Special Moments — Eintracht Frankfurt

On a summer day in 2013, Bayern club

On a summer day in 2013, Bayern club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt received an unexpected visitor in his practice near Munich’s Marienplatz: Jupp Heynckes, then 68, freshly retired from coaching Bayern after winning the first treble in club history.

On a summer day in 2013, Bayern club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt received an unexpected visitor in his practice near Munich’s Marienplatz: Jupp Heynckes, then 68, freshly retired from coaching Bayern after winning the first treble in club history. In grand seigneur style, Heynckes brought along the Champions League trophy, the Meisterschale and the DFB Cup for a photo with the doctor and his staff. It was a noble gesture – from a man who had clearly changed.

The mature, elegant Don Jupp of 2013 had

The mature, elegant Don Jupp of 2013 had little in common with the version Frankfurt got to know in July 1994.

The mature, elegant Don Jupp of 2013 had little in common with the version Frankfurt got to know in July 1994. The Heynckes introduced to the strict Frankfurt tabloids and the demanding fan base was schoolmasterly, stubborn and distant. ‘When I start here on July 7, the clocks will tick differently,’ he said at his unveiling. ‘It goes without saying that when I enter a championship season, I want to become champions.’

It was a slip of the tongue that

It was a slip of the tongue that would come back to hurt him badly.

It was a slip of the tongue that would come back to hurt him badly. Heynckes had already made one rash public promise at Bayern in 1990, when after winning the title he told supporters on Munich’s Marienplatz: ‘I promise you, next year we’ll win the European Cup.’ They did not, and by October 1991 he was gone. After Bayern he rebuilt his career in Bilbao.

Then Eintracht vice-president Bernd Hölzenbein brought his old Germany teammate back to the Bundesliga.

Eintracht had just lived through a turbulent season.

Eintracht had just lived through a turbulent season.

Eintracht had just lived through a turbulent season. Their autumn championship of 1993 had collapsed into a bad spring. There had been a quarterfinal exit to Salzburg in the UEFA Cup, the dismissal of coach Klaus Toppmöller and captain Uli Stein, and Uwe Bein’s departure to Japan. What the club wanted now was not another year of FC Hollywood on the Main. Heynckes, they hoped, would bring calm.

That hope had to be filed away quickly.

That hope had to be filed away quickly.

That hope had to be filed away quickly. SAT.1 would later conclude that what followed made even the tumultuous Stein years look like eternal peace. It was not just the threat that the clocks would tick differently from now on. ‘I didn’t come here to finish fourth or fifth,’ Heynckes said openly.

The disciplinarian flatly rejected Maurizio Gaudino’s wish to move to Kaiserslautern, which, depending on how you look at it, was also a moment that changed a club.

The start was poor: 0:0 against Köln, 1:1

The start was poor: 0:0 against Köln, 1:1 in Kaiserslautern, then a 4:0 hammering from Leverkusen.

The start was poor: 0:0 against Köln, 1:1 in Kaiserslautern, then a 4:0 hammering from Leverkusen. One detail stood out even then: Anthony Yeboah, the reigning Bundesliga top scorer, was not in the squad. Only insiders sensed at the time that something was brewing between the proud striker from Ghana and the highly decorated coach.

The conflict became obvious after a 3:0 defeat

The conflict became obvious after a 3:0 defeat to Bayer Uerdingen on September 24, 1994.

The conflict became obvious after a 3:0 defeat to Bayer Uerdingen on September 24, 1994. Yeboah complained on television that the team had not understood the new system and did not have Barcelona’s experience. Heynckes hit back live on air: ‘We know that Yeboah basically has difficulties expressing himself.’ Thorsten Legat, the intellectual strategist of chaos, admitted he knew little beyond the fact that they were playing with a back four. Heynckes was furious.

The row climaxed before the home game against

The row climaxed before the home game against Hamburg on December 3, 1994.

The row climaxed before the home game against Hamburg on December 3, 1994. Yeboah, Jay-Jay Okocha and Maurizio Gaudino had been ordered to a punishment session, a 30-minute run in the woods, and then abruptly withdrew. Yeboah told the coach he would not appear for the match. Okocha said he was mentally not in a state to play.

Gaudino claimed to be physically exhausted. Eintracht reacted. Yeboah and Gaudino were kicked out, Okocha was pardoned for the second half of the season.

By throwing out their goal insurance and one of their key creators, the club sawed off the branch it was sitting on.

Gaudino and Yeboah moved to England, to Manchester

Gaudino and Yeboah moved to England, to Manchester City and Leeds United.

Gaudino and Yeboah moved to England, to Manchester City and Leeds United. Leeds at least paid a respectable fee for Yeboah’s goals. Years later Yeboah still said the expulsion had been completely unnecessary and a huge mistake. In the season after the Heynckes disaster, Eintracht Frankfurt were relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time.

Gaudino’s farewell shot from Manchester was cutting: now

Gaudino’s farewell shot from Manchester was cutting: now that he was gone, Heynckes could show what a world-class coach he really was.

Gaudino’s farewell shot from Manchester was cutting: now that he was gone, Heynckes could show what a world-class coach he really was. By then it was too late. On April 2, 1995, after a 3:0 defeat to Schalke and with the club down in 13th, Heynckes’ time in Mainhattan ran out.

He had his wife Iris draft the formal resignation statement. According to reports, he waived compensation worth roughly 900,000 euros.

For Eintracht, the appointment of Jupp Heynckes is

For Eintracht, the appointment of Jupp Heynckes is a very special moment.

For Eintracht, the appointment of Jupp Heynckes is a very special moment. It marks the end of all title ambitions and the beginning of an era in which the club turned into an elevator team, repeatedly fighting for its sporting and economic existence. Sometimes it simply does not fit.