8 Bundesliga Sleeping Giants Who Could Topple Bayern Munich
3. Things Are Slowly Coming Together In Cologne
Enjoying their best spell throughout the 1960s, 1.FC Köln were the first side to win the newly founded Bundesliga championship in the 1963-64 season. Following their first Bundesliga title winning season, die Geiböcke (The Billy Goats) went on to finish runners-up on two occasions in the next decade, missing out by three points to Werder Bremen in 164-65 before finishing 11 points behind Bayern Munich in 1972-73. Hans Schäfer played the biggest part in Kölns history after his goals helped secure four consecutive Oberliga West championships, of which Köln went on to win the 1961-62 German championship. During the glory years of the Bundesliga, Heinz Flohe was another successful player to play for Köln. Playing in the heart of midfield, Flohe helped his side clinch the Bundesliga title, as well as three DFB-Pokal victories, whilst helping Köln reach the final on another three occasions. Köln were relegated from the top flight in 1998 becoming somewhat of a yo-yo club, whilst in 2002, supporters had to wait 1034 minutes to see their side score a goal. Winning the 2. Bundesliga in 2004-05, Köln were yet again promoted to the top flight. German magazine, kicker predicted the club to be relegated the following season at no surprise, their prediction was correct. Current hero, Lukas Podolski made his first team debut in 2003, where he average a goal every other game, before being snapped up by Bayern Munich. Following a less than spectacular spell in Bavaria, effzeh fans came up with a plan to bring the icon back to the club. With the transfer costing approximately 10 million, Köln fans set up a website that would allow them to buy a 8x8 pixel square for 25 to find the transfer. It was thought that Michael Schumacher spend 875, with the site gathering an extra 1 million to find the transfer a gesture that perhaps a number of clubs wouldnt do. Following another relegation after finishing 17th in the 2011-12 season, Podolski was sold to Arsenal, which resulted in the number 10 jersey being retired. Failure to earn promotion back to the Bundesliga, Köln turned to now current manager, Peter Stöger, who won the second division before managing Köln to a mid-table finish last season. With the sales of Anthony Ujah and Kevin Wimmer, Stöger has brought in the likes of Anthony Modeste, Philipp Hosiner, Frederik Sørensen and Borussia Dortmunds Milos Jojic as they look to win their first major trophy since their 1983 Pokal triumph.
