He still managed to stop Willi “Ente” Lippens’ shot (3rd minute), but a minute later Hans-Werner Hartl buried a cross from Segler in the net. After just under half an hour, Peter Geyer added BVB’s second goal, and the 8,000 traveling BVB fans among the total crowd of 50,000 went wild. Seven minutes before halftime, Erwin Kostedde made it 0-3, leaving shock written all over the Hamburg players’ faces.

“Decisive for the sensational 0-3 scoreline at the break was Dortmund’s brilliant midfield unit, with an attack-minded Geyer and an offensive Burghard Segler, who strolled around the Hamburg half at will,” reported kicker: “After the break, Memering, who came on for Blankenburg, finally injected some new life into HSV. Dortmund had to withstand veritable powerplay. A disallowed goal by Reimann for offside was followed in the 53rd minute by the goal that made it 1-3, when Steffenhagen converted after a shot by Kaltz had struck the post.”

Willi Reimann pulled it back to 2-3 for the reigning cup winners just five minutes later, but right in the middle of the new Hamburg euphoria, Kostedde struck again only two minutes later to make it 2-4. HSV were awarded a questionable handball penalty a quarter of an hour from time, which Georg Volkert converted for 3-4, but after that HSV no longer had the strength. Dortmund’s defense, marshaled by the alert goalkeeper Horst Bertram, allowed nothing else to happen.

kicker gave the promoted side an enthusiastic welcome: “Borussia are back! Germany’s first European Cup Winners’ Cup champion celebrated its return to the Bundesliga with a mighty bang. And by the look of it, the feat in Hamburg will not be Dortmund’s last. Because this Borussia is undoubtedly an asset to the top flight. Rarely has a newcomer played with such ruthlessness, cleverness, and tactical discipline.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.