We play the first winners of the Bundesliga 1. FC Köln in the ECL play-off

1. FC Köln is seven years younger than Vidi, having been founded in 1948. Cologne's first success came in the 1961/1962 season, when they won the German championship. A year later, in 1963, the Bundesliga, the German league as it is known today, was founded. As the defending German champions, 1 FC Köln were naturally one of the 16 teams in the first season of the Bundesliga. Not only did they make it, but they also won their first Bundesliga that season, thus forever etching their name in the Bundesliga history books. They later won the Salata Cup once more in 1978. It was also the most successful season in the club's history, as they won the German Cup, which they had won four times (in 1968, 1977, 1978 and 1983).

IX Hennes - the mascot of 1. FC Köln

The goat craze in Cologne began in 1951, when a circus tent was set up in the team's stadium on the Aachener Strasse and the main attraction was a goat with stage fright peeing down the shirt of then coach Hennes Weisweiler. 

The goat was immediately given the name Hennes by the nearly 2,000 spectators, the players went into a frenzy and in 1953 club president Franz Kremer officially made the goat the club's emblem. Since 1953, the Hennes dynasty is now in its ninth year and its task is simple: walk around the stadium before a home match. The current goat, Hennes IX, also has his own Facebook page with 33,000 followers. 

FC 1 Köln has played five times against Hungarian teams in its history. Four times against Újpest Dózsa and once in a friendly match against the Hungarian Olympic team at the Népstadion.

They first met Újpest in 1966 in the Vásárvárosok Cup, winning 3-2 at home in Cologne and 4-0 in the return match. In both games, the goal was scored by Antal Szentmihályi, who later led Vidi to the final of the Hungarian People's Republic Cup in 1982 as head coach. 

In 1972, the Hungarian Olympic national team defeated 1. FC Cologne 2-0 in the Népstadion, and the starting line-up included Vidi's then excellent full-back, "the Hungarian Beckenbauer", József Kovács, who would go on to play for Újpesti Dózsa in 1983, when he also played for Cologne in the UEFA Cup. The first match was won 3-1 at home by Újpest, while 1. FC Köln triumphed 4-2 away, but the Hungarian team progressed with more goals scored away from home. So far, 1. FC Köln has not had much success against Hungarian teams.

Two Hungarian footballers have previously played for the Cologne team, Attila Tököli in the 2004/2005 season, while Vidi's former head coach Imre Szabics strengthened 1. FC Köln in the 2005/2006 season.

Former FTC coach Peter Stöger managed 1. FC Köln from 2013-2019, leading the Red and Whites back to the Bundesliga in 2014 and finishing 5th in 2017, which meant they were back on the international stage after 25 years. 

The Cologne side finished the 2021/2022 season in 7th place in the Bundesliga, earning them a place in the ECL play-offs.

The 2022/2023 season didn't start well for Cologne, as they were eliminated from the German Cup after the first round after being beaten on penalties by second division Regensburg. However, they did not start badly in the league, beating Schalke 04 3-1 at home in the first round and drawing 2-2 away at Leipzig in the second round, leaving them in 4th place after two rounds. Interestingly, they finished both their matches with a man advantage.

FC Köln's squad has an estimated total value of €88.6 million and their most valuable player is Tunisian international midfielder Ellyes Skhiri, who is worth an estimated €13 million.

The pictures in this article were provided by 1. FC Köln for use. Their official website in English: https://fc.de/en/