How Spain's Copa Del Rey Is Now Capturing the Imagination

Everyone loves a good cup upset, well everyone bar those on the receiving end at least, and when it involves a bunch of part-time minnows playing regionalised football winning at home against a top tie giant then it truly is the real deal. 

For the perfect example of this most heartwarming of events, the classic 'cupset', you don't have to look much further than last week when third tier Segunda B Group 3 side UE Cornellà defeated the might of Club Atlético de Madrid in Spain's Copa del Rey. Although, due to COVID, a lack of spectators meant the full-time whistle was not accompanied by the usual pitch invasion there would have no doubt been many celebrating locals elsewhere. There was still delight on the faces of the celebrating players and no doubt wild scenes in front television sets around the area as fans watched the action no doubt accompanied by the obligatory fast paced ramblings of a loquacious Spanish commentator.

For fans in countries such England, France, and Germany, David versus Goliath ties are very much commonplace and upsets certainly not unheard of but in Spain, however, such scenes may still seem to many a little alien. For many years, up until the end of the 2018-19 season, by the time flight sides entered the competition only 12 lower league sides remained and not only that but at this point, all ties suddenly reverted to a two legged affair. This meant that not only did amateur or semi-professional sides rarely get the chance of facing an FC Barcelona or a Real Madrid but on the rare occasions that such matchups did occur having to play two legs as opposed to a one-off tie made knocking out one of the big guns not far off impossible and very rare. 

This format also gave Spain's biggest clubs such an advantage to the point that seven of the past nine winners of the competition had been either Barcelona or Real Madrid, the country's two biggest clubs, and you had to go back ten years to find the last time neither side made it to the final. Because the format was so weighted in their favour their smaller rivals even in the top flight did not consider themselves having any chance of progressing in the competition and therefore did not take it seriously preferring to concentrate on the league, and often survival, making that advantage even greater. 

A huge adjustment to the competition's format ready for the beginning of last season, however, has now changed all this with last years final, not yet played to due to COVID, consisting of neither of Spain's top two and coming at the end of a tournament that had seen plenty of upsets along the way.

Under a new format, just 20 sides would participate in a preliminary round before 56 one-off tie first round matches that included all bar four top flight La Liga sides (the four involved in a new Supercopa de España) who would enter in round three. Seeding would remain in place meaning increased numbers lower league opposition would regularly get drawn against top flight sides whilst the lower ranked team was always given home advantage to perhaps make the seemingly mammoth task just that little bit easier. That one-off match format, with extra-time and penalties, if needed, to settle the match on the day, meanwhile, would remain in the place all the way up until the semi-finals which would be two legged affairs before reverting to a one-off tie again for the final which would still, naturally, be played a neutral venue.

126 teams in total would enter in total with 84 coming from outside the top two divisions, including amongst varying third tier sides, all winners and runners up of each group in the fourth tier Tercera División as well as all the winners of the fifth tier Divisiones Regionales groups (in all cases excluding reserve sides competing in the divisions).

Allowing fifth tier sides to enter was another massive change as under the previous format only clubs within the top four divisions could enter whilst for many years in the competitions past even fourth tier sides had not been admitted with only selected teams from the third tier allowed to participate alongside first and second division clubs.

These new changes would surely help support the little guy for once and were clearly a welcome change. However, despite the difficulties smaller clubs have faced in the past, and despite the fact that certainly in recent times the competition has not been revered in the same way other domestic cup competitions elsewhere have, it still does have a rich long history and one that does include some real moments of note. Yes, even before most recent format changes the Copa del Rey still had the odd tale of fascination. 

Such occasions include when Real Madrid's B team, then known as Castilla CF, reached the final of the competition in 1980 only to lose 6-1 to none other than their parent club, and that season's league champions, Real Madrid. That final appearance gained Castilla a place in the following season's UEFA Cup WInners' Cup where they lost to West Ham United in the first round. About ten years later rule changes meant B sides were no longer allowed to enter the Copa del Rey. 

