History of Berliner FC Dynamo (1954–1978)

First years (1954–1957) BFC Dynamo began as a football department of SC Dynamo Berlin. SC Dynamo Berlin was founded in East Berlin on 1 October 1954 as one of the new elite sports clubs in East German sports. As with all clubs bearing the name Dynamo, it was part of SV Dynamo, the sports association for the security agencies. The president of SV Dynamo was Erich Mielke, at the time Deputy State Secretary of the State Security Service, commonly known as the Stasi. Mielke was a football enthusiast who saw football as a way of aggrandizing East Germany and socialism. The new sports club SC Dynamo Berlin became a center of excellence () of sports association SV Dynamo. In order to establish a competitive side in Berlin, the first team of Dynamo Dresden and its place in the DDR-Oberliga was transferred to the new sports club SC Dynamo Berlin. Political factors and pressure from Mielke were probably the main reasons behind the relocation. The relocation was designed to provide the capital with a team that could rival Hertha BSC, Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin, and Tennis Borussia Berlin, which were still popular in East Berlin and drew football fans to West Berlin. It soon became a dominant side in East German football and was reformed as SG Dynamo Dresden in 1953. Dresden had two sides in the 1953–54 DDR-Oberliga. Berlin had no representation in the highest level of competition, which did not please SV Dynamo President Mielke. SC Dynamo Berlin then played its first home match at the Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion against BSG Fortschritt Meerane on 5 December 1954. However, the team lost five players in the following months and dropped to an eight place in the league by the 19th matchday. The young players from SC DHfK Leipzig were not yet ready to fill the gap. SC Dynamo Berlin eventually finished its first season in the DDR-Oberliga in seventh place. The team thus left rival ZSK Vorwärts Berlin, which had been relocated to East Berlin in a similar way a year earlier, behind. The first loss came against top-team SC Empor Rostock in front of 7,000 sectators at the Stadion Steffenstraße on the sixth matchday, 9 October 1955. The team was joined by young midfielder Waldemar Mühlbächer from BSG Fortschritt Meerane during the summer of 1956. Dynamo Berlin stood at 12th place in the league after the first half of the season. The team started the 1957 DDR-Liga with a 2–2 draw against BSG Motor Altenburg, but then quickly rose to the top of the league. Dynamo Berlin played a friendly match against Polish side Górniczy KS Szombierki Bytom on 9 May 1957. The team won the match 5–2 in front of 80,000 spectators at the Walter-Ulbrich-Stadion. The attendance number is allegedly the highest in the history of the club. For the second half of the 1958 season, the team would also be joined by the young defender Kornad Dorner from TSC Oberschönewede. Dorner made his debut for Dynamo Berlin in the DDR-Oberliga towards the end of the 1958 season. The players of the former SG Dynamo Dresden team had aged. Günter Schröter and Herbert Maschke would remain central players to the team into the early 1960s, but most other players from the former Dynamo Dresden team had already left the team by the late 1950s. Herbert Schoen had played his last competitive matches for Dynamo Berlin during the 1957 season. Johannes Matzen suffered a serious injury in the match against SC Motor Jena in the 1958 DDR-Oberliga on 2 August 1958 and consequently had to end his playing career at the age of 33. The team of SC Dynamo Berlin would now instead be shaped by a new generation of players, such as Martin Skaba, Werner Heine, Waldemar Mühlbächer, Hermann Bley and Konrad Dorner. SC Dynamo Berlin had difficulties establishing itself in football in Berlin. The team rarely drawing crowds larger than 5,000 spectators at the Walter-Ulbricht-Stadion. Dynamo Berlin finished the 1959 DDR-Oberliga in third place. Günter Schröter once again became the second best goalscorer in the league. Schröter had scored all five goals for Dynamo Berlin in its 5–0 victory over SC Lokomotiv Leipzig on the ninth matchday of the 1959 DDR-Oberliga on 10 May 1959. The team also reached the final of the 1959 FDGB-Pokal. The team defeated the new East German champion SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt in the two-legged final and won the cup. The first match ended 0–0, but the replay was won 3–2, with two goals scored by Christian Hofmann and one penalty goal scored by Schröter. Dynamo Berlin had thus finally secured its first major trophy. However, despite winning the cup, Dynamo Berlin was not allowed to participate in the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup. The German Football Association of the GDR () (DFV) found local rival and league runner-up ASK Vorwärts Berlin to be a more suitable representative of East Germany in the competition. , at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion in Leipzig on 13 December 1959. Dynamo Berlin recruited Romanian-born forward Emil Poklitar from BSG Rotation Babelsberg and forward Wilfried Klingbiel from BSG Lokomotive Stendal for the 1960 season. The team stood at 12th place after the first half of the 1960 DDR-Oberliga. The Hungarian János Gyarmati became the new coach in the summer of 1960. Gyarmati had previously coached SG Dynamo Dresden, SC DHfK Leipzig, ASK Vorwärts Berlin and the East Germany national football team. The recruitment of Gyarmati provoked the DFV, as Dynamo Berlin had recruited Gyarmati arbitrarily; it was actually the DFV who would decide on the appointment of a coach. Dynamo Berlin rose in the league during the second half of the season. The team eventually finished the 1960 DDR-Oberliga as runner-up. The weak 1960s (1961–1965) Dynamo Berlin continued as a top team in the 1961-62 DDR-Oberliga. As many as six players from the team were included in the starting line-up of the East Germany national football team in the match against Denmark in front of 45,000 spectators at Idrætsparken on 28 May 1961: Werner Heine, Martin Skaba, Waldemar Mühlbächer, Herbert Maschke, Günther Schröter and Wilfried Klingbiel. Dynamo Berlin stood at second place in the league by the summer break. The team was then allowed to participate in the 1961–62 International Football Cup in the summer of 1961. The team defeated Wiener SC with 3–5 on 18 June 1961, in its first ever international match. The team defeated SC Lokomotive Leipzig 3-2 at the Dynamo Stadium in the final matchday of the 1961-62 DDR-Oberliga, after a hat-trick by Waldemar Mühlbächer. Dynamo Berlin found itself overshadowed in the capital by the army-sponsored ASK Vorwärts Berlin. The team had a relatively successful start to the 1962-63 DDR-Oberliga, with wins over SG Dynamo Dresden, SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt, SC Turbine Erfurt and SC Lokomotive Leipzig. Dynamo Berlin was a top team for the most part of the first half of the league season, but a sharp decline followed in the second half of the league season. The team eventually finished the 1962-63 DDR-Oberliga in a meager 10th place. Relegation was only narrowly avoided with a 2-0 win over SC Aufbau Magdeburg on the 25th matchday. The average attendance had dropped to only 3,000 at the Dynamo Stadium in the 1962–63 season. Schröter retired from his playing career and became a trainer in the club, while Maschke joined SG Dynamo Hohenschönhausen. The team was joined by young forward Joachim Hall from SG Dynamo Hohenschönhausen for the season. Wolff had made his debut for the first team of Dynamo Berlin in the DDR-Oberliga in 1962. The 1963-64 season was first season without former star Schröter. Dynamo Berlin was now a lower-table side in the DDR-Oberliga. The team stood at last place in the league after the first half of the season. However, a turn came with the 2-0 win over BSG Lokomotive Stendal on the 14th matchday. Dynamo Berlin defeated SC Motor Jena 2-1 after a winning goal by Hall and climbed to an eighth place. Dynamo Berlin eventually finished the 1963-64 DDR-Oberliga in an eight place. Hall became the best goalscorer for Dynamo Berlin in the league with 10 goals. Former national team player Wilfried Klingbiel left the team for SC Aufbau Magdeburg after the season. (left) and Wolfgang Pfeifer of SG Dynamo Dresden (right) during the match between the two teams at the Dynamo Stadium in the DDR-Oberliga on 25 November 1964. The team was joined by defender Jochen Carow from SG Dynamo Hohenschönhausen for the 1964-65 season. Jürgen Bräunlich took over as the new first-choice goalkeeper during the autumn of 1964. Dynamo Berlin struggled at the bottom of the table during the season. Dynamo Berlin finished the 1964-65 DDR-Oberliga in 12th place. A bitter dispute erupted between Dynamo Berlin and SG Dynamo Schwerin in 1965 over the delegation of three players from Schwerin to Berlin. The disparity between the two teams was significant. In the 1964–65 season, the wage bill of officials and players was 315,559 Marks for Berlin, compared to 19,428 Marks for Schwerin. Local SED politicians and local SV Dynamo functionaries in Bezirk Schwerin aspired to transform Schwerin into a major footballing centre. When the Berlin club tried to exercise its right as a sports club to draw talented players from Schwerin, they put up stern resistance. Erich Mielke and SV Dynamo officials were conscious of the mass appeal of football and the role of the Berlin club in the reputation of the Stasi. The team was joined by forward Erhard Kochale from BSG Lokomotiv Stendal and forward Günter Aedtner from SG Dynamo Hohenschönhausen for the 1965-66 season. Dynamo Berlin defeated SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt 1-0 on the fourth matchday of the 1965-66 DDR-Oberliga, after a goal by Aedtner. The Dynamo Stadium was sold out with 10,000 spectators. The team was now at the top of the table. East German football was reorganised during the winter break 1965–1966 when the football departments of ten sports clubs (SC) were made independent. The ten football departments were reorganised into ten designated football clubs (FC), forming the East German football elite. The new football clubs were meant to provide stability to the game at the top level and to supply the national team with talent. Promising players would be ordered to play for them. As part of this reorganization, the football department of SC Dynamo Berlin was separated from the sports club in 1966 and reorganised as the football club Berliner FC Dynamo. The football department of the sports community ( (SG)) SG Dynamo Hohenschönhausen would also be disbanded after the 1965–66 season. The players of Hohenschönhausen joined the reserve team of BFC Dynamo, BFC Dynamo II, which took over the place of Hohenschönhausen in the 1966–67 Bezirksliga Berlin. ==Founding (1966–1971)==

