Nowadays, the indoor tournaments are reserved for the little ones – but that was not always the case. A journey back in time to 1988, when Bayer Uerdingen took the indoor crown:
Winter time is indoor time – that’s not a recent development. As early as the beginning of the 70s, football clubs from the amateur to the professional level began to shine in the off-season and on the smaller pitch. One of the first tournaments even took place in Essen in 1972.
A decade later, the Budenzauber then experienced a boom. The tournaments were regularly broadcast on television and enjoyed great popularity. This did not go unnoticed by the DFB, which seized the opportunity in 1988 and brought together the many different indoor tournaments to form the DFB Indoor Masters. This project was supported by 32 of the 34 licensed teams, with the aim of bridging the long winter break.
The association invited the clubs to Frankfurt for the inaugural event. As the host, Eintracht was automatically seeded, while five other teams had to collect points in a total of 18 different qualifying tournaments, which were awarded based on the ranking and “value” of the tournament. Bayer 05 Uerdingen managed to win two of these tournaments in advance, thus securing their qualification. In addition, three second division clubs, Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin, Fortuna Düsseldorf and VfL Osnabrück, were also competing.
Bayern, Hamburg and Co. stayed away
The big names – with the exception of the later champions Werder Bremen – stayed away despite their initial agreement and preferred to travel to their training camps to concentrate on the second half of the season. In addition to the high ticket prices of up to DM 80, this circumstance also ensured that only around 4,500 of a possible 7,850 spectators turned up on both days.
Nevertheless, a lot was on offer in the Frankfurt Festhalle. The tournament was played fairly, without time penalties or injuries, but even though the focus was on fun, the indoor crown was still at stake.
On the first day of the tournament, the teams played two groups of three, with two teams qualifying for the semi-finals. While in Group A, the hosts and Fortuna Düsseldorf both progressed ahead of Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin, in Group B, Bayer Uerdingen and Osnabrück beat Werder Bremen – and did so convincingly.
Uerdingen dominated the future Bundesliga champions
While Osnabrück won 6-3 in the unusually long 30-minute playing time, Uerdingen beat Otto Rehhagel’s team 7-2. Dietmar Klinger, who scored four goals in the game, was particularly impressive. Stefan Kuntz (2) and Robert Prytz did the rest.
In the semi-final against Fortuna Düsseldorf, however, it was much closer. The Funkel brothers Friedhelm and Wilhelm initially turned the game around, but Sven Demandt equalized with his second goal of the game. The decision was only made in the penalty shoot-out, where Uerdingen prevailed 5-4 thanks to two saves from Manfred Kubik, setting them up for the final.
Back and forth in the final against Frankfurt
DFB-Hallen-Masters 1988, Final
Eintracht Frankfurt – Bayer Uerdingen 3:5
Goals: 0:1 Klinger, 0:2 Prytz, 1:2 Detari, 2:2 Körbel, 3:2 Smolarek, 3:3 Prytz, 3:4 Fach, 3:5 Witeczek
In the final, the Krefeld team faced the hosts, Eintracht Frankfurt, of all teams – and it was another exciting game. Uerdingen got off to a perfect start, taking a 2-0 lead after just four minutes thanks to Klinger and Prytz, but Lajos Detari, Charly Körbel and Wlodzimierz Smolarek turned the game around. However, it was Uerdingen who had the last word, with Prytz scoring again and Holger Fach and Marcel Witeczek getting the final scores to 5-3.
The victory earned Rolf Schafstall’s team not only fame but also prize money of DM 40,000. “The team has shown me that they want to play and fight together. That’s a reassuring feeling for a coach. We saw good sport. In any case, this final tournament should continue,” the victorious coach said after the tournament (via dfb.de).
Last edition in 2001
It was continued, at least until 2001. Then the Masters were held for the last time at record-holding Borussia Dortmund, who were the only team to win multiple times (four titles). In the end, SpVgg Unterhaching secured the indoor crown for the 11th different team in the 14th edition.