The 1980/81 campaign was a special season for the Eagles. After the UEFA Cup victory in 1980, there were hopes that Eintracht might be strong enough to become Bundesliga champions. Jürgen Grabowski, who had not played since March because of an injury, shared this dream. Unfortunately, the injury Grabowski sustained in the previous season forced him to end his career. In December 1980, “Grabi”’s farewell game took place.
In addition, Bernd Nickel and Bernd Hölzenbein thought about retiring. The new manager, Lothar Buchmann, had to step in the big footsteps of former manager Friedel Rausch. All these obstacles turned out to be too much. Soon, it became evident that Eintracht would not be able to win the Bundesliga championship, and in the UEFA Cup competition, the defending champions had to admit defeat in the round of the last 16.
As often, the competition in which Eintracht would be most successful was the DFB-Pokal. The Eagles did not have much trouble advancing to the quarter-finals, where they had to compete against VfB Oldenburg. After 60 minutes, the score was 5-2 for SGE, all signs indicated that Eintracht would win the match. However, after “Charly” Körbel had to be replaced because of an injury, VfL came back, scored twice and almost leveled the tie. Close call.
After further victories against Buchmann’s former club VfB Stuttgart and Hertha BSC, the Eagles had reached the final which took place in front of 71,000 fans at Neckarstadion in Stuttgart.
Where’s the sparkling wine? The Eagles run out of stock
Eintracht’s opponents in the final were 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who defeated the Eagles in a Bundesliga match two and a half weeks prior to the final. On top of that, the Eagles failed to win any of their last seven Bundesliga matches. Consequently, no one really expected them to win the final, which turned out to be a good thing. The underdogs from Frankfurt dominated the match from start to finish. The goals by Neuberger (38’), Borchers (40’) and Cha (64’) are evidence that the game was a one-sided affair. Geye’s consolation goal shortly before the final whistle came too late to endanger Eintracht’s third cup win.
The victory was so surprising that Eintracht did not bring enough sparkling wine for the celebrations. Bernd Hölzenbein, who ended his professional player career with the Eagles after the final, took care of the problem. He went to FCK’s locker room to replenish Eintracht’s supplies.