Founding (1966) BFC Dynamo was founded on 15 January 1966 as one of the newly designated football clubs in East Germany. The founding ceremony was attended by the Minister for State Security and SV Dynamo President Erich Mielke, as well as the Minister of the Interior and the Head of the Volkspolizei Friedrich Dickel. The new club was presented by the SV Dynamo President Mielke in front of the 1,400 guests at the founding ceremony in the Dynamo-Sporthalle in Hohenschönhausen in East Berlin. The first presidium included the Head of the Volkspolizei in East Berlin Horst Ende, the Intendant of the Metropol theatre in Mitte Hans Pitra, former DDR-Oberliga player Johannes Matzen and the Editor-in-chief of the East German football weekly Die Neue Fußballwoche (FuWo) Klaus Schlegel. The new football clubs (FC) were formed as centres of excellence in East German football and had the right to draw on the talent within designated geographical and administrative areas. All football clubs were assigned one or two regional districts as catchment areas at the time of their founding. BFC Dynamo was assigned Bezirk Cottbus and a third of the districts of East Berlin as a catchment area. The backing of a sponsor would also be crucial for a team's development. The club's official sponsor () was the Volkspolizei; however, the club's honorary chairman Erich Mielke was the head of the Stasi, and eventually, 96 per cent of the club's 7,260 sponsoring members of the club would be Stasi members. BFC Dynamo would come to receive personal, organizational, and financial support from the Stasi. The team played its first competitive match as BFC Dynamo against BSG Motor Zwickau on the 14th matchday of the 1965–66 DDR-Oberliga at Dynamo Stadium on 12 February 1966. BFC Dynamo won the match 2–0. Midfielders Waldemar Mühlbächer and Erhard Kochale scored one goal each in the match. The team climbed to third place in the league after the victory against BSG Motor Zwickau. The team then defeated Dynamo Dresden 3–5 in extra time away in the round of 16 of the 1965–66 FDGB-Pokal at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion on 16 February 1966. They then played local rival FC Vorwärts Berlin on the 16th matchday on 26 February 1966, losing the derby 0–1 in front of 12,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium. The winning goal for Vorwärts Berlin was scored by Jürgen Piepenburg. BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 1965–66 FDGB-Pokal after losing 2–1 away to BSG Lokomotive Stendahl on 2 March 1966. The team lost 4–0 away to Lokomotive Leipzig on the 19th matchday on 19 March 1966. BFC Dynamo were still in a good fourth place in the league after a 2–0 win over BSG Chemie Leipzig on the 23rd matchday on 16 April 1966. Heine had joined Dynamo Berlin in 1955 and had played 12 seasons for the team. Relegation (1966–1967) Hungarian Béla Volentik was the new coach for the 1966–67 season. The team got off to a weak start in the league season. The team captured its first win in the league away against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 6th matchday on 24 September 1966. The team met Union Berlin at home on the 9th matchday on 5 November 1966. The match drew 10,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium. Joachim Ernst scored 0–1 for Union Berlin in the 23rd minute. Gütner Aedtner equalised in the 68th minute. Union Berlin eventually won the match 1–2 after a goal by Günter Hoge in the 76th minute. BFC Dynamo was second to last in the league after the first half of the league season. BFC Dynamo defeated Elfsborg 2–1 on 24 March 1967 and then played a 1–1 draw against AIK on 26 March 1967. BFC Dynamo met local rival Union Berlin away on the 22nd matchday on 26 April 1967. The team stood in 13th place in the league before the match, two points behind 11th-placed BSG Wismut Aue and 10th-placed BSG Chemie Leipzig. BFC Dynamo still had a chance to retain its place in the league. Supporters of Union Berlin taunted BFC Dynamo with a banner saying, "We greet the relegated". Union Berlin won the match 3–0, and the hopes of avoiding relegation were now minimal. The team lost 0–1 at home to Dynamo Dresden in the final matchday on 13 May 1967. BFC Dynamo finished the 1966–67 DDR-Oberliga in 13th place and was eventually relegated to the DDR-Liga. Waldemar Mühlbächer retired from his playing career after the season. Mülbächer had joined Dynamo Berlin as early as 1956 and had played 11 seasons for the team. However, BFC Dynamo would eventually come to dominate the league. BFC Dynamo captured the first place in the league on the 13th matchday, after a 1–1 draw away against BSG Chemie Premnitz. The team then defeated SG Dynamo Schwerin 4–0 on the 14th matchday in front of 3,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium on 19 November 1967. Peter Lyszczan scored two goals in the match. Lyszcan was now a regular player on the team. BFC Dynamo would remain in first place for the rest of the league season. BFC Dynamo faced local team SG Lichtenberg 47 away on the 6th matchday on 2 December 1967. The match had previously been postponed. It was now the last match before the winter break. BFC Dynamo lost 1–0 in front of 6,500 spectators at the Hans-Zoschke-Stadion. BFC Dynamo would go through the second half of the league season undefeated. By winning the match, BFC Dynamo had practically secured promotion: the team was two points ahead of second-placed BSG Energie Cottbus and with a clearly better goal difference (+39 compared to +30), with only one match left to play. A Stasi investigation efter the match revealed that members of the Stasi in Bezirk Schwerin also shared a sense of injustice and that some members of the Stasi who had attended the match, instead of helping restore law, had either left the ground or followed the events passively. Martin Skaba and Hermann Bley all retired after the season. Konrad Dorner was transferred to the reserve team, and Günter Wolff left for FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt after the season. Veterans Skaba, Bley, and Dorner had all joined Dynamo Berlin between 1956 and 1958. Skaba had played in a total of 343 matches for the team. BFC Dynamo aimed to create the basis for something that would last through long-term planning. This included the formation of a high-performance youth department. BFC Dynamo had won the majority of the youth competitions in East Berlin since the club's founding. The club's youth teams had been particularly successful in the 1966–67 and 1967–68 