Another interesting event in the history of the competition came in 2009 when third tier regional league side AD Alcorcón managed to break through the harshness of the two-legged system to defeat giants Real Madrid. Based in the same city they astonishingly defeated their near neighbours 4-0 at home in the first leg and qualified for the next round as their opponents only managed a 1-0 win in the second. As mentioned, this kinda shock generally did not happen in Spain at the time and that made it all the more remarkable, especially with it being a 4-1 aggregate win as opposed to say a one goal margin.

Another rare example of lower leagues side thriving in the two legged set up, of which they aren't many, came in 2011-12 when CD Mirandés beat three top flight sides en route to an 8-3 aggregate semi-final defeat against Athletic Club of Bilbao. Villareal and Racing Santander were both defeated 3-1 on aggregate before they knocked out Espanyol on the away goals rule after a 4-4 aggregate scoreline to become the first side from outside the top flight to reach the semi-finals in ten years.

But although events such as those involving Alcorcón and Mirandés have been extremely rare in the past that is, of course, as I keep telling you, no longer the case. I've written previously on this blog about the Coupe de France and Germany's DFB-Pokal, both of which have a fascinating tradition of cupset's and I would go as far as saying that the Coupe de France is the greatest domestic knock-out competition in the world (just ahead of the FA Vase, look it up). But while the Copa del Rey has not generally been a competition that's captivated me its recent dose of fairytale excitement has piqued my interest. 

The first big shock under last season's new format came in the first round when La Liga side, and UEFA Cup finalists in 2001, Deportivo Alavés lost at fourth tier Real Jaén. Jaén were out for revenge as whilst both second tier sides some six years earlier the pair had met on the final day of the season in a relegation decider that Alavés won to stay up and send Jaén down. Since then Jaén had been relegated a second time whilst Alavés had been promoted back to the top flight meaning there was a now seemingly a massive gulf between the two sides when they met. But you would never have guessed it was Alavés who were the top flight side as they lost 3-1 to the team three divisions below them.

In the second round fellow La Liga side Getafe lost 2-0 at third tier CF Badalona whilst in the third, two more La Liga sides lost to third tier opposition with Atlético Madrid losing 2-1 at Cultural Leonesa and SD Eibar being defeated 3-1 at CD Badajoz. Meanwhile, at the same stage, Barcelona needed a 94th minute injury time winner to defeat UD Ibiza who were in their second season of third tier football after two straight promotions. Extra seats were installed in Ibiza's Estadi Can Misses home for the match with 6,445 spectators present in a ground that usually held about 4,500. Based on the party island of the same name, the club's fans were celebrating wildly when they took the lead after just nine minutes as they came close to what would have a ginormous upset against a club who had won four of the previous five finals.

Barcelona and Real Madrid both lost in the quarter-finals with Basque rivals Real Sociedad and Athletic Club set to meet in April to finally complete that 2019-20 edition of the competition after the final was postponed due to the COVID pandemic. To get to that final Sociedad had to beat second tier Mirandés 3-1 on aggregate in the semis with Mirandés becoming the first team from outside the top flight to reach the semis since they last did it themselves as a third tier side in 2012 a feat I, of course, mentioned earlier.

Although last years final has yet to take place, this year's competition is already well underway with top flight sides RC Celta de Vigo, Córdoba CF, and SD Huesca both last week losing to third tier regional league opposition alongside Atlético Madrid. It was those men who gave Barcelona run for their money last season who defeated Celta as Ibiza romped to a 5-2 victory, Córdoba, meanwhile, defeated Getafe 1-0 to see the visitors lose to third tier opposition for the second season running whilst Huesca lost 2-1 at CD Alcoyano.

That victory for Alcoyano has secured them the visit of Real Madrid to their 4,850 capacity Estadio El Collao home in the next round with seeding meaning all third tier sides still left in the competition will face to flight opposition at home. There are six clubs in total from the third tier still left with all clubs below that level having, unfortunately, now been knocked out. CDA Navalcarnero and SCR Peña Deportiva, who both beat second tier sides in the last round, face Eibar and Real Valladolid respectively whilst Ibiza welcome Athletic Club, Córdoba face Real Sociedad, and Cornellà, fresh from defeating Atlético Madrid, now face another giant in the form of Barcelona.

