Promotion in 1976: why Otto Rehhagel became BVB boss overnight | OneFootball

“King Otto” is now primarily associated with his long era as Werder Bremen’s coach. Yet until the start of that era in 1981, he never stayed at any club for very long. That was also true of his first spell at Werder in 1976, which came to an abrupt end when he moved to Borussia Dortmund. Here are the details surrounding BVB’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1976.

BVB does not look back fondly on the years from 1972 to 1976. During that period, the club that had, after all, won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1966 was only playing in Germany’s second tier. And in the first two seasons, that even meant playing only in the Regionalliga West. The 2. Bundesliga was not founded until 1974, initially split into a northern and a southern division.

The two champions of the divisions, each made up of 20 clubs, were promoted. The third promotion place to the Bundesliga was decided over two legs between the two runners-up. At the end of the 1975/76 season, those were Borussia Dortmund in the north and 1. FC Nürnberg in the south. (The direct promotion spots went to Tennis Borussia Berlin and 1. FC Saarbrücken).

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At BVB, Rehhagel made Bundesliga history – unwillingly

Unfortunately, BVB’s current coach at the time, Horst Buhtz, had already signed for this exact opponent in the promotion playoff for the following season. A conflict of conscience that could not reasonably be expected of Buhtz, BVB president Heinz Günther decided—against the team’s explicit wishes—and removed Buhtz from office by means of a termination agreement.

But with so little time left, a new coach still had to be found to lead Borussia Dortmund in those two matches against 1. FC Nürnberg. And this is where Otto Rehhagel comes into the picture, as Buhtz actually managed to lure him away from Bundesliga side Werder Bremen at short notice. The original plan had been to appoint Hennes Weisweiler, who was parting ways with FC Barcelona.

Instead, it was Essen-born Otto Rehhagel, whose appointment was certainly not something to regret in those first matches of his time at BVB. BVB won 1–0 in Nuremberg and 3–2 at home. After four years away, BVB had returned to the Bundesliga, from which they have not been relegated a second time to this day.

Nevertheless, Rehhagel’s time at BVB ended in particularly inglorious fashion. In his first season, he led Borussia, as a newly promoted side, to a very respectable eighth place. The following season went less well, although 11th place at least meant there were no relegation worries. But on the final matchday of that season, Rehhagel’s BVB collapsed to a 12–0 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach. This still the heaviest defeat ever suffered by a Bundesliga club did cost the promotion-winning coach of 1976 his job at BVB after all, and earned him the mocking twist on his surname, “Torhagel.”

As we now know, Rehhagel’s coaching career survived even that record flop.

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