seasons. The club used the 1967–68 DDR-Liga Nord as an opportunity to integrate a number of young players into the first team. Forwards Harald Schütze and Norbert Johannsen and midfielder Werner Voigt were some of the young players who got to make several appearances with the first team during the 1967–68 season. BFC Dynamo fielded a young team in the 1968–69 season. The team had an average age of 23 years at the start of the season. However, this was followed by a 4–1 loss away to Magdeburg on the third matchday and a 1–3 loss at home to FC Hansa Rostock on the fourth matchday. The young team had a difficult start to the 1968–69 DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo lost 2–0 away to HFC Chemie on the seventh matchday on 28 September 1968. The team was now in 12th place in the league. Geitel would eventually introduce a new tactic that included effective counterplay. BFC Dynamo went on a friendly tour to Africa in January 1969. The team played friendly matches against local teams from Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam for the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the unification of Tanzania. Also the match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena ended in a loss. The disappointing trend was finally broken with a 3–0 win at home against 1. FC Magdeburg on the eighth matchday on 24 September 1969. BFC Dynamo was in seventh place in the league after the first half of the season. Midfielder Frank Terletzki from the youth department made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga away against FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in the 15th matchday on 21 March 1970. Terletzki would make several further appearances in the DDR-Oberliga during the spring. BFC Dynamo won the return match against Vorwärts Berlin 1–0 on the 18th matchday in front of 5,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium on 11 April 1970. Rohde scored the winning goal for BFC Dynamo. It was the first victory over local rival Vorwärts Berlin since the 1965–66 DDR-Oberliga. The team then played a 0–0 draw at home against FC Hansa Rostock on the 22nd matchday on 2 May 1970. 19-year-old defender Bernd Brillat from the youth department made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga in the match against FC Hansa Rostock as a substitute for Norbert Johannsen. BFC Dynamo finished the 1969–70 DDR-Oberliga in sixth place. Werner Lihsa was the new first-choice goalkeeper for the 1970–71 season. Norbert Johannsen would also make recurring appearances with the first team during the season. The team came back with a 2–1 win over second-place Magdeburg on the following matchday. Manfred Becker scored both goals for BFC Dynamo in the match. BFC Dynamo then defeated Lokomotive Leipzig 4–2 at home on the 21st matchday on 25 May 1971. Norbert Johannsen scored two goals for BFC Dynamo in the match. BFC Dynamo eventually finished the 1970–71 DDR-Oberliga in ninth place. BFC Dynamo was then set to play the new East German champion Dynamo Dresden in the final of the 1970–71 FDGB-Pokal. The final was played in front of 10,000 spectators at the Kurt-Wabbel-Stadion in Halle on 20 June 1971. Fritz Bachmann and Günter Schröter coached BFC Dynamo in the match. Klaus Sammer scored 1–0 for Dynamo Dresden in the 65th minute, but Johannsen equalised for BFC Dynamo with a penalty in the 71st minute. Dynamo Dresden eventually won the match 2–1 after a second goal by Sammer in the 119th minute, and thus secured the first double in the history of East German football. However, BFC Dynamo qualified for the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup as runner-up in the 1970–71 FDGB-Pokal, as Dynamo Dresden was already qualified for the 1971–72 European Cup as league champions. The team would be allowed to participate this time, unlike in 1959. BFC Dynamo was thus finally ready for its first participation in a UEFA competition. ==Rise (1971–1978)==

Focus club in East Berlin and talent factory (1971) A number of football clubs in East Germany became specially promoted focus clubs () in the 1970 DFV Football Resolution (). The focus clubs were meant to be strengthened through player transfers. Players in teams that had been relegated from the DDR-Oberliga should also switch to focus clubs. The focus clubs would receive additional financial support from the German Gymnastics and Sports Federation (DTSB) and other advantages. The DTSB also attempted to provide the focus cubs with more staff as well as better material and technical conditions. FC Vorwärts Berlin and BFC Dynamo became focus clubs in East Berlin. Additional advantages would then be given to the focus clubs in the 1976 DFV Football Resolution, including allowing them to delegate youth players from other football clubs. They would also be provided with more youth coaches from the DFV and have the right to delegate twice as many students to their affiliated Children and Youth Sports Schools (KJS) every year, compared to other football clubs. The football landscape in East Berlin then changed dramatically before the 1971–72 season. The Ministry of Defence decided to relocate FC Vorwärts Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder on 31 July 1971. The main reason for the relocation of FC Vorwärts Berlin out of East Berlin was the Four Power Agreement between the Allied Powers, which envisaged a demilitarized Berlin. Vorwärts Berlin was a unit of the National People's Army. The relocation also aimed to strengthen football in the regional district Bezirk Frankfurt. However, the exact reasons for the decision have not been fully clarified. The relocation may also have been the result of horse trading. The German author Hans Joachim Teichler writes that all speculation ends up with Erich Mielke. Teichler believes that