England, France, and Germany all have an affinity for the little guy and love a good footballing upset. In England they talk of the 'magic of the cup', the Germans use the phrase 'Der Pokal hat seine eigenen Gesetze' meaning the Cup has it's own rules, whist in France they nickname the minnows 'Petit Poucet' (Little Thumb) and 'Cendrillon' (Cinderella). Spain and the Copa del Rey seemingly does not have these traditions but this love affair must surely now be catching on. We shall have to wait and see if this revitalised competition brings us any more shocks in the next round but whatever happens with that there are bound to be plenty more shocks in the years to come. After all, the Cop del Rey is now guaranteed to give us lots of David vs Goliath match-ups every single year and they'll all be settled on the night so tey big won't be given second chance if they end up being embarrassed!

Tasmania Berlin and the Unwanted Bundesliga Record Which Could Have Been Equalled Today (But Wasn't)

This is a short post for my readers to enjoy as I have not posted for a couple of weeks and because events this afternoon are worth a mention. Schalke 04 (actually my favourite German football club but that's another story) today won 4-0 which, even with Matthew Hoppe becoming the first ever American to score a Bundesliga hat-trick in the league's history, would not ordinarily be worth writing about. However, today's result was significant as it stopped Schalke from equalling a very much unwanted record. Failure to win today would have seen the club equal Tasmania Berlin's record of 31 straight Bundesliga games without a win which is an all-time recording being the longest winless streak in Bundesliga history.

If you have read my whistle-stop tour of football in Berlin then you will be no doubt aware of Tasmania Berlin as you will if you also read about my trip to Berlin a few years back. Featured in Football Weekends magazine my trip included a visit to see Tasmania away at Füchse Berlin in a sixth tier Berlin-Liga match. If you have not read either piece then you will probably not have heard of them at all. Tasmania, both in their current guise and the original club before they went bankrupt have gone mostly unnoticed for all of their history bar one season in the top flight where they made a name for all wrong reasons. Their story as I wrote about in those earlier pieces on Berlin football is definitely worth revisiting.

When in 1965, Berlin's only Bundesliga side, Hertha BSC, had their license revoked and were forcibly relegated for breaking the league's player salary rules, the DFB, for cold war related political reasons, were uncomfortable about the idea of not having a Bundesliga team in the city. To resolve this issue SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin who had failed to gain promotion through the play-offs were given Hertha's place in the top flight and so began the worst season in Bundesliga history. Tasmania would win just two of their 34 league games losing 28 and ending the season with just eight points, some 14 behind the team directly above them, and go on a 31 match winless streak which is also a Bundesliga record.

In 1973 SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin went bankrupt and were reformed as SV Tasmania Berlin. Under their new guise, Tasmania's most successful period started in 1981 when promotion saw ten straight seasons in the third tier. More recently, seven straight seasons in sixth tier Berlin-Liga ended with promotion to the fifth tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord last season.

It is believed that the club's name comes from the fact the founders of the original club had been planning to move to Australia with Tasmania their preferred destination. The club used the city's Olympiastadion for home games in their Bundesliga campaign before returning to their usual home of Werner-Seelenbinder-Sportpark. The very modest ground is situated barely five minutes from the iconic former Berlin Tempelhof Airport which closed in 2008. The place is now known as Tempelhofer Feld and used a recreational space it is, including the surrounding land, the largest inner city open space in the world.

The Minnows Who Captured the Nation's Hearts and Turned Kenny Dalglish Into a Pantomime Villain

Even Jeremy Paxman got in the act by asking on Newsnight: "Is Kenny Dalglish a big girl's blouse?" The former Liverpool legend and at the time Newcastle United manager was seeing himself ridiculed by everybody and his side cast as the pantomime villain. Not even two years earlier, under the stewardship of Kevin Keegan, United had been everyone's 'second team' but suddenly it seemed as if the whole world and his dog were desperate for them to lose. The issue? Dalglish kicking up a fuss about having to play an FA Cup tie away against a group of part-timers from the GM Vauxhall Conference.

When Premier League side Newcastle United were drawn away at Stevenage Borough in the fourth round of the FA Cup in January 1998 it was one of those classic David versus Goliath ties with the two sides separated by 99 league places. Newcastle were a side that included £15m Alan Shearer, signed less than two years earlier for a then world record fee, whilst Stevenage had Giuliano Grazioli a man who manager Paul Fairclough joked had cost the club "Three packets of crisps and a Mars bar." The contrast was stark.

