The Cup. The established for years counter-point to Police power… Dynamo (Berlin), for all its domination, was still unable to win the Cup. They did not even reach the final very often and this year were out before the semi-finals. A minor sensation was caused by Hansa (Rostock) – they reached the final. Thus, for a sixth time in the history of East German football second-division team reached the final. Three times a second-division won the trophy so far. Hansa played a final as second-division team already – in 1955, under the name SC Empor. They played one more final, but no Cup. This was their third chance to win, but they faced formidable opponent: Lokomotive (Leipzig). Cup specialists in top form. Hansa had no chance – Lokomotive destroyed them 4-1.
Heroic effort, but reality was against Hansa – no matter how good a second-division team was, it was always far weaker than average top-league team, not to mention the best. Still, reaching the Cup final was significant – the last time second-division club played the final was in 1963 and with the big reorganization in 1965, when the top clubs were made somewhat professional (it was quite weird change – the players officially were called ‘profis’, but still listed as students, mechanics, and so on. Professional amateurs would be more proper to call them, as ironic as such name could be), it became unthinkable for second-division team to reach the Cup final.
1. FC Lokomotive (Leipzig) won the Cup for a second year in a row. It was their 5th altogether and the victory cannot be shrugged off because the opponent was too weak for real challenge – Lokomotive was arguably at its all-time peak, playing their most successful season. They had wonderful team – given the East German reality – with 8 national team players. Olaf Marschal was just coming up, but if Lokomotive’s players were not as well known as Dynamo Berlin’s, the reason is that they were slightly older and unable to become stars in unified Germany.
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