Mielke "must have somehow" convinced the Minister of Defence Heinz Hoffmann that two clubs of the armed organs () in East Berlin were one too many. Mielke regarded Vorwärts Berlin as a competitor to BFC Dynamo in the capital, while his colleague in the Politburo and the SED First Secretary in the Bezirk Frankfurt, Erich Mückenberger, on the other end, expected a boost for Bezirk Frankfurt. Mückenberger had been persistent in his efforts to persuade Defense Minister Hoffmann. The districts of East Berlin had been divided between BFC Dynamo, Vorwärts Berlin, and Union Berlin when the football clubs were founded. Each club could recruit young talented players from training centres in its districts. BFC Dynamo stood out among other teams within SV Dynamo. The team was located at the frontline of the Cold War. It was also a representative of the East German capital. This meant that the club had to be well-equipped. The most influential so-called sponsor association behind SV Dynamo was the Stasi. BFC Dynamo was able to recruit talented players from the youth departments of all the SV Dynamo SGs in East Germany, except those located in Bezirk Dresden, and a number of other SGs in the southern regional districts that belonged to Dynamo Dresden's catchment area. In total, the club would get access to 38 training centres across East Germany for the recruitment of young talents to its youth department. By comparison, Union Berlin only had access to 6 training centres, all of which were located in the Berlin area. Egon Rohde joined the youth department of BFC Dynamo as a youth trainer from SG Dynamo Rostock-Mitte in 1969 and became the head of the extensive youth department of BFC Dynamo. Egon Rohde was also the father of four players in various teams of BFC Dynamo: Peter Rohde, Jürgen Rohde, Rainer Rohde, and Frank Rohde. BFC Dynamo got a difficult start to the 1971–72 DDR-Oberliga. After the first five matchdays, the team had captured only one win and was in 11th place in the league. The team would have all the more success in Europe. BFC Dynamo qualified for the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup as runners-up in the 1970–71 FDGB-Pokal. The team was drawn against Cardiff City FC in the first round. The first leg was played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 15 September 1971. 12,000 spectators attended the match. Cardiff City FC made it 0–1 in the 77th minute, but Harald Schütze eventually equalised 1–1 in the 90th minute. Schütze had thus scored the first-ever goal for BFC Dynamo in a UEFA competition. BFC Dynamo then went on to eliminate Belgian team K Beerschot VA in the second round. The team could thus climb to seventh place in the league. BFC Dynamo met Union Berlin on the 12th matchday in the 1971–72 DDR-Oberliga on 26 December 1971. The match ended in a 1–1 draw in front of 14,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium. The derby was marked by crowd trouble with eight persons arrested. BFC Dynamo was in sixth place in the league before the winter break. The team would show its strength in the league during the second half of the 1971–72 season. BFC Dynamo defeated BSG Sachsenring Zwickau 0–1 away on the 14th matchday on 8 January 1972. Wolf-Rüdiger Netz scored the winning goal. BFC Dynamo now climbed to fourth place in the league. The team also bypassed rival Dynamo Dresden, which had lost 1–2 away to Magdeburg on the 14th matchday. BFC Dynamo then defeated first-placed 1. FC Magdebug 1–0 in the 15th matchday on 15 January 1972, and climbed to third place. The team then defeated Dynamo Dresden 2–1 on the 17th matchday on 29 January 1972. Ralf Schulenberg and Norbert Johannsen scored one goal each in the match. The team eventually captured the second place in the league after defeating FC Vorwärts Frankfurt 0–1 away on the 18th matchday on 4 March 1972. Johannsen scored the winning goal for BFC Dynamo. The team had now been undefeated in the first six matchdays of the second half of the season. BFC Dynamo defeated Åtvidabergs FF 0–2 away in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup on 8 March 1972. Wolf-Rüdiger Netz scored both goals. The team then defeated HFC Chemie 3–8 away on the 19th matchday on 12 March 1972. Norbert Johannsen scored three goals, while Frank Terletzki and Ralf Schulenberg scored two goals each. BFC Dynamo then played a 2–2 draw in that return leg against Åtvidabergs FF in front of 30,000 spectators at a sold-out Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 22 March 1972. BFC Dynamo thus qualified for the semi-finals of the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup and thereby also became the first team from Berlin to qualify for the semi-finals of one of the two most prestigious UEFA competitions (the European Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup). BFC Dynamo was drawn against Dynamo Moscow in the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals. The first leg ended 1–1 in front of 30,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 5 April 1972. Norbert Johannsen scored the only goal for BFC Dynamo in the match on a penalty. The return leg was played at the Druzhba Stadium in Lviv on 20 April 1972. Wolf-Rüdriger Netz scored 0–1 for BFC Dynamo in the 37th minute, but Gennady Yevryuzhikhin equalised for Dynamo Moscow in the 58th minute. BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated after a penalty shoot-out. BFC Dynamo finished the 1971–72 DDR-Oberliga as runner-up. It was the club's best season so far in the DDR-Oberliga. Norbert Johannsen became the best goalscorer for BFC Dynamo in the league with 10 goals. BFC Dynamo participated in the Fuwo-Pokal at the end of the league season. The FuWo-Pokal was a tournament for all teams in the 1971–72 DDR-Oberliga, sponsored by the East German football weekly Die neue Fußballwoche. BFC Dynamo finished as runners-up after losing 2–0 to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in the final in front of 12,000 spectators at the Dr.