Thursday May 13th 2021
Jena in the 1981 European final
When almost no “class enemy” came to the final
It is the biggest game in the history of Carl Zeiss Jena – and the memory of it elicits the words “frustrating” and “disrespectful” from its coach at the time, Hans Meyer, even 40 years later. Which is not due to the defeat that the GDR club experienced 40 years ago in Düsseldorf today.
Coach icon Hans Meyer still raves when he is asked about the Carl Zeiss Jena team that reached the European Cup final against Dynamo Tbilisi in 1981. On the way to the final in Düsseldorf’s Rheinstadion, top-class players like AS Roma (despite 3-0 defeat in the first leg and thanks to a 4-0 home win in the second leg), Valencia CF and Benfica Lisbon were eliminated, as well as AFC Newport County Wales.
“That we then eliminated teams with the world footballers Falcao and Kempes speaks to a large extent for the character, the discipline, the physical performance and the ability to work in a team”, emphasized Meyer, then head coach of the Thuringians and now member of the board of Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach .
That May 13, 1981 marked the biggest day in the history of the Jena club, even if the team had to leave the pitch 2-1 as a loser despite a 1-0 lead. At the time, the Meyer team was on the verge of scoring more goals against the stars from Tbilisi, who at the time provided the scaffolding for the Soviet national team. Gerhard Hoppe had put the GDR club in the lead in the 63rd minute, but Vladimir Guzajew (67th) and Vitaly Darasselija (87th) then turned the game in favor of the club from what is now Georgia.
From today’s perspective, it is unimaginable that only around 9,000 fans came to the Düsseldorf Rheinstadion to see two teams from what was then the “Eastern Bloc”. In other sources, there is even talk of a mere 4,750 viewers. “For a European Cup final and for the players it was frustrating and disrespectful,” said Meyer and added sarcastically: “Of course there were reasons. A final with two teams from the ‘Eastern Bloc’ right in the heart of the BBKF (bitter class enemy, d. Red.) Was not ideal, so many did not even know where Tbilisi and Jena are. Not to mention that you could play football there. “
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