Ronald Reagan was elected US President, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt pushed for the NATO double decision, the music station MTV went on air with “Video Killed the Radio Star” – and Friedhelm Funkel played his first DFB in his first season at 1. FC Kaiserslautern -Cup final. The lanky midfielder with the full beard and his teammates Ronnie Hellström, Hans-Peter Briegel and Hannes Bongartz lost 3-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt in Stuttgart’s Neckar Stadium. That felt like an eternity ago, 43 years ago.
On Wednesday evening, Funkel, now 70 but still as slim as back then, was caught up with his past in the most pleasant way possible: the oldest coach in German professional football, who thought he had already retired several times, managed to get into the final again – again with the FCK. “It’s unbelievable, football writes the most beautiful stories. “I never dreamed of going to Berlin again as a trainer,” he explained.
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The final has now been held permanently in the capital for 39 years. Even at the beginning of this tradition, how could it be otherwise, Funkel was there. With Bayer Uerdingen, where he took up the first of his twelve head coaching positions in 1991, he sensationally defeated Bayern Munich 2-1 as a player in 1985 – in the first ever Berlin final.
Done: Kaiserslautern’s coach Friedhelm Funkel (left) and assistant Matthias Lust celebrate after the final whistle
Source: dpa/Uwe Anspach
Kaiserslautern in the eighth cup final
A touch of history wafted through Saarbrücken’s Ludwigspark on Tuesday when Funkel’s fifth participation in the final was confirmed. After MSV Duisburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, he now also led FCK to Berlin as a coach. The second division team, where Funkel had only taken over six weeks ago, beat third division team 1. FC Saarbrücken 2-0 (0-0). The brave cup terror, who had previously eliminated three first division teams: Bayern, Frankfurt and Mönchengladbach, ultimately had no chance against Funkel’s infamous defensive tactics. It wasn’t a particularly entertaining game. But as is often the case when Funkel’s teams are involved, the end justified the means in the end.
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Things only became bright and colorful after the final whistle, when Kaiserslautern celebrated their success. Supervisors handed out winning T-shirts (“Ajo! Lautre is schun widder do!”). “We are a good team on the glass and also on the pitch. If you don’t celebrate that, you’ve done a lot of things wrong in your life,” explained goal scorer Marlon Ritter. His header (53rd minute) was the winner. Almany Touré, who had already prepared the 1-0, then made everything clear (75th).
He took the lead: Marlon Ritter headed in to make it 1-0 for the second division team
Source: AFP/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN
The traditional club’s eighth final appearance – albeit the first in 21 years – sparked high spirits. “This is something special, a huge boost to our image. It will also be good for us financially to further consolidate ourselves,” said Managing Director Thomas Hengen. The 49-year-old was perhaps the only one who thought in numbers on this special evening. Participation in the final will bring at least 9.36 million euros into the coffers from the DFB’s bonus pot. In the event of a cup victory it would even be 10.80 million.
Hengen took over responsibility in March 2021. Less than a year after 1. FC Kaiserslautern Management GmbH and Co. KgaA, the spun-off professional division, had to file for bankruptcy. At that time, the team was languishing towards the fourth division, 24 million euros in debt and bills could no longer be paid.
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Traditional club in crisis
The bankruptcy was the result of the effects of Corona, but also of years of mismanagement. The club had constantly lived beyond its means. Expensive investments in the Fritz Walter Stadium and especially in the team took their toll. The club has never calmed down in the past two decades. Since legendary coach Otto Rehhagel left the FCK in 2000, 25 trainers took over until the bankruptcy almost four years ago.
Funkel also fails at the turnaround
Since then, a lot has happened. In 2022 they returned to the second league. Last season the Palatinate team seemed to establish themselves there. In the end we came in ninth place – and thanks to the TV money we were able to get back into the black. The fans flocked to the Betzenberg again. Hengen not only repositioned the club in terms of sport, but also drove forward marketing, sales and digitalization. Last summer, the FCK even went on a guest tour of the USA, which was unusual for a second division team. The future looked promising again.
But then pretty much everything went wrong. The team was in danger of relegation, and even changing coaches didn’t bring any improvement. On November 30th, promotion coach Dirk Schuster was released – just 73 days later, his successor Dimitrios Grammozis was fired. Even the former Schalke coach couldn’t stop the downward trend. Hengen was forced to take special measures – he brought Funkel out of retirement.
However, the old master has not yet been able to achieve a turnaround. Of six league games under Funkel’s leadership, only two were won and two were lost. The FCK remains in 16th place, the relegation rank. Relegation would set the club back a long way – as it would be accompanied by a significant drop in income, especially during the restructuring phase.
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“Staying in the league is much, much more important than winning the cup,” said Funkel. He wants to do everything he can to “not go to Berlin as a relegated team.” If possible, the FCK should also avoid finishing the season in 16th place. Because then there would be an extremely strange season finale. The playoffs between the third-from-bottom team in the second division and the third-placed team in the third division are scheduled for May 24th (Friday) and May 28th (Tuesday). The cup final will take place on May 25th. Since no team can be expected to play three such important games within four days, the relegation is likely to be postponed.
However, this wouldn’t be ideal for Funkel either. “We want to go to Berlin with the certainty that we have kept the league,” he said. Funkel promised to “do everything we can to make sure we come 15th. I will make sure that we only have the next league games in our minds.” He therefore held back on celebrating. That’s something for younger people anyway.
