1,508 days lay between the 298th and 299th Bundesliga matches in the club’s history. With a 3-2 win at Hannover 96, BVB had bid farewell to the top flight on 28 June 1972 and then languished in the second tier for four years. 1,508 days until their return. And it came with a bang: on 14 August 1976, the Black and Yellows announced their comeback with a 4-3 away win at cup holders Hamburger SV, who had just signed an absolute superstar in Kevin “Mighty Mouse” Keegan.
For the first time in more than three years, HSV icon Rudi Kargus had to concede more than three goals at the Volkspark. He was still equal to Willi “Ente” Lippens’ shot (3rd minute), but a minute later Hans-Werner Hartl buried a cross from Segler in the net. After just under half an hour, Peter Geyer added BVB’s second goal, and the 8,000 traveling BVB fans among the total crowd of 50,000 were beside themselves. Seven minutes before half-time, Erwin Kostedde made it 0-3, leaving shock written all over the faces of the Hamburg supporters.
“Decisive for the sensational 0-3 scoreline at the break was Dortmund’s brilliant midfield unit, with the lively Geyer and the attack-minded Burghard Segler, who roamed the Hamburg half at will,” reported kicker: “After the interval, Memering, who came on for Blankenburg, finally injected new life into HSV. Dortmund then had to withstand a veritable power play. After a Reimann goal was ruled out for offside, Steffenhagen pulled one back in the 53rd minute, converting after a Kaltz shot had struck the post.”
Willi Reimann reduced the deficit to 2-3 for the reigning cup winners just five minutes later, but right in the middle of Hamburg’s new wave of euphoria, Kostedde struck again only two minutes later to make it 2-4. HSV were awarded a questionable handball penalty a quarter of an hour from time, which Georg Volkert converted to make it 3-4, but after that HSV no longer had the energy. Dortmund’s defense, marshalled by the alert goalkeeper Horst Bertram, shut the door completely.
kicker welcomed the promoted side with enthusiasm: “Borussia are back! Germany’s first European Cup Winners’ Cup champion celebrated its return to the Bundesliga with a mighty bang. And by the looks of it, the feat in Hamburg will not be Dortmund’s last. For this Borussia is undoubtedly an asset to the top flight. Rarely has a newcomer played with such ruthlessness, intelligence and tactical discipline.”
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
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