# 1968–69 1. FC Nürnberg season

1. FC Nürnberg played the 1968–69 season in the Fußball-Bundesliga.

## Season review

Despite winning the championship at the end of the previous season, coach Max Merkel decided to make significant changes to the squad. Merkel added 13 new players to the first team squad, and several of the club's more experienced players were sold, including Franz Brungs, the team's leading goalscorer in their championship winning season, and Austrian international August Starek.
Nuremberg started the season poorly, losing their opening two games, but soon recovered and spent the next couple of months in a mid-table position. As reigning champions, the club entered the UEFA European Cup, but lost 5–1 on aggregate to Ajax in the first round. Nuremberg began to struggle from November onwards, and went the next ten games without a win, dropping to the bottom of the table. Merkel was sacked on 24 March and replaced by Kuno Klötzer a few weeks later. With Klötzer in charge, Nuremberg went on to win their next three matches, including a victory against eventual champions Bayern Munich. This was followed by two draws, which took the club to 16th (one place above the relegation zone) with one game in the season remaining. This was a match away at 1. FC Köln, who were also in danger of being relegated. Nuremberg were defeated 3–0, confirming their relegation to the Regionalliga as 17th-placed Borussia Dortmund had won their final match.

## Aftermath

Nuremberg's relegation came as a major surprise having won the Bundesliga 12 months earlier – former player Max Morlock described the season as being "like a bad dream". They were the first champions of the Bundesliga to be relegated, and did not return to the top flight until 1978. Max Merkel is the figure often blamed for the club's relegation due to the wholesale changes made to the squad during the pre-season, with Horst Leupold later remarking that he "didn't understand why so many new players joined us after we won the title". Defender Ferdinand Wenauer pointed to more sinister reasons, claiming that goalkeeper Jürgen Rynio had been bribed by Borussia Dortmund, although this was never proven.

## Match results
### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### League

| Game | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Notes |
| 1 | 17 August 1968 | Alemannia Aachen | Home | 1–4 | 20,000 | Walter (og) | MR |
| 2 | 24 August 1968 | Kickers Offenbach | Away | 1–2 | 33,000 | Küppers | MR |
| 3 | 31 August 1968 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Home | 4–0 | 40,000 | Zaczyk, Čebinac (pen), Strehl, Beer | MR |
| 4 | 4 September 1968 | Hannover 96 | Away | 2–2 | 40,000 | Beer, Nüssing | MR |
| 5 | 7 September 1968 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Home | 1–0 | 26,000 | Čebinac | MR |
| 6 | 14 September 1968 | 1860 Munich | Away | 0–2 | 30,000 | | MR |
| 7 | 21 September 1968 | Hamburger SV | Home | 0–0 | 12,000 | | MR |
| 8 | 28 September 1968 | Schalke 04 | Away | 1–4 | 25,000 | Volkert | MR |
| 9 | 5 October 1968 | Hertha BSC | Home | 3–0 | 19,000 | Volkert, Zaczyk, Küppers | MR |
| 10 | 19 October 1968 | Eintracht Frankfurt | Away | 0–3 | 20,000 | | MR |
| 11 | 26 October 1968 | MSV Duisburg | Home | 1–1 | 12,000 | Küppers | MR |
| 12 | 30 October 1968 | Eintracht Braunschweig | Away | 2–0 | 18,000 | Strehl, Küppers | MR |
| 13 | 2 November 1968 | VfB Stuttgart | Home | 1–1 | 20,000 | L. Müller | MR |
| 14 | 12 November 1968 | Bayern Munich | Away | 0–3 | 40,000 | | MR |
| 15 | 16 November 1968 | Werder Bremen | Home | 1–1 | 10,000 | L. Müller | MR |
| 16 | 30 November 1968 | Borussia Dortmund | Away | 1–3 | 16,000 | Küppers | MR |
| 17 | 7 December 1968 | 1. FC Köln | Home | 0–1 | 11,000 | | MR |
| 18 | 11 January 1969 | Alemannia Aachen | Away | 2–4 | 22,000 | L. Müller, Nüssing | MR |
| 19 | 18 January 1969 | Kickers Offenbach | Home | 2–2 | 45,000 | Zaczyk, Čebinac | MR |
| 20 | 25 January 1969 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Away | 1–1 | 35,000 | Volkert | MR |
| 21 | 1 February 1969 | Hannover 96 | Home | 1–2 | 30,000 | L. Müller (pen) | MR |
| 22 | 8 February 1969 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Away | 1–1 | 8,000 | H. Müller | MR |
| 23 | 22 February 1969 | 1860 Munich | Home | 3–0 | 50,000 | Küppers (2), Kroth (og) | MR |
| 24 | 8 March 1969 | Schalke 04 | Home | 1–1 | 35,000 | L. Müller | MR |
| 25 | 15 March 1969 | Hertha BSC | Away | 0–2 | 35,000 | | MR |
| 26 | 22 March 1969 | Eintracht Frankfurt | Home | 1–0 | 18,000 | Wirth (og) | MR |
| 27 | 29 March 1969 | MSV Duisburg | Away | 0–1 | 18,000 | | MR |
| 28 | 9 April 1969 | Hamburger SV | Away | 2–4 | 22,000 | Strehl (2) | MR |
| 29 | 19 April 1969 | Eintracht Braunschweig | Home | 2–0 | 17,000 | Nüssing (2) | MR |
| 30 | 26 April 1969 | VfB Stuttgart | Away | 3–2 | 22,000 | Nüssing, Volkert (2) | MR |
| 31 | 17 May 1969 | Bayern Munich | Home | 2–0 | 45,000 | Volkert (2) | MR |
| 32 | 23 May 1969 | Werder Bremen | Away | 3–3 | 27,000 | Küppers (2), Strehl (pen) | MR |
| 33 | 31 May 1969 | Borussia Dortmund | Home | 2–2 | 50,000 | Küppers, L. Müller (pen) | MR |
| 34 | 7 June 1969 | 1. FC Köln | Away | 0–3 | 53,000 | | MR |

### Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Notes |
| First | 5 January 1969 | Eintracht Trier | Away | 3–1 | 18,000 | Hansen, L. Müller, Nüssing | MR |
| Second | 2 April 1969 | Sperber Hamburg | Away | 0–0 | 4,500 | | MR |
| Second (replay) | 12 April 1969 | Sperber Hamburg | Home | 7–0 | 7,000 | L. Müller (2), Zaczyk (2), Nüssing, Lehr (2) | MR |
| Quarter Final | 23 April 1969 | Hannover 96 | Home | 1–0 | 12,000 | Čebinac | MR |
| Semi Final | 3 May 1969 | Bayern Munich | Away | 0–2 | 25,000 | | MR |

### Europe

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers | Notes |
| First (1st leg) | 18 September 1968 | Ajax | Home | 1–1 | 54,000 | Volkert | MR |
| First (2nd leg) | 2 October 1968 | Ajax | Away | 0–4 | 63,000 | | MR |
| Ajax won 5–1 on aggregate ||||||||

## Player details

| Pos. | Nat. | Player | League | League | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | Europe | Europe | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | | Jürgen Rynio | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| GK | | Roland Wabra | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| GK | | Walter Pradt | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 |
| DF | | Ferdinand Wenauer | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| DF | | Fritz Popp | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| DF | | Ludwig Müller | 29 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 9 |
| DF | | Horst Leupold | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| DF | | Johnny Hansen | 21 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| DF | | Peter Czernotzky | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 11 | 0 |
| DF | | Amand Theis | 7 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7 | 0 |
| DF | | Franz Zimmert | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 4 | 0 |
| DF | | Ewald Schäffner | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 |
| MF | | Klaus Zaczyk | 34 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 5 |
| MF | | Hans Küppers | 33 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 10 |
| MF | | Heinz Müller | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 1 |
| MF | | Heinz Strehl | 20 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 5 |
| MF | | Hans Rigotti | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | | Theodor Homann | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 |
| FW | | Georg Volkert | 28 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 8 |
| FW | | Erich Beer | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 2 |
| FW | | Dieter Nüssing | 23 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 7 |
| FW | | Zvezdan Čebinac | 22 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 4 |
| FW | | Jürgen Lehr | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 2 |

## Transfers
### In

| Player | Pos | From | Fee |
| Erich Beer | FW | SpVgg Fürth | |
| Peter Czernotzky | DF | Borussia Neunkirchen | |
| Johnny Hansen | DF | Vejle BK | |
| Theodor Homann | MF | SSV Werne | |
| Hans Küppers | MF | 1860 Munich | DM 175,000 |
| Jürgen Lehr | FW | 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure | |
| Dieter Nüssing | FW | 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure | |
| Walter Pradt | GK | 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure | |
| Hans Rigotti | MF | Bayern Munich | |
| Jürgen Rynio | GK | Karlsruher SC | |
| Amand Theis | DF | 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure | |
| Klaus Zaczyk | MF | Karlsruher SC | |
| Franz Zimmert | DF | 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure | |

### Out

| Player | Pos | To | Fee |
| Horst Blankenburg | FW | Wiener SC | DM 45,000 |
| Claus-Jürgen Braun | DF | Released | |
| Franz Brungs | DF | Hertha BSC | DM 200,000 |
| Manfred Ebenhöh | MF | SpVgg Fürth | |
| Karl-Heinz Ferschl | MF | Hertha BSC | |
| Helmut Hilpert | FW | SV Waldhof Mannheim | |
| Adolf Ruff | FW | 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure | |
| Hubert Schöll | GK | Hamburger SV | |
| August Starek | MF | Bayern Munich | |
| Gyula Tóth | GK | Jahn Regensburg | |
| Wulf-Ingo Usbeck | DF | Released | |