Zwickau celebrated the cup dream: Croy - hero of the penalty shootout!

Zwickau celebrated the cup dream: Croy - hero of the penalty shootout!

In June 1975, BSG Sachsenring Zwickau made football history. On June 14th of this year, the eagerly awaited final of the FDGB Cup took place at the World Youth Stadium in Berlin. In front of 55,000 enthusiastic spectators, the Zwickau team met the favorites Dynamo Dresden as stark outsiders. The game turned out to be a real thrill, as after 120 minutes the score was 2-2. What followed is still celebrated as legendary in Zwickau today.

Jürgen Croy, the Zwickau goalkeeper, became a celebrated cup hero in the penalty shootout. He saved two penalty kicks from Gerd Weber and Hans-Jürgen Dörner. He also converted the decisive penalty to make it 4-3, which made Zwickau winners for the first time in the history of the FDGB Cup after a final was decided on penalties. According to kicker.de, Croy is still a legend in GDR football today, being one of the best goalkeepers in the world in the 1970s.

The dramatic finale

There was a real drama that unfolded on the day of the final. After Gert Heidler gave Dynamo Dresden the lead in the 65th minute, Joachim Schykowski equalized just eight minutes later. The second half was also exciting: Frank Richter gave Dresden the lead again in the 110th minute, but Peter Nestler responded in the 119th minute and brought Zwickau back into the game. These exciting twists created breathtaking moments on the pitch and in the audience.

The lineups of the two teams show how many talents the final consisted of. Zwickau lined up with Croy, Schykowski, Stemmler and other players, while Dynamo Dresden featured players like Boden, Dörner and Weber. Both teams gave their best, but it was the underdog Zwickau who won the hearts of the fans. According to Nordkurier, the cup victory was BSG Sachsenring's third and last major title.

An unforgettable success

After the victory, Zwickau also qualified for the 1975/76 European Cup Winners' Cup. There are also legendary rumors that Stasi boss Erich Mielke had the TV recordings of the final deleted in order to protect the shocked SED leadership. Nevertheless, the bonus for each team member was around 1,000 GDR marks, a commendable reward for the heroic victory. In the following European Cup season, however, Zwickau was eliminated in the semi-finals against RSC Anderlecht, but the cup final remains unforgettable.

The FDGB Cup, whose history began in 1949 and has produced many exciting encounters in the following decades, was further illuminated by the Zwickau final. Wikipedia documents the development of this competition, which experienced numerous emotional and sporting highlights until its last staging in the post-reunification period in 1991.

Jürgen Croy and his team not only won a title, but also inspired and influenced an entire generation of football fans in Zwickau, and even in the entire GDR. The cup victory in 1975 remains a major chapter in the history of GDR football.