But whilst many would have no doubt been looking for an upset on the pitch they would find even more drama off it. The furore started when details of a phone call between Dalglish and Fairclough were leaked to the press. On the phone to Fairclough, Dalglish had demanded the match be switched from the Hertfordshire based club's small 6,000 capacity Broadhall Way stadium to Newcastle's home ground of St. James' Park stating Stevenage's ground was not fit for purpose. What was seemingly a spectacular PR own goal for Newcastle became even worse when a delegation from the club, including their safety officer, turned up uninvited to inspect the Broadhall Way stadium.  At this point, things really got heated with Stevenage accusing United of "Big brother tactics" whilst Dalglish apparently told Stevenage chairman Victor Green that he was "not running scared" and would happily play the non-league side anywhere "even Hackney Marshes." Dalglish and Newcastle's antics had done their damage, however, and Daglish was by now public enemy number one and being lampooned by the press and indeed much of the nation, Jeremy Paxman included. 

The whole saga over the suitability of the stadium to host such a big game came to an end when an FA committee declared the venue safe to hold the match and Newcastle reluctantly accepted the decision. FA spokesman Steve Double said: “We always rely on the safety authorities and both they and the police are happy for the game to go ahead and therefore so are we."

Newcastle and Dalglish were not the only ones who came in for criticism, however. Stevenage chairman Victor Green was condemned for hiking up ticket prices for the match by 400% which enraged many fans. There would still be a full house, however, even with several thousand temporary seats installed to increase the capacity. As well as making a killing from ticket sales they also received £150,000 from Sky Sports to broadcast of the match across the country on satellite television. It was not just Sky Sports and the British public taking an interest, though. Whilst the tie had captured the imagination of the nation it was also to be screened in 25 different countries and even made the back page of the South China Morning Post, for example.

If Newcastle were hoping to avoid an upset with an easy victory then they got off to the perfect start in the match itself when Shearer, returning from an ankle injury, headed home from a Keith Gillespie cross after just three minutes to give the visitors the lead. The comfortable afternoon they would have been hoping for, against a side lying 17th in the Vauxhall Conference remember, never materialised, however, and the hosts drew level four minutes before the interval. After a Gary Cranshaw corner sent the ball into the box Giuliano Grazioli touched it home from close range in front of the away end to bring jubilant scenes from the other three sides of the ground. The noise was deafening and almost echoed around the whole country. The minnows were suddenly level. An uneventful second-half saw the match finish 1-1 and Stevenage force a replay. Naturally, Dalglish said afterwards: "The conditions suited them more than us," but at least he would now get his wish to face Stevenage at St James' Park...

The antics of Newcastle and Dalglish in the lead up to the match had made the result even sweeter and Stevenage's heroic performance brought comparisons with what had happened in 1972 when non-league Hereford United stunned the nation by defeating Newcastle in a third round replay. But whilst the media and public alike revelled in Newcastle's struggles most realised it would be a very tough ask for Stevenage to go one better and actually defeat their opponents when they were to meet in a replay ten days later.

For the rematch, two goals from Shearer were enough to see Newcastle win the replay despite an unconvincing performance which saw Crawshaw pull a goal back for Stevenage on 74 minutes and bring a nervy finish. It was also claimed by some that Shearer's first goal, acrobatically cleared by Mark Smith, did not actually cross the line. Newcastle would eventually reach the final and lose to Arsenal whilst Stevenage who twice gave them a good run for their money would get their revenge in 2011 when, by then a league club, they defeated Newcastle 3-1 at home in the third round. There were no complaints about the pitch or the stadium on that occasion, however. 

Fans Can Return To Football Except In Reality Many of Them Can't - Far Fewer Clubs Will Be Allowed To Admit Spectators Now Than a Month Ago

UPDATE 10/12/2020: It has today been announced that even in tier 3 lockdown areas fans are now allowed into 'non elite' football grounds albeit at half the numbers allowed in tiers 1 and 2.

