No wonder the only real football was played for the East German Cup – to a point the Cup tournament could be seen as a resistance to Stassi rule. National cups were rapidly losing interest in the 1980s – everywhere they were seen as a secondary tournaments, not all that important. Even in England. But in DDR it looked the opposite: that was the real tournament, where the grip of the Police can be broken – and it was broken. Dynamo (Berlin) was winning the championship, but not the Cup… Magdeburg and Karl-Marx-Stadt reached the Cup final this year. It was particularly brave effort of lowly Karl-Marx-Stadt. Up to the final, though – the most important match simply showed the vast difference of class. Magdeburg may not have been in great shape, but still was much stronger than Karl-Marx-Stadt, winning 4-0.
Admirable run and brave effort, but the underdog was too weak. Witch team like that, Karl-Mrax-Stadt had no chance at all. Third row from left: Richter, A. Müller, Heß, Bähringer, Pelz, Achenbach, Uhlig, Heydel.
Middle row: Fuchs, Lienemann, Ihle, Birner, Krahnke, Fuchs, Petzold, Schwemmer, Lindemann, P. Müller, Dr. W. Müller.
Front row: Eitemüller, Schneider, Neuhäuser, Persigehl, Schubert.
For 1. FC Magdeburg the season ended really well. True, they had no real opposition at the final, but that was not their fault. One may even say these boys were the true football champions of DDR and to a point it could be fair. To a point… for Magdeburg had problems and the team was not great, and there was little hope it will be better in the foreseeable future. But no matter, for victory is victory and that in front of 50 000 – perhaps fewer watched Dynamo (Berlin) during the whole season.