Fun Facts
The FC as 1978 "Double" winners and "carnival club" — you don't need to be a football insider and you don't need to be from Cologne to know that. Less well known are these facts.
Mascot "Hennes": The billy goat "Hennes" is, alongside Frankfurt's eagle "Attila," the only live mascot in the Bundesliga as of December 2019. The first Hennes was presented to the club in 1950 by a circus director. The current incumbent is Hennes IX.
Müller scores six: FC marksman Dieter Müller was, on August 17, 1977 in the 7-2 win over Werder Bremen, the first and to date only player to score six goals in a single Bundesliga match.
First ground closure: The FC are not only the first Bundesliga champions — they also earned the less glorious distinction of the first-ever ground closure in the inaugural 1963/64 season, following crowd trouble at Müngersdorf.
The manager plays himself: On February 24, 1973, the madcap club produced another first. Due to personnel shortages, general manager Karl-Heinz Thielen had to register himself as a player and take to the field — a truly Cologne moment.
The election of Werner Wolf in September 2019 was emotional: The new FC president refused to continue working with club legend Harald "Toni" Schumacher, who had served as vice-president. The split laid bare the ongoing power struggles within the club.
Christoph Daum: Under the direction of Dietmar Artzinger-Bolten, the FC hired the previously unknown coach Christoph Daum in 1986. Within three years, Daum transformed the club into genuine title contenders, bringing an intensity and flair that electrified the Bundesliga.
Albert Caspers: Albert Caspers entered FC history in 1998 as the president who had to take responsibility for the first-ever relegation. After the drop, Caspers resigned — but the damage was done.
The first million-mark transfer: With the Belgian Roger van Gool from FC Brugge, 1. FC Köln completed the Bundesliga's first-ever transfer exceeding one million Deutschmarks in 1976 — a landmark deal that signalled a new era in German football economics.