First division was clearly divided into 3 sections – nothing new, it was like that for years. 4 clubs struggling to keep a place among the best, 5 clubs in the middle, no better or worse than any other year, and five fighting at the top. The same five clubs since 1970… if not even earlier.
Hansa (Rostock) finished last with 15 points.
Third row, from left: Helmut Hergesell – coach, Rudi Schneider – assistant coach, Gerd Kische, Jorg Seering, Dieter Schneider, Karl-Heins Aul, Rainer Jarohs, Peter Sykora, Dr. Rainer Muller – team doctor, Klaus Decker – assistant.
Middle row: Ronald Adam, Wolfgang Weber, Hans-Joachim Wandtke, Michael Mischinger, Dietrich Kehl, Norbert Linningen (?)
First row: Jurgen Utess, Jurgen Decker, Bernd Kohler, Gunter Blum – physio, Axel Schulz, Eckhard Martzke, Rudiger Kaschke.
Really strange team – Hansa was steadily up and down since 1974-75, when were relegated. Came back immediately the next season, but finished last in first division in 1976-77. Won promotion in 1977-78. And last again in 1978-79. Perhaps such a roller-coaster is unique in the world, but even more curious was that this team did not appear to be so bad – at least when compared to the other lower East German clubs. They lost the best East German goal-scorer Joachim Streich, but still had one of the 1974 heroes – Gerd Kische. And Peter Sykora. With two stars, they should have been in mid-table, others had less and still were out of trouble. Whatever the reason, Hansa was unable to keep place among the best.
Above Hansa, but also relegated was BSG Chemie (Bohlen).
For them, it was written on the wall: a modest club, which earned promotion in 1977, but was not expected to survive the trials of first division football. The managed to stay, finishing 12th in their first season – that is, just a place above relegation zone. But it was not up to them to repeat the same – they fought as much as they were able to and lost the battle by 2 points.
BSG Sachsenring (Zwickau) finished 12th, reaching safety with 18 points.
This was perhaps great for the best ever East German goalkeeper Jurgen Croy (the dark-haired one on the picture) – it would have been a disgrace to end in second division.
The best club among the outsiders was Wismut (Aue).
At 11th place, they were consistent – always near the relegation zone. Their best season during the decade was 6th place in 1975-76. Their ‘preferred’ – 12th, which they occupied most often.
The middle group had 1. FC Union (Berlin) at the bottom. They were 10th with 21 points.
The East Berliners preferred to support Union in spite of Stassi-representing Dynamo, but the club was lowly. Their chief aim was to keep a place in first division. So to be among the mid-table ‘solid’ clubs was not bad. The question was were they able to maintain their position.
The newcomer BSG Stahl (Riesa) finished 9th.
Without stars, Stahl was traditionally one of the expected to be relegated. They just returned from second division. To a point, they had an excellent season.
FC Karl-Marx-Stadt were 8th with 22 points.
With such a name, one automatically expects them to be a constant favourite. Instead, they were modest mid-table club. Nice kit and the novelty of bell-bottomed training pants is just about everything to be noted about them.
Yet, the archetypical mid-table club was not Karl-Marx-Stadt, but Rot Weiss (Erfurt).
Always in mid-table – amazingly consistent in safe mediocrity. 7th this year with 24 points.
HFC Chemie (Halle) were 6th with 27 points and perhaps there is a question were they belonging to so-so clubs, or the the leaders. They finished 3 points clear of Rot Weiss, yet 2 points behind Lokomotive (Leipzig). The previous season they were also 6th, but were 6 points ahead of the small fry and appeared to be rising and perhaps joining the strongest.
6th again, but it was clear that Chemie was to stay with the small fry – the club had no famous players before, did not get any, did not climb up and challenged the strongest, but maintained position just bellow them. The best among the mid-table teams, that was all.
Relatively weak season for Lokomotive (Leipzig) – 5th and not a factor.
Third row, from left: Thomas Dennstedt, Joachim Fritsche, Gunter Sekora, Hans-Jurgen Kinne, Udo Rietzschel, Volker Grossmann, Wolfram Lowe.
Middle row: Heinz Joerk – coach, Wolfgang Altmann, Karl-Heinz Herrmann, Wilfried Grobner, Roland Hammer, Henning Frenzel, Mathias Liebers, Lutz Eichhorn, Helmut Burkhardt – masseur, Bernd Kirsche – assistant coach.
Kneeling: Andreas Roth, Andreas Bornschein, Rene Muller, Siegfried Stotzner, Werner Friese, Lutz Moldt, Dieter Kuhn.
Lokomotive continued to be among the top clubs, but not a title contender. They also had less famous players than any other of the traditional favourites.
1.FC Magdeburg were also out of the race for the title – the fought with Carl Zeiss for bronze and lost it by a point.
Yet, the forth place in the table was a bit misleading – Magdeburg were still very strong.
Similar were Carl Zeiss (Jena) – like Magdeburg, they appeared to be in danger of decline: depending on familiar stars and no new one emerging. They clinched third place, but had no strength for more.
Carl Zeiss however played very well in the European tournaments, compensating for their a bit weaker domestic performance.
Dynamo (Dresden) was comfortably above the three big clubs mentioned so far – they ended 5 points ahead of Carl Zeiss and lost only matches during the season. Certainly a contender.
The most successful East German club of the 1970s, but they were not really in the race for the title this season, settling for comfortable second place. Much stronger than the rest of the league, yet not a match for the champions. Dynamo (Dresden) appeared to change generations smoothly, so it was not approaching a crisis. And they really managed to avoid crisis, but in the next decade Eastern German changed in a way which voided competition and thus the real strength of Dresden’s club was become a mystery.