-Kurt-Fischer-Stadion on 17 June 1972. Team captain Joachim Hall retired after the season, and Peter Lyszcan was transferred to SG Dynamo Fürstenwalde. Difficulties and reformation (1972–1975) Peter Rohde became the new team captain for the 1972–73 season. BFC Dynamo qualified for the 1972–73 UEFA Cup as the runners-up in the 1971–72 DDR Oberliga. The team defeated Angers SCO in the first round of the competition. BFC Dynamo lost the derby against Union Berlin 1–2 in the third matchday in front of 15,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium on 30 September. BFC Dynamo came back with a big 4–0 win against FC Hansa Rostock on the fifth matchday in front of 9,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium on 15 October 1972, but lost 3–1 away by FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the following matchday. BFC Dynamo defeated Levski-Spartak in the second round of the 1972–73 UEFA Cup. The team was then drawn against Liverpool FC from England in the third round. The first leg was to be played in East Berlin. The Dynamo Stadion had undergone a complete transformation in preparation for the 1972-73 UEFA Cup. A total of 6,000 cubic meters of soil had been moved for the transformation of the stadium and steel pipe bleachers had been built on the embankments along the two long sides. The capacity of the stadium had been increased to 20,000 spectators. BFC Dynamo managed a 0–0 draw against Liverpool FC in the first leg in front of a record crowd of 20,000 spectators at the Dynamo Stadium on 29 November 1972. However, the team was eventually eliminated after a 3–1 loss away in the return leg at Anfield on 13 December 1972. Wolf-Rüdiger Netz scored the only goal for BFC Dynamo in the match. Liverpool FC would later go on to win the tournament. The goal for the 1972–73 DDR-Oberliga was a medal position. But the team lost important ground to the constant competition from FC Carl Zeiss Jena and Dynamo Dresden at the end of the first half of the season. BFC Dynamo only managed a 1–1 draw at home against BSG Sachsenring Zwickau on the 12th matchday and was then defeated 1–0 away by BSG Wismut Aue on the 13th matchday. Werner Lihsa was selected as the 1972 BFC Footballer of the Year for a consecutive season at the seventh edition of the club's annual tradition ball in Dynamo-Sporthalle at the beginning of the new year. Günter Schröter took over as coach for the second half of the 1972–73 season, due to the serious illness of coach Geitel. BFC Dynamo played a friendly match against Swedish side Hammarby IF during the winter-break. The team won the match 6–2 at Dynamo Stadium on 3 March 1973. BFC Dynamo reached the semi-finals of the 1972–73 FDGB-Pokal. The team was eliminated in the two-legged semi-final by 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig. BFC Dynamo met Union Berlin on the 16th matchday on 16 April 1972. The team won the return match 0–2 away in front of 18,000 spectators at the Stadion an der Alten Försterei. Norbert Johannsen scored both goals. BFC Dynamo was still in fourth place in the league. BFC Dynamo then met BSG Wismut Aue at home on the last matchday of the league season 23 June 1973. Riediger was now included in the starting lineup. BFC Dynamo won the match 3–1, after two goals by Riediger. BFC Dynamo eventually finished the 1972–73 DDR-Oberliga in sixth place. Norbert Johannsen became the best goalscorer for BFC Dynamo in the league for a consecutive season. Wolf-Rudiger Netz was transferred to SG Dynamo Schwerin and Manfred Becker to Dynamo Fürstenwalde after the season. Nippert also played for Dynamo Berlin from 1958 to 1959 and then for SG Dynamo Hohenschönhausen from 1960 to 1962. Lauck had allegedly been advised by the DFV to switch to BFC Dynamo in order to continue playing for the East Germany national football team. In return for Lauck, Werner Voigt, and Bernd Kempke, as well as Michael Jakob from SG Dynamo Fürstenwalde, were transferred to Union Berlin. BFC Dynamo started the 1973–74 DDR-Oberliga with both clear wins and clear losses. The team defeated BSG Chemie Leipzig 3–0 at home on the opening matchday, lost 5–0 away to FC Hansa Rostock on the second matchday, defeated FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3–0 on the third matchday and then lost 3–0 to BSG Sachsenring Zwickau in the fourth matchday. The team defeated Magdeburg 0–2 and then 2–0 in the two-legged quarterfinal. BFC Dynamo was in 10th place in the league before the winter break. Frank Terletzki was voted the 1973 BFC Footballer of the Year during the club's annual tradition ball in the Dynamo-Sporthalle at the beginning of the new year. at the Dynamo-Stadion in Dresden on 13 February 1974 BFC Dynamo was drawn against Dynamo Dresden in the 1973–74 FDGB-Pokal semi-finals. The team won the first leg 1–0 in front of 21,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 30 January 1974. The winning goal was scored by Norbert Johannsen. However, BFC Dynamo was eventually eliminated after a 2–0 loss away to Dynamo Dresden in the return leg in front of 34,000 spectators at Dynamo-Stadion in Dresden on 13 February 1974. BFC Dynamo got a rematch against Dynamo Dresden on the 22nd matchday on 16 March 1974. The team won the match 3–0 in front of 8,000 spectators at Dynamo Stadium. Norbert Johannsen scored two goals, and Jochen Carow scored one goal in the match. The match against Dynamo Dresden on the 22nd matchday was the best performance of BFC Dynamo so far during the season. BFC Dynamo also finished the 1973–74 DDR-Oberliga in sixth place. Numerous players were tried during the season. Not a single player played