No doubt BBC/Sky/ITV News will be all over the supposed return of fans to football next weekend. 'Elite' clubs are now permitted to admit spectators again, albeit in very limited numbers, and the mainstream media will no doubt hail this as a success and interview fans saying how wonderful it is to be allowed back into their team's stadium. That's great, but unfortunately, it will completely ignore the fact that rule changes mean more teams in England are no longer allowed to admit fans than were just a month ago, before this latest four week lockdown brought 'non-elite' leagues to a halt. It will fail to showcase the stark realities for most clubs up and down the country which are far from celebratory like the news reports will show.

Some Background Information

When football clubs playing what is classed as 'non-elite sport' started their league campaign's in September they did so because they'd been told spectators were allowed back into their grounds. Clubs at step 3 of non-league football and below were allowed to admit 30% of their league minimum required ground capacity into their stadiums. Of course, this did not apply to 'elite' clubs where fans were still not allowed but for non-elite clubs, this change was welcomed with open arms.

Since these rules came into place I have attended numerous football matches in the region where I live, mostly at steps 5 and 6 where up to 300 fans were allowed into grounds. For a few better supported clubs this was problematic but for most, it meant a return to normality and a saving grace for clubs who in many cases were on the verge of financial ruin because of this pandemic. In the North East rising COVID figures saw the Durham and Northumberland Football Associations reduce by half the numbers of spectators allowed in grounds but for most of the country they carried on with original crowd allowances and things running in many cases rather smoothly. 

Football Suddenly Stopped

So above was the situation before, by no means perfect but invaluable for many. This situation completely changed, however, on 15 November when a countrywide lockdown in England saw all non-elite football suspended for four weeks. Many supporters, me included, were dismayed by this news and no doubt so were the clubs. There was, however, the belief that after four weeks things would return to as before and the football could easily restart as if nothing had happened. Alas, this was a little misplaced... 

Latest Update - Can Restart But Many No Longer Allowed To Admit Fans

New tiered restrictions that are to come into force on 2 December when this current lockdown ends state that clubs in the highest level tier three restrictions are not allowed to admit any spectators even at non-elite level. This will spell disaster for clubs up and down the country as unlike before half the country is now seemingly in tier three. Under the old tiered system before this latest lockdown, even in the areas with the toughest restrictions fans were still allowed at non-elite level so this new change came out of the blue and was unexpected by most. Another change sees clubhouses not allowed to open for clubs under tier 2 restrictions meaning even where clubs are allowed spectators another vital source of income has been shut down. The North East actually experienced this rule as part of the extra restrictions I mentioned earlier that were put in by the two local football associations. It's a nightmare.

Leagues Delaying Their Restarts: The Disastrous Effects These New Restrictions Are Already Having Before They've Even Came into Force

With fans not allowed, restarting league campaigns is not viable for many non-elite clubs as the income spectators provide is vital for paying bills and things like player wages. Albeit the players are of course part-time as this level they still get paid, in many cases per appearance so no competitive matches mean the clubs don't have to pay them. Another issue is that in some leagues half the clubs would be allowed supporters on their terraces whilst half would not - this would create an uneven playing field which would be grossly unfair. Because of this many leagues have cancelled or delayed the restart of their seasons. In steps 5 and 6, the Northern League and the North West Counties League are to name but a few who have decided against restarting next weekend whilst the step 3 and 4 leagues have yet to make a decision on their restarts. 

Going Forward

So there you have it, hundreds of football clubs up and down the country who have happily been playing in front of spectators since the end of August have now been told they can no longer play in front of their fans causing unthinkable damage for these clubs and chaos to their league campaigns. The question now is how do things proceed? Leagues will no doubt review the situation in the coming weeks and these leagues I guess can extend their seasons through next summer if necessary but the extent of the financial implications are harder to gauge. Regarding the financial side of things, one must ask about government funding. There was recently announced a winter survival package which will give £14m worth of funding via grants and loans to clubs between steps 3 and 6 but how this will all work has yet to be fully explained and the uncertainty does not help. This has helped put us in the current situation as a lack of financial clarity is part of the reason varying leagues feel they cannot resume as planned.

Please Spread The Word

Of course, all the headlines have been about the forthcoming return of fans to elite football and this is how the narrative will no doubt continue but as you have seen the reality is vastly different and needs to be brought to attention. Please share this article and bring the grave news of this plight to a wider audience. 

