# 1963–64 Bundesliga

The 1963–64 Bundesliga season was the inaugural season for a single division highest tier of football in West Germany. It began on 24 August 1963 and ended on 9 May 1964. The first goal was scored by Friedhelm Konietzka for Borussia Dortmund in their game against Werder Bremen. The championship was won by 1. FC Köln. The first teams to be relegated were Preußen Münster and 1. FC Saarbrücken.

## Competition modus

Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal average. The team with the most points were crowned champions while the two teams with the fewest points were relegated to their respective Regionalliga divisions.

## Teams

Sixteen teams were chosen from all Oberliga teams on both competitive and infrastructural aspects. The West and South divisions supplied five teams each, three clubs came from the North, while the Southwest provided two participants. The final member was chosen from the Oberliga Berlin.
The selection of teams for the inaugural Bundesliga season was controversial. Alemannia Aachen and Kickers Offenbach believed that they should have been chosen, due to their superior record over division rivals over the previous twelve seasons. They were not selected due to their relatively poorer performance in the seasons immediately preceding the start of the Bundesliga.
| Club | Location | Oberliga | Ground | Capacity |
| Borussia Dortmund | Dortmund | Oberliga West | Stadion Rote Erde | 30,000 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Braunschweig | Oberliga North | Eintracht-Stadion | 38,000 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Frankfurt am Main | Oberliga South | Waldstadion | 87,000 |
| Hamburger SV | Hamburg | Oberliga North | Volksparkstadion | 80,000 |
| Hertha BSC | Berlin | Oberliga Berlin | Olympiastadion | 100,000 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Kaiserslautern | Oberliga Southwest | Stadion Betzenberg | 42,000 |
| Karlsruher SC | Karlsruhe | Oberliga South | Wildparkstadion | 50,000 |
| 1. FC Köln | Cologne | Oberliga West | Müngersdorfer Stadion | 76,000 |
| Meidericher SV | Duisburg | Oberliga West | Wedaustadion | 38,500 |
| 1860 Munich | Munich | Oberliga South | Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße | 51,794 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | Nuremberg | Oberliga South | Städtisches Stadion | 64,238 |
| Preußen Münster | Münster | Oberliga West | Preußen-Stadion | 45,000 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Saarbrücken | Oberliga Southwest | Ludwigspark | 40,000 |
| FC Schalke 04 | Gelsenkirchen | Oberliga West | Glückauf-Kampfbahn | 35,000 |
| VfB Stuttgart | Stuttgart | Oberliga South | Neckarstadion | 53,000 |
| Werder Bremen | Bremen | Oberliga North | Weserstadion | 32,000 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | 1. FC Köln (C) | 30 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 78 | 40 | 1.950 | 45 | Qualification to European Cup preliminary round |
| 2 | Meidericher SV | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 60 | 36 | 1.667 | 39 | |
| 3 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 65 | 41 | 1.585 | 39 | Qualification to Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 73 | 57 | 1.281 | 33 | Qualification to Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 5 | VfB Stuttgart | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 48 | 40 | 1.200 | 33 | Qualification to Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 6 | Hamburger SV | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 69 | 60 | 1.150 | 32 | |
| 7 | 1860 Munich | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 66 | 50 | 1.320 | 31 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 8 | Schalke 04 | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 51 | 53 | 0.962 | 29 | |
| 9 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 45 | 56 | 0.804 | 29 | |
| 10 | Werder Bremen | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 53 | 62 | 0.855 | 28 | |
| 11 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 36 | 49 | 0.735 | 28 | |
| 12 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 48 | 69 | 0.696 | 26 | |
| 13 | Karlsruher SC | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 42 | 55 | 0.764 | 24 | |
| 14 | Hertha BSC | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 45 | 65 | 0.692 | 24 | Qualification to Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 15 | Preußen Münster (R) | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 34 | 52 | 0.654 | 23 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 16 | 1. FC Saarbrücken (R) | 30 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 44 | 72 | 0.611 | 17 | Relegation to Regionalliga |

## Results

| Home \ Away | BSC | EBS | SVW | BVB | SGE | HSV | FCK | KSC | KOE | MSV | M60 | PRM | FCN | FCS | S04 | VFB |
| Hertha BSC | — | 1–2 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 2–0 |
| Werder Bremen | 2–2 | 2–3 | — | 3–2 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 7–2 | 3–0 | 4–3 | — | 3–0 | 5–2 | 9–3 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 7–1 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 4–0 | 3–0 | 7–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 |
| Hamburger SV | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | — | 7–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 1–3 |
| Karlsruher SC | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 5–1 | — | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| 1. FC Köln | 3–1 | 4–1 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 4–0 | — | 3–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Meidericher SV | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| 1860 Munich | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 9–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 5–0 | 7–1 | 7–1 | 1–1 |
| Preußen Münster | 4–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–5 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Schalke 04 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | — | 2–0 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | — |
* ↑ The Hamburger SV v Borussia Dortmund match from 7 December 1963 was suspended after 61 minutes and a score of 1–2 due to poor visibility caused by heavy fog. The replay took place on 21 December 1963 and finished with a score of 2–1.

## Top goalscorers
### 30 goals

* Uwe Seeler (Hamburger SV)

### 20 goals

* Friedhelm Konietzka (Borussia Dortmund)

### 19 goals

* Rudolf Brunnenmeier (1860 Munich)

### 18 goals

* Wilhelm Huberts (Eintracht Frankfurt)
* Klaus Matischak (FC Schalke 04)

### 16 goals

* Lothar Emmerich (Borussia Dortmund)
* Heinz Strehl (1. FC Nürnberg)
* Karl-Heinz Thielen (1. FC Köln)

### 15 goals

* Christian Müller (1. FC Köln)
* Dieter Höller (VfB Stuttgart)
* Gert Dörfel (Hamburger SV)

## Champion squad

* 1. FC Köln
* Goalkeepers: Fritz Ewert (26); Anton Schumacher (4).
* Defenders: Leo Wilden (29 / 1); Anton Regh (29); Fritz Pott (27 / 1); Wolfgang Weber (27 / 1); Matthias Hemmersbach (17).
* Midfielders: Hans Sturm (30 / 13); Wolfgang Overath (30 / 9); Helmut Benthaus (27 / 1); Hans Schäfer (22 / 12); Wolfgang Weber (17 / 3).
* Forwards: Karl-Heinz Thielen (25 / 16); Christian Müller (22 / 15); Heinz Hornig (24 / 7); Karl-Heinz Ripkens (1).
* (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
* Manager: Georg Knöpfle.
* On the roster but have not played in a league game: Fritz Breuer; Jürgen Rumor; Georg Stollenwerk.

## Attendances

VfB Stuttgart drew the highest average home attendance in the 1963-64 edition of the Bundesliga.
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | VfB Stuttgart | 15 | 40,133 |
| 2 | Hertha BSC | 15 | 35,487 |
| 3 | Hamburger SV | 15 | 34,600 |
| 4 | 1860 Munich | 15 | 32,267 |
| 5 | 1. FC Köln | 15 | 31,904 |
| 6 | Karlsruher SC | 15 | 31,667 |
| 7 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 15 | 28,600 |
| 8 | Meidericher SV | 15 | 28,400 |
| 9 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 15 | 26,300 |
| 10 | FC Schalke 04 | 15 | 23,933 |
| 11 | Borussia Dortmund | 15 | 23,133 |
| 12 | Preußen Münster | 15 | 22,267 |
| 13 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 15 | 22,133 |
| 14 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 15 | 21,467 |
| 15 | Werder Bremen | 15 | 20,733 |
| 16 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 15 | 18,067 |