all 26 league matches during the season. Veteran Wilfried Tümpler and Ralf Schulenberg were transferred to the reserve team BFC Dynamo II after the season. Trümpler had joined Dynamo Berlin in 1958 and had played 11 seasons for the team. He had been registered in the squad at the beginning of the season but did not play any matches for the first team during the season. Stumpf had joined Dynamo Berlin in 1961 and had played in a total of 309 matches for the team. The team was also joined by young defender Lutz Eigendorf from the youth department for the 1974–75 season. Hans-Jürgen Riediger was now also a regular player in the team. BFC Dynamo got off to a shaky start in the 1974–75 DDR-Oberliga. The team met SG Dynamo Dresden on the sixth matchday on 21 September 1974. The standing was 2–2 at the end of the match, after an equalizer from Norbert Johannsen on a penalty. Referee Robert Pischke then awarded SG Dynamo Dresden a dubious penalty just before the final whistle. East German football weekly Die neue Fußballwoche commented: "Shortly before the end, the same thing on the other side, but this one surprised even the objective Dresdeners about it. They had not seen any opposing influence on the falling Richter..." Siegmar Wätzlich converted the penalty and SG Dynamo Dresden won the match 3–2. Referee Pischke was not selected for any more DDR-Oberliga matches and eventually chose to end his refereeing career. The turning point came with a 3–1 win over Lokomotive Leipzig on the ninth matchday on 19 October 1974. The team won the match 6–0 in front of 5,500 spectators at Dynamo Stadium. Norbert Johannsen scored three goals, Hans-Jürgen Riediger two goals, and Wolf-Rüdiger Netz one goal in the match. Hans-Gustav Creydt eventually emerged as the first-choice goalkeeper at the end of the autumn. The second half of the season started with a slump in the league. However, the team managed to win a point through a 1–1 draw against first-placed 1.FC Magdeburg in the 10th matchday in front of 19,000 spectators at the Dynamo Stadium on 8 March 1975. A climb in the league began. The team eventually captured the fifth place in the league, after defeating BSG Sachsenring Zwichau 1–0 at home on the 18th matchday. The winning goal was scored by Frank Terletzki. BFC Dynamo then played a 1–1 draw against Dynamo Dresden on the 19th matchday in front of 21,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 25 April 1975. The fourth place in the league was then captured with a 2–0 win over FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt on the 21st matchday. BFC Dynamo then defeated HFC Chemie 8–0 on the 23rd matchday on 14 May 1975. HFC Chemie had previously been the team that had achieved the biggest win of the season, after defeating BSG Stahl Riesa 7–1 on the fourth matchday. BFC Dynamo finished the 1974–75 DDR-Oberliga in fourth place. The team was only two points behind third-placed SG Dynamo Dresden, but with a better goal difference. SG Dynamo Dresden had thus just narrowly captured the place in the 1975-76 UEFA Cup ahead of BFC Dynamo. Rise in the DDR-Oberliga (1975–1978) in the DDR-Oberliga on 8 November 1975 Frank Terletzki became the new team captain for the 1975–76 season. Harald Schütze had contracted jaundice and would be out during the first half of the season. The young midfielder Roland Jüngling from the youth department would also join the team and make regular appearances in DDR-Oberliga. BFC Dynamo now had the youngest team in the league with an average age of only 22.5 years at the start of the season. BFC Dynamo had a successful start to the 1975–76 DDR-Oberliga. The team then defeated BSG Energie Cottbus 5–1 on the second matchday in front of 22,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 27 August 1975. However, the two big wins were followed by a 5–1 loss away against Dynamo Dresden in the third matchday on 30 August 1975. BFC Dynamo met Magdeburg in the round of 16 in 1975–76 FDGB-Pokal. The team won the first leg 3–1 in front of 13,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 7 December 1975. Reinhard Lauck scored two goals. However, the team was eliminated after a 0–4 loss in the return leg on 17 December 1975. BFC Dynamo defeated BSG Sachsenring Zwickau 0–5 away on the last matchday before the winter break. Hans-Jürgen Riediger scored two goals, Wolf-Rüdiger Netz two goals, and Frank Terletzki one goal in the match. BFC Dynamo was in fifth place in the league after the first half of the season. of Dynamo Dresden during the match between the two teams in the DDR-Oberliga on 21 February 1976.The 1975–76 DDR-Oberliga was dominated by Dynamo Dresden. BFC Dynamo met Dynamo Dresden at home on the 16th matchday on 21 February 1976. Before the match, Dynamo Dresden was in first place in the league, at 23 points, and BFC Dynamo was in fourth place, at 20 points. The match was played in front of 25,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. BFC Dynamo came back from 0–2 and Riediger made it 3–2 in the 66th minute. The score was 3–3 at the end of the match with Creydt having saved a penalty from Hans-Jürgen Kreische. Dynamo Dresden eventually won the match 3–4 after a goal by Dieter Riedel in the 90th minute. However, BFC Dynamo would record several big wins and spectator numbers at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark during the spring. The team then defeated FC-Karl-Marx-Stadt 4–0 on the 20th matchday in front of 12,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 27 March 1976. Hans-Jürgen Riediger scored a hat trick in the match. With the victory over FC-Karl-Marx Stadt, the team managed to climb up to second place in the league. BFC Dynamo defeated FC Carl Zeiss Jena 3–0 on the 22nd matchday in front of 23,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 17 April 1976 and then Lokomotive Leipzig 6–0 on the 24th matchday in front of 25,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 8 May 1976. BFC Dynamo finished the 1975–76 DDR-Oberliga as runners-up. The young team under coach Nippert had achieved a goal difference of 67–24 during the 26 matches of the league season. Norbert Johannsen retired from his playing career after the season. The East Germany national football team won a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Reinhard Lauck and Hans-Jürgen Riediger were included in the squad. Both played in the final against Poland in front of 71,617 spectators at the Olympic Stadium on 31 July 1976. More young players from the youth department would also make their debuts with the first team during the 1976–77 season. Local rival 1. Union Berlin was back in the DDR-Oberliga in the 1976–77 season, after three seasons in the second tier DDR-Liga. BFC Dynamo met Union Berlin in the opening match of the 1976–77 DDR-Oberliga. Union Berlin had become the focus of hooligan attention. All matches in the derby would now be played at the large Stadion der Weltjugend in Mitte for security reasons. Reinhard Lauck came close to scoring for BFC Dynamo in the opening minutes, hitting the crossbar. BFC Dynamo qualified for the 1976–77 UEFA Cup. The team was drawn against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. BFC Dynamo lost the leg 3–0 away at the Shakhtar Stadium on 15 September 1976. The return leg was played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 29 September 1976. BFC Dynamo only managed a 1–1 draw and was thus eliminated from the competition. Michal Noack scored the only goal for BFC Dynamo in the round. Young goalkeeper Bodo Rudwaleit from the youth department made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga on the eighth matchday against FC Carl-Zeiss Jena on 22 October 1976. BFC Dynamo was drawn against Dynamo Dresden in the Round of 16 of the 1976–77 FDGB Pokal. BFC Dynamo lost the first leg 1–4 away on 20 November 1976. 18-year-old forward Ralf Sträßer from the youth department made his debut for the first team of BFC Dynamo in the match, as a substitute for Rainer Wroblewski in the 70th minute. Sträßer then scored the only goal for BFC Dynamo in the match. The return leg was played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 27 November 1976. BFC Dynamo won the match 3–1 but was eliminated on goal difference. Sträßer then made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga at home against FC Vorwärts Frankfurt on the 11th matchday on 2 December 1976. He would henceforth be used as a regular player during the season. BFC Dynamo defeated Dynamo Dresden 2–1 on the 13th matchday in front of 16,000 spectators at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark on 18 December 1976. Wolf-Rüdiger Netz and Dietmar Labes scored one goal each. BFC Dynamo was in third place in the league after the first half of the season. Ralf Schulenberg retired from his playing career for medical reasons after the first half of the season, at only 27 years old. Harald Schütze also retired after a first half of the season, at the age of 28. Reinhard Lauck was voted the 1976 BFC Footballer of the Year at the 11th edition of the club's annual tradition ball in Dynamo-Sporthalle at the beginning of the new year. BFC Dynamo was set to play the return match against Union Berlin on the 14th matchday at the Stadion der Weltjugend on 19 February 1977. The return match saw Peter Rohde play against his younger brother Rainer Rohde. Rainer Rohde, a former BFC Dynamo player for ten years, had been transferred to Union Berlin in 1976. Their younger brother Frank Rohde, a youth player at BFC Dynamo, was one of the 28,000 spectators at the Stadion der Weltjugend. BFC Dynamo finished the 1976–77 DDR-Oberliga in fourth place. Jürgen Bogs became new coach on 1 July 1977. Martin Skaba continued as assistant coach. BFC Dynamo lost 1–4 at home to 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig in the second matchday of the 1977–78 DDR-Oberliga on 20 August 1977. The team then defeated Union Berlin 1–0 in the third matchday in front of 45,000 spectators at the Stadion Der Weltjugend on 26 August 1977. Frank Terletzki scored the winning goal for BFC Dynamo on a free kick in the 87th minute. Hans-Gustav Creydt was goalkeeper in the first four league matches. Young goalkeeper Bodo Rudwaleit would then eventually take over as the new first-choice goalkeeper from the fifth matchday. The team defeated BSG Wismut Gera 6–0 away in the sixth matchday on 1 October 1977. Hartmut Pelka scored three goals in the match. BFC Dynamo was drawn against Lokomotive Leipzig in the Round of 16 of the 1977–78 FDGB-Pokal. BFC Dynamo won the first leg 5–0 at home on 26 November 1977. The team also won the return leg and advanced to the quarter-finals. The team defeated first-placed Dynamo Dresden 1–2 away on the 12th matchday on 3 December 1977. The team had established itself in third place at the end of the first half of the season. BFC Dynamo reached the semi-finals of the 1977–78 FDGB-Pokal. The team was eliminated in the two-legged semi-final by Magdeburg, which, with star player Joachim Streich, would later go on to win the cup. Young defender Artur Ullrich from the reserve team made his debut for BFC Dynamo in the DDR-Oberliga at home against BSG Wismut Gera on the 19th matchday on 7 April 1978. Ullrich had come through the youth department. BFC Dynamo won the match 4–0 after three goals by Hans-Jürgen Riediger and one goal by Ralf Sträßer. BFC Dynamo eventually finished the 1977–78 DDR-Oberliga in third place. Wolf-Rüdiger Netz became the best goalscorer for BFC Dynamo in the league with 13 goals. Goalkeeper Hans-Gustav Creydt retired from his playing career after the season. ==See also==