1965–66 Bundesliga

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 least points were relegated to their respective Regionalliga divisions.

Team changes to 1964–65

Karlsruher SC and FC Schalke 04 would initially have been relegated for finishing in the bottom two places. However, Hertha BSC Berlin were found guilty of illegal financial behavior and, as a consequence, had their Bundesliga license revoked. The German FA then decided to keep Karlsruhe and Schalke in the league and expand its size to 18 teams. Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach were promoted after having won their respective promotion play-off groups. In order to still have a representative from West Berlin in the league, Tasmania Berlin were also granted promotion.

Season overview

The 1965–66 season was the inaugural season for the two most successful clubs regarding league titles in Bundesliga history, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern Munich. It was also the first time that a city had two clubs in the Bundesliga. Bayern were a title contender for large parts of the season, but eventually were held short three points by their cross-town rivals 1860, who won their first championship. Nevertheless, the newcomers had something to celebrate as well, as they won the DFB Cup one week after the end of the season, which they finished in third place.

Borussia Dortmund finished in second place, ahead on goal average to Bayern Munich. They also had huge title chances until late in the season, but were beaten 2–0 at home by 1860 on the second-to-last match day. However, Dortmund did not end the season without a title as well, as they beat Liverpool 2–1 after extra time in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final at Glasgow's Hampden Park three days earlier. It marked the first time that a German club had won a European championship.

At the other end of the table, another famous German club had a historic season as well – but in the worst way possible. Tasmania Berlin were added to the league just two weeks before the start of the season after city rivals Hertha BSC had been thrown out on financial irregularities. They were not even first choice for a replacement as the Berlin representative, as they had only finished in third place in Oberliga Berlin. But when champions Tennis Borussia were considered too weak after failing in the promotion play-off rounds and therefore were not asked, and runners-up Spandauer SV declined their interest in a Bundesliga spot as well, Tasmania gladly accepted the invitation by the German FA.

The decision turned out to be a fatal one for the club. Tasmania's team was never capable of the Bundesliga and soon became the laughingstock of the league. They set up a various number of records, including, among others, lowest point total (8), least wins (2), most losses (28), least goals scored (15), most goals against (108) and lowest match attendance for a Bundesliga game (827 against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 15 January 1966). Most of the records are still intact.

League table

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average
¹Borussia Dortmund won the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup and thereby automatically qualified as defending champions.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Source: www.dfb.de
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers