Schalke 04 became champions 65 years ago – the beginning of a time of suffering

Many football clubs in Germany dream of the championship title, but no club has such a longing and painful relationship to this title as FC Schalke 04. In the past few decades, Schalke have sometimes been very close, then far away from the cup, sometimes even in trapped in the lowlands of the 2nd division. “For a lifetime, no bowl in your hand,” sing fans of other clubs – above all, of course, Borussia Dortmund – about the Royal Blues. And in fact, it’s been almost a lifetime since Schalke last won the title – 65 years to be precise.

On May 18, 1958, the Schalke 04 team met Hamburger SV in the final of the German championship. At that time there were still two preliminary round groups for which the top teams of the respective upper leagues qualified. The group winners played out the title in a final. Schalke has already clearly dominated the group. The miners won all three games, the goal difference of 16:1 (more than five goals on average per game) also speaks volumes.

Even Uwe Seeler could not prevent Schalke 04 from winning

81,000 spectators watch the final in the Lower Saxony Stadium in Hanover. The Schalke team played themselves into a frenzy right from the start, with captain and goalscorer Berni Kloth leading the way. “There are probably few footballers, even in Europe, who are able to pull out all the stops of football in such an unusually varied way,” enthuses the “kicker”. The 1954 world champion scores after just five minutes with a header to make it 1-0, and after half an hour he makes it 2-0. In the final phase, Manfred Kreuz made everything clear with the 3-0 lead, of course prepared by Kloth. The HSV with the young Uwe Seeler in attack has little to counter that.

In Gelsenkirchen there was a lot of jubilation when the victorious eleven returned from the north by train the next day. 100,000 enthusiastic fans await the team. The players enjoy the dip in the crowd, only Kloth is drawn home quickly – his wife is in labour. The title did not come as a complete surprise: Schalke 04 had already been one of the better teams in Germany in previous years. And the club can draw on a successful history: between 1934 and 1942, at the time of the legendary Schalke Kreisel around Ernst Kuzorra and Fritz Szepan, the Royal Blues were the dominant club in Germany and won six championship titles.

And in 1958 a lot of things went really well at Schalke. World champion Kloth, whose main job is an innkeeper, is one of the few experienced players in the team. The many young talents can orientate themselves on him. Coach Edi Frühwirth is not just a tactical fox, but also presents himself as a father figure at a time when many coaches rely on tough discipline. “He could deal with young players, he was a psychologist,” striker Willi Koslowski later recalled. After weaker games, the Austrian also hugged and comforted the footballers. “That’s how the young player made us strong.” An approach that is clearly bearing fruit.

Bundesliga scandal, “master of hearts” – and crash into the 2nd division

But after 1958 the club can no longer build on these successes. FC Schalke 04 reached the championship final only once, in the Bundesliga, which was newly founded in 1963, the royal blues are still waiting for the championship trophy. At the beginning of the 1970s, Schalke was deeply involved in the Bundesliga scandal, with some players taking bribes. Eight professionals end up in court and are sentenced to heavy fines.

1981 the provisional sporting low: Schalke is relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time. In the nineties, however, the upswing succeeds under manager legend Rudi Assauer, in 1997 the “Eurofighter” bring the Uefa Cup to Schalke. In 2001, the Royal Blues missed their first Bundesliga championship more narrowly than any other club: they missed four minutes because FC Bayern scored the decisive goal in added time. And Schalke is just “masters of hearts” again.

For the time being, it is no longer enough for the traditional club. Hard times have come to Schalke in terms of sport, and in 2021 the miners will be relegated for the fourth time after a desolate season. And even if they manage to return straight to the top flight, Schalke fans will probably have to wait a little longer for their first championship since 1958.

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