History of Berliner FC Dynamo (1978–1989)

BFC Dynamo developed a very successful youth academy during the 1970s. The team had an average age of only 22.7 years before the 1978–79 season. Young talented players in the team were Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Lutz Eigendorf, Norbert Trieloff, Michael Noack, Roland Jüngling, Rainer Troppa, Bodo Rudwaleit, Ralf Sträßer, Hartmut Pelka and Arthur Ullrich. The veterans in the team were Reinhard Lauck, Frank Terletzki, Wolf-Rüdiger Netz and Bernd Brillat. The young team was coached by 31-year-old coach Jürgen Bogs. BFC Dynamo got off to a strong start in the 1978-79 DDR-Oberliga and won the first ten matches. Lutz Eigendorf defected to West Germany during a friendly match in Kaiserslautern on 20 March 1979. His defection was considered a slap in the face to the East German regime. BFC Dynamo finally won its first DDR-Oberliga title after defeating rival SG Dynamo Dresden 3–1 on the 24th matchday in front of 22,000 spectators at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. The team set a number of records during the league season. BFC Dynamo made its debut in the European Cup in the 1979–80 season. The team made it all the way to the quarter-finals of the 1979-80 European Cup, where it faced Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough. BFC Dynamo won the first leg away 1–0. BFC Dynamo thus became the first German team to defeat an English team in England in the European Cup. The success in the league continued, but the competition was fierce. BFC Dynamo won the 1979-80 DDR-Oberliga by defeating first-placed SG Dynamo Dresden on the final matchday and the 1980-81 DDR-Oberliga by defeating second-placed FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the final matchday. BFC Dynamo continued to integrate young players from the youth department into the first team, such as Rainer Ernst in 1979, Bernd Schulz in 1979, Olaf Seier in 1979, Frank Rohde in 1980, Falko Götz in 1980 and Christian Backs in 1981. BFC Dynamo reached the quarter-finals of the 1981-82 European Cup but was eventually eliminated by Aston Villa. BFC Dynamo now began a period of dominance in the league.