Netzer Vierundneunzig

WE WATCHED in awe. We admired his physique, his energy, his boldness and his power. He was 1972 personified: trendy, confident and, strangely for a footballer, radically cool. Günter Netzer was of his time, anti-establishment and defiant. He looked like he would be just as easily at home as a member of the Velvet Underground or part of a student protest movement.

It was April 29, 1972. Netzer had torn England apart, driving West Germany to a 3-1 win at Wembley in the quarter-final first leg of the European Championship. During the game, the Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder had brushed aside the English – one move saw him outpace Bobby Moore, dismiss Francis Lee like a ghost and side-step the usually agile Martin Peters. Sir Alf Ramsey had made a career-changing mistake in ignoring Netzer’s threat and power and had paid dearly for it. In the second leg, with England’s hopes all but gone, Ramsey fielded a team of “cloggers” to neutralise Netzer. The game ended 0-0, but England had avoided humiliation.

Netzer, like Cruyff, was almost Lennonesque, a child of his time

After that Wembley game, the playground was full of Netzers running hard and shooting from distance. West Germany won the European Championship in 1972, and along with Ajax Amsterdam, we suddenly had some exotic heroes from across the Channel. The Dutch had Cruyff, the Germans had Netzer – arguably the two most charismatic – almost Lennonesque – players in European football.

With Netzer in their ranks, Borussia Mönchengladbach won the Bundesliga in 1969-70 and 1970-71. It was a young team, managed by Hennes Weisweiler, that was founded on the belief that you could play rapier-like counter-attacking football that was exciting. The initiator of many of their forward thrusts came from Netzer.

Gladbach were fierce rivals of Bayern Munich and their tussles characterised the era. Bayern, marshalled by the establishment figure Franz Beckenbauer, played a more functional and often cautious game. Gladbach, essentially a much smaller club, were somewhat gung-ho. It was often said that Netzer and Beckenbauer didn’t see eye-to-eye, so the contrast to these two figureheads helped provide the narrative for the Bayern-Gladbach debate. While “Der Kaiser” was a working class lad who shook the right hands, Netzer was more middle-class and very much an individual. He had a glamorous image – long, flowing blond hair, fast cars (he was one of the first players to drive a Ferrari), arty girlfriend, the owner of a Disco and a rebellious streak. And he mirrored Gladbach’s persona – defiantly successful.

In 1971-72 and 1972-73, Bayern won the Bundesliga, but in the latter of those two seasons, Gladbach won the DFB Pokal and also reached the final of the UEFA Cup. The German Cup, which was played over two-legs in every round bar the final, started in December 1972. Gladbach beat Frieburger FC 8-4 on aggregate. They then beat Schalke (3-1), Kaiserslautern (5-2) and in the semi-final, Werder Bremen (7-3).

In the Bundesliga, Gladbach started well, with three straight wins, but lost form and were beaten in four of their next five games, including a 0-3 reversal at Bayern Munich. They were not their consistent selves for much of the season.

The Gladbach team contained some very familiar names. Goalkeeper Wolfgang “Otto” Kleff was a pivotal figure of their successful teams of the 1970s. He would have surely won more than six caps for West Germany if Sepp Maier had not been around. Bertie Vogts became a German football legend, playing more than 400 times for Gladbach and winning 96 caps. Germany can thank him for his performance in the 1974 World Cup when he blotted-out Johan Cruyff.

Rainer Bonhof was another member of the 1974 squad and won 53 caps. Belgian-born Herbert Wimmer was in the 1972 European Championship team and scored one of West Germany’s goals against the USSR. Henning Jensen, a Dane, was a good example of a deep-lying forward concept and went on to play for Real Madrid. Jupp Heynckes had two spells with Gladbach and is also remembered for his success as a coach. And there was also Uli Stielike, a sweeper/midfielder who also went to Madrid.

And there was, of course, Netzer. In 1972-73, he was 28 years old, so he was at his peak. Occasionally, he would fall out with coach Weisweiler, and it was suggested that the reason Netzer was sold to Real Madrid in the summer of 1973 was because the duo could not get along. There were a number of theories, but the transfer was undoubtedly hotly pursued by Real, who were keen to counter Barcelona’s purchase of Cruyff with a big ticket signing. Money may also have had plenty to do with it, aswell – Netzer had often said that in football there were 11 businessmen in the team, very similar to Cruyff’s philosophy.

And so, Netzer was on his way out of Gladbach. As the season ran down in Germany, Netzer signed off his Bundesliga career with a penalty in Gladbach’s last game at home to Stuttgart, a 3-4 defeat. He had one last appointment – the DFB Pokal Final in Düsseldorf against 1. FC Köln on June 23, 1973.