We are currently in a complete mess and It's difficult so see way out other than allowing spectators to return.

One Final Thought

One final point of note though. If clubs at the lowest level of elite football are allowed in some cases 2,000 spectators in at tier two then why are the tier two clubs in the divisions directly below, if they restart, still only allowed at most 600 fans in (that is the unchanged maximum allowed at step 3 as agreed in August)? Why for non-elite clubs the continuation of these number restrictions when the clubs above are allowed much higher numbers of spectators? Surely the largest non-league step three and below stadiums could easily accommodate close to 2,000 spectators as the elite teams can at step 2 and above? Just another example of how ridiculous this situation is.

The German State That Once Had Its Own National Team and Even Faced Germany Itself For a Place at the World Cup

The border that separates France and Germany has a somewhat complicated history. Strasbourg, nowadays a firmly French city was once upon a time under German control whilst the German state of Saarland has at times been governed by France. Even today the popular French greeting of 'Salut' is still commonplace in this German speaking area, albeit having been Germanised to become 'Salü'. But although, its very earliest years apart, in footballing terms Strasbourg has always been strictly French the story of soccer in Saarland is far less straightforward. Saarland's tale is one that includes not just its own national team but also an ultimately failed World Cup qualifying campaign that hinged on a final match showdown against none other than their German neighbours to the East.

"I feel German I didn't want to stop them getting to the World Cup," said player Kurt Clemens after Saarland lost to West Germany in their final qualifying match for the 1954 World Cup. Clemens' feelings towards West Germany after the game do nothing but highlight the complicated situation in Saarland at the time. Many Saarland residents felt German and did not want to be a semi-autonomous state that was part of France as they at that time were. Luckily for them, Saarland would soon be reunited with West Germany, at the beginning of 1957 in fact, and to this day remains part of what is now a unified Germany. But Saarland's history prior to 1957, even in just the first half of the twentieth century alone, saw the people of this small state change nationality several times and, of course, even have their own national football team.

Over the centuries Saarland, which currently has a population of just over 990,000, has changed hands several times but after World War I and the treaty of Versailles it was governed by Britain and France. A referendum in 1935, however, saw the residents vote to be ruled by Germany as it had been previously and this lasted until the end of World War II. After the Germans were defeated in another world war the French wanted to get their hands on Saarland again due to its large coal deposits and that is exactly what happened. Saarland would actually have its own flag and even its own constitution but it was, despite some forms of autonomy, essentially under French supervision. This was something that, as mentioned, the people of the Saar never really enjoyed. Possibly because of this dissatisfaction at French interference, in 1954 those in the state were offered the chance of complete independence via a referendum. The public of the Saar voted against independence, however, as they wanted a return to Germany. Because of this a return to German rule was, of course, granted just three years later to see Saarland leave France and rejoin its German neighbours to the east once and for all.

Although officially becoming part of France shortly after the war ended in 1945, maybe because of the degree of autonomy it was given, Saarland soon established its own football association and never joined the French Football Federation (FFF). Having said that, despite the fact that they had formed their own association, local club 1. FC Saarbrücken joined France's Ligue 2 as a guest team for the 1948-49 season. Unfortunately, things did not end well for them. Despite winning the league comfortably, a proposal from president Jules Rimet for them to officially join the FFF was rejected by the majority of French clubs and resulted in Rimet's resignation and Saarbrücken quitting the league.

After leaving French football, Saarbrücken went on to create a short-lived invitational tournament considered a forerunner to the European Cup and when the European Cup was created soon after became Saarland's sole representatives despite having by this time actually rejoined the German league system. Saarbrücken were able to play in the European Cup because the Saarland football association had by then successfully applied to join FIFA, for which they became a member in 1950, and Saarland was therefore recognised as an independent nation for footballing purposes. Saarland remained FIFA members until the state rejoined Germany in 1957 and during this period Saarland at one point, as we know, came close to qualifying for the World Cup at what would have been West Germany's expense.

