The week of their lives – Part 8: Celebrations in Munich | OneFootball

Fifty years ago, Bayern became the first German team to win a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles and the European Cup – all within the space of eight days. Members magazine ‘51’ has taken a look back at four unforgettable games and forgotten moments off the pitch in May 1974. Part 8 recounts the laughable Bundesliga game in Mönchengladbach the day after the European Cup final and how 80,000 people celebrated their team on the streets of Munich.

Saturday, 18 May

In 1973, Paul Breitner jokingly asked himself after winning the Bundesliga if “anybody could even celebrate at this bloody club”. A year later, the team celebrated right through till breakfast. “We played cards and ordered a few dozen fried eggs to our room,” Breitner recalls. At 8am, Sepp Maier, Jupp Kapellmann and Katsche Schwarzenbeck jumped into the hotel swimming pool to freshen up. That morning, the team would travel the 180 kilometres by bus from Brussels to the Bökelberg in Mönchengladbach, with the European Cup and only a few hours' sleep in their bags.

While the team was travelling, Conny Torstensson's wife gave birth to their first child in Sweden. The exhausted ‘Mr European Cup’ only found out a few hours later. In Gladbach, the squad sat on the grass outside the hotel drinking a wheat beer. The Borussia fans walking to the nearby stadium cheered them. “The fact that the opposing fans were celebrating us was something special,” recalls Rainer Zobel. The whole of footballing Germany was united. A good start to the World Cup on home soil that summer.

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The team hardly prepared for the game. “We can play carefree, that's worth a lot,” said coach Udo Lattek. “My players intend to prevent Jupp Heynckes from scoring so that Gerd Müller once again finishes as the Bundesliga's top scorer. Perhaps we can achieve a lot more if we pursue this goal.”

Schwan fulfils somersault promise

Bayern held out for half an hour, but then the Foals scored four times in just 15 minutes through Heynckes, Allan Simonsen, Rainer Bonhof and Heynckes again. Lattek held up the European Cup every time a goal went in. “We just laughed on the bench every time they scored,” he later recalled. General manager Robert Schwan had promised the team that if they won the European Cup, he would do a somersault on the pitch. After the triumph, Schwan initially promised each player 10,000 Deutschmark if he did not have to do the somersault. However, 20 minutes before kick-off at the Bökelberg, he leapt into action, but so quickly and inconspicuously that it almost went unnoticed. Franz Beckenbauer was very impressed by the speed of the game: “I can play like this for another 25 years.”

Heynckes went level with Müller in the goalscoring charts with day’s fifth and both ended up with 30 goals. Müller didn’t play at all in the second half and later said: “What difference does it make?”

“At the European summit” - Bayern celebrated exuberantly after their European Cup triumph.

Thousands celebrate in Munich city centre

At the airport, Torstensson left the team and flew to his family in Sweden. He said goodbye to Maier and Beckenbauer with the words: “See you in the World Cup final.” At 8.35pm, the plane landed at Munich-Riem airport. Nine open-top sports cars headed towards the city centre, where some 50,000 Bayern fans were lining the streets. At Marienplatz, 30,000 people, the mayor and Seppi the donkey, the first Bayern mascot since the late 1960s, were waiting. The atmosphere was tremendous. The only downer was that very few fans could actually see anything because the ceremony took place on a low podium. They climbed on fountains, traffic lights and electricity boxes, singing “Such a day, as wonderful as today” and “Yes, we're here on our bikes”. Again and again they shouted: “Get on the balcony, get on the balcony!” And so, at the end of this incredible week, a tradition was born.

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As the dust settled, president Wilhelm Neudecker and Schwan did a cash check. Bayern had made a good 450,000 Marks. Each player received 30,000 for the European Cup and more than 10,000 for the Bundesliga. “If we win, I'm happy to make a loss,” said Neudecker.

Lattek walks from Nuremberg to Munich

On Monday, 20 May, Zobel extended his contract until 1976. Coach Lattek had promised to walk from Nuremberg to Munich if the team won the European Cup. After the triumph, he publicly discussed with Neudecker whether a walk from Ingolstadt to Munich would not be enough, but Neudecker remained firm. Lattek was allowed to complete the 170 kilometres in two stages and with a two-week break. He later found an even better trick and walked 38 kilometres from Nuremberg to a small village also called Munich.

The national team players went on holiday. The remaining squad with Zobel and ‘Bulle’ Roth played 11 ‘private matches’, including against Lohhof and Bayerbach. Maier was travelling on the Moselle, Müller “secretly down south” and Uli Hoeneß to South Tyrol “for active relaxation. I live at an altitude of 1,000 metres and want to do something for my fitness every day.”

The World Cup training camp in Malente began on 28 May. After their triumphs, Bayern were showing great foresight for the great success and footballing drama to come. “If Germany becomes world champions, it will be difficult to motivate the players for everyday Bundesliga life again,” feared Lattek.

“Now I've won everything in my career except the World Cup,” said Franz Beckenbauer: “But the good Lord will sort that out…”

Read part 7 of our series here:

The week of their lives – Part 7: The day of glory