Köln had reached the final by beating local rivals Fortuna (5-2), Hamburg (6-3), Eintracht Brunswick (8-2) and Kickers Offenbach (6-1). They had been more successful in the Bundesliga, finishing fifth to Gladbach’s eighth. They had their own excellent midfielder man in Wolfgang Overath, you might say one of Netzer’s rivals for a place in Die Mannschaft. They also had Wolfgang Weber, who scored in the 1966 World Cup final in the dying seconds of normal time.

In the days leading up to the final, the talk was of Netzer’s farewell to Gladbach. But Weisweiler, considering the impending move and also that Netzer’s mother had just died, chose to relegate his captain to the bench. “I am preparing for life without Netzer,” he explained.

The Gladbach fans were shocked and chanted Netzer’s name constantly. Herbert Wimmer, effectively Netzer’s replacement, gave Die Fohlen (the foals) the lead on 24 minutes, but Herbert Neumann equalised five minutes before half-time.

Weisweiler, perhaps sensing that his gamble was not paying off, told Netzer he was coming on in the second half. He refused, remaining on the bench, exuding an air of nonchalance.

Ich spiel dann jetzt

After 90 minutes, it was 1-1. Christian Kulik, often Netzer’s deputy, was exhausted (late June in central Europe can be very hot!) and told Netzer he could not go on. The blond mane turned to Weisweiler: “Ich spiel dann jetzt” – “I will play now, then.” The cameras clicked furiously around Netzer as he took the field, his muscular torso testing every stitch of his predominantly white shirt.

Then it happened. In the 94^th minute. Netzer touched the ball for the first time. Initially, he elected to run one way then switched direction, playing the ball to Rainer Bonhof before dashing across the penalty area to the left hand side. Bonhof’s ball found him in full stride and then Netzer appeared to lose balance ever so slightly before sending a left-foot rocket shot into the roof of the net.

What happened next provided one of the most iconic images of the age, Netzer jumping for joy, hair freaking-out in an out-of-body experience. It was the winning goal. He had his grand finale in German football.

Was he successful in Spain? Real Madrid finished eighth in 1973-74, while Barcelona won La Liga. Real did win the Cope Del Rey in 1974 and 1975 and La Liga in 1974-75 and 1975-76. He then went to Switzerland and Grasshopper Zurich for one final season.

It remains a mystery why Netzer did not play for more than 20 minutes in the 1974 World Cup. Brian Glanville said that the West German side of 1974 had passed its peak, that the panache provided by the likes of Netzer had gone. While the Germans laboured through the first few games, Netzer sat on the sidelines, eventually brought on to face East Germany, a game they may have strategically lost. He never appeared again on the field during the competition.

Today, Netzer still has something of a rebellious look about him – invariably dressed in dark clothing, with tinted hair and looking remarkably sculptured for a man in his 70s. He is a legend, still a maverick, always an icon and forever a reminder of a brief moment in time. When asked by FIFA to reflect on his career, he commented: “I feel extremely privileged to have had, and to continue to have, the life I’ve had. I view it all with great humility and gratefulness. It’s been extraordinary and something I’d never imagined even in my wildest dreams. That’s why I look back on it all with a huge sense of thankfulness.” German football fans will doubtless be just as thankful for having seen Günter Netzer in his pomp.

72 Classic: Clough, Allison, Keegan and co. – why it was special

MALCOLM Allison, one of the pivotal figures of the 1970s, once said that the period between 1967 and 1972 was one of British football’s golden ages. Anyone who lived through that half decade of action will doubtless recall some outstanding players and personalities, memorable teams and the outlandish fashion and hairstyles of the age.

This was, after all, a period that desperately clung to the “swinging Sixties” and introduced the excesses and decadence of the early 1970s. It was played out against an economic background that was deteriorating weekly, culminating in the candle-lit days of power cuts in 1973-74 and the three-day week. From a footballing perspective, England still had enough self-confidence to believe that Sir Alf Ramsey’s squad was still capable of competing at the highest level. 1971 was just five years after the 1966 triumph and some of its key figures were still stubbornly hanging onto their place in the national team.

But if the end of the Sixties, from a cultural point of view, was signalled by the break-up of the Beatles, 1971-72 really killed-off the period with the decline of England, the ageing of some of its icons and the conclusion of the post-66 attendance boom. 1971-72 was two years on from the last football season of the 60s, but football’s two standard bearing groups of the decade – Best, Law, Charlton and Moore, Hurst, Peters, were coming to the end of their time of influence. By the end of 1972-73, the Manchester United trio were no longer at Old Trafford, for various reasons, and only Moore was still at West Ham.

The 1971-72 season looked like the final flourish of the man that epitomised the 1960s, George Best. He scored 26 goals in domestic football and provided some brilliant football, but it was the last we saw of the genius that was the Irishman. As Manchester United declined in the second half of the season, Best lost heart and by the middle of 1972-73, he had retired.