Saarland's national football team played their first match in 1950 and their last just six years later, a total on 19 matches. Most of the matches Saarland played in were international friendlies but they did partake in a three man European qualifying group for the 1954 World Cup where they faced Germany and Norway both home and away. This would be the second real dose of competitive international sport for the state having taken 36 athletes to the 1952 Olympic games in Helsinki, although this did not include a football team. Saarland's football side were coached by a young man named Helmut Schön who would later lead West Germany to European Championship success in 1972 and World Cup glory on home soil two years later but this time around he would be watching them from the opposing dugout. 

Having opened with a 3-2 win away in Norway the home match against the Norwegians was a 0-0 draw with a 3-0 defeat away in West Germany sandwiched inbetween before that final showdown between the pair. A win or a draw for West Germany would see them finish top of the group and qualify for the World Cup whilst a win for hosts Saarland would see them draw level on points with the West Germans. Despite the West Germans having a superior goal difference, finishing level on points with Saarland would mean, as per the rules in those days, a play-off match to decide qualification and if that finished level then a coin toss. 

The 'Biggest football festival on the Saar' as the matchday programme called it took place in Saarbrücken at the end of March 1954 but did anyone in Saarland actually want their team to win? Having claimed after the match he was relieved that the Saar lost, an ageing Clemens speaking to German newspaper Volksfreund in 2018 remembered an uncomfortable incident in a local sports shop a few days beforehand and said: "Suddenly the owner's daughter was standing in front of me and roared: 'Insolence that you dare to play against Germany - I hope they'll beat you ten.'"

A full house of more than 53,000 locals attended the match to supposedly cheer on West Germany but over 40,000 spectators had also attended the home match against Norway so maybe there was actually some support for the Saar after all. Not only that but, despite a narrative that everyone firmly wanted the hosts to lose, Saarland forward Herbert Binkert, also speaking to Volksfreund, said: "We weren't interested in politics we just wanted to play football," suggesting that some of the Saarland players would have been happy to win the game. 

Play football is exactly what they did as well almost taking the lead early on only for the Dutch referee to declare a Saarland goal offside. It was, of course, West Germany who won the match though and when Saarland did finally score on 67 minutes the West Germans had already found the net twice thanks to goals from Max Morlock who these days has a stadium named after him in Nuremberg. Saarland's goal came from the penalty spot but was followed 16 minutes later by another West German goal, this time from Hans Schäfer, that saw the visitors win 3-1 and qualify for the World Cup and we all know what happened next...

"We would certainly not have become world champions with Saarland," Clemens said after West Germany won the 1954 World Cup final in what became known as 'The miracle of Bern'. Although the story of West Germany winning that World Cup after defeating Puskas' Hungary is one well known throughout the footballing world Saarland's story post that qualification failure is not. To be fair, however, there is not much of a tale to tell. That match with Germany was not quite the end for Saarland but they would play only nine more times before they were disbanded. All of those games were friendly matches of which only one was won. Then, before you know it they were gone for good. Mind with the world champions on their doorstep did anyone really miss the Saar team? 

Most within the Saar supported West Germany in that 1954 final and with Saarland's Telesaar tv channel not showing the match some went to great lengths to watch it. Many close to the West German border could pick up the broadcasts from West German channel ARD whilst others could pick up broadcasts from France, but for some this was not possible. Those who could not pick up a signal with their usual aerials had to get creative and often with difficulty build larger tv antennas to get the match. Of course, many people could not afford a television though and had to listen on the radio rendering those signal problems moot. For the players of the Saarland national team, however, watching the game was certainly not a problem. The whole squad was invited to Bern where they cheered on from the stands the team that earlier in the year had beat them.

Perhaps West Germany winning that World Cup was the beginning of the end for Saarland, after all, mass support for the West German team from the Saarland population showed that most of them were German at heart even if their passports said otherwise. As we know it took less than three years after that day in Bern for Saarland to rejoin West Germany and with it bring to an end the shortlived adventure that was Saarland's national football team. After a lone qualifying campaign and a few friendlies, they had very quickly disappeared never to return. The state of Saarland lives on but firmly as part of a now unified Germany. There are, nowadays, only limited hints in Saarland of its former Frenchness, that phrase Salü being a major one, whilst anything even remotely close to independence of any kind, in football or elsewhere, is completely non existent.