United’s fall from the pinnacle of the game really started in 1970 and their impressive first half of 1971-72 merely papered over the cracks. Within two seasons, they were relegated, although in hindsight, it was the short, sharp shock the club needed to acknowledge that things had changed since the days of Sir Matt Busby.

Even without United, though, English football served up an exciting championship race, possibly the most tense and open for years. Arsenal went into the campaign as double winners in 1970-71, but they were never really involved in a bid to retaining their title, although they returned to Wembley for the FA Cup final. However, Arsenal’s pursuit of European success suggested that there was a degree of stagnation settling in across English football. In 1970, when the Gunners won the Fairs’ Cup, they beat Ajax over two legs with some ease. Two seasons on, Arsenal were beaten twice by the Dutch team, who were holders of the European Cup. Something had changed and the spirit of progressive football wasn’t to be found in England, it was across the Channel.

The Dutch, with Johan Cruyff in his pomp, may have been leading the way in club football, but the West Germans had emerged as the team to beat on the international stage. There were signs that an irresistible force was in the ascendancy in Mexico in 1970, but in 1972, the Germans were European champions and they had signalled the end of Ramsey’s England in the quarter-finals, winning 3-1 at Wembley. West Germany had their own dynamic playmaker to rival Cruyff in the form of Günter Theodor Netzer, and he made England’s own midfielders look very pedestrian. That tie was, effectively, the end of Geoff Hurst – he left West Ham in the summer of 1972 – but also struck at the heart of English confidence.

Derby County players show off their League Championship medals aas they pose with the trophies won by the club during the 1971-72 season: (back row, l-r) ?, John McGovern, physio Gordon Guthrie, trainer Jimmy Gordon, Ron Webster, John Robson, Terry Hennessey, Alan Hinton, John O’Hare, Colin Boulton, Alan Durban; (front row, l-r) Peter Daniel, Archie Gemmill, Kevin Hector, ?; (trophies, l-r) Central League, Football League Championship, Texaco Cup Photo: PA

In terms of self-confidence, Derby County’s outspoken manager, Brian Clough, had few equals, although his style wasn’t to everyone’s taste. Nobody predicted that Derby would become genuine title challengers, although Clough had assembled an exciting team at the Baseball Ground. Leeds United, who had become serial bridesmaids in 1970 and 1971, were most people’s idea of champions, although they remained unpopular. Don Revie had instilled in his squad something of a siege mentality, largely built on the “us and them” philosophy and the desire to create intense loyalty and togetherness. It worked, but Leeds never had the strength in depth required for a campaign fought on multiple fronts and accompanying their intensity was high drama – a Leeds defeat was invariably greeted with schadenfreude by the rest of English football, which only served to bond Revie’s troops even closer. This often clouded the fact that Leeds were a extraordinary footballing team and in 1971-72 they produced some of their best performances. They won the FA Cup and were beaten at the death by Wolves in their final league game when the double was at stake. Once more, they had fallen short at the final hurdle.

Returning to Malcolm Allison, his Manchester City team had the title within their grasp, but to some extent the signing of Rodney Marsh, the coveted Queens Park Rangers forward, cost City the title. Signed in March 1972, for a record £ 200,000 fee, March joined a team that was four points clear at the top of the table. Marsh himself admitted that the transfer was a mistake and that it had been detrimental to City’s championship credentials.

While Marsh, despite his skill and charisma, upset the shape of Allison’s team, a new and relatively unknown forward had injected fresh impetus into Bill Shankly’s Liverpool. His name was Kevin Keegan and he would become British football’s hottest talent and the successor to George Best as the face of the game. Keegan was a different proposition to Best, though. He didn’t have Best’s natural virtuosity, or his maverick tendencies, but he made the most of his attributes and he knew his worth. Keegan was wholesome, reliable and energetic and Liverpool’s Kop loved him.

Liverpool were one year away from beginning their ruthless pursuit of silverware, but in 1971-72, they had enough to finish painfully close to the top spot. That belonged to Derby County, but not before no less than four teams stake a claim to the title, right up until the final week. Derby were, perhaps, the least likely to finish in first place, but there could be no denying the quality of their football. Players like Roy McFarland, Colin Todd, Archie Gemmill, Kevin Hector and John O’Hare would become household names, while Clough, with his emphasis on skill and hard work, would go on to prove that his success was no fluke.

The party was not quite over, but the guests were gradually leaving. Within a decade, attendances in division one had fallen by 10,000 per game. Clough left Derby in 1973-74, Allison resigned from City, Revie took on England in 1974 (after a second title with Leeds), Shankly retired in 1974. United were relegated, Chelsea followed them in 1975 and Tottenham lost that doyen of managers, Bill Nicholson. And to cap it all, England failed to qualify for World Cup 1974 and Ramsey was sacked. In 1971-72, who would have predicted such a chain of events, even in the unpredictable world of football.

Coming soon: Chapter 2 – Lifting Leeds