WSV got off to a decent start, but couldn't keep up the pace, and soon fell behind. Then down the stretch, they dropped points in a critical 1-1 draw at crap Hamborn, which made the direct clash with Köln not as decisive. Of course, it was rendered academic, as the Kölners ripped WSV's ass 0-3 in the Zoo.
Two local clubs caused a sensation. First, Velbert was on top, and proved to be a solid opponent. They started running out of gas in the 2nd half, but had an outstanding year. Nevertheless, they fired their coach Dieter Grabotin, due to internal club politics. Newcomer Borussia Wuppertal came on strong and challenged WSV's 50 year hegemony of Wuppertal football. The Ölbergers enthusiastically brought out their best, includng against a tired and lame WSV. This could be a serious threat to WSV if we don't shape up.
Aside from WSV, the only other disappointment is probably Preußen Köln, who figured to at least play somewhat of a contender role. They were decent early and then fell off the cliff.
The bottom clubs deservedly go down, since they sucked. Hamborn has some small satisfaction of taking the wind out of WSV in the title race. Düsseldorf II were going to drop anyway, since their A team was bound to drop down from teh regionalliga anyway. Wegberg-Beeck was the crappiest team. Perhpas they recognized this fact, and they announced midway through the season that they were voluntarily dropping. Of course, about 3 years ago, they were the leaders, but then ran into financial problems and almost went under.
Gms W T L GF:GA Gdiff Pts 1. 1. FC Köln Am. 34 25 6 3 80:23 +57 81 promoted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. WUPPERTALER SV 34 21 7 6 73:39 +34 70 3. Borussia Wuppertal (N) 34 20 6 8 61:29 +32 66 4. SSVg. Velbert 34 18 7 9 64:44 +20 61 5. 1. FC Bocholt 34 16 9 9 68:45 +23 57 6. Bor. M'gladbach Am. 34 17 3 14 61:43 +18 54 7. SV Adler Osterfeld 34 13 9 12 64:50 +14 48 8. Alemannia Aachen Am. (N) 34 14 6 14 57:68 -11 48 9. Schwarz-Weiß Essen 34 13 8 13 43:48 -5 47 10. Bonner SC (N) 34 12 10 12 53:52 +1 46 11. SCB Preußen Köln 34 14 4 16 55:70 -15 46 12. MSV Duisburg Am. 34 12 8 14 75:79 -4 44 13. Borussia Freialdenhoven 34 10 11 13 56:61 -5 41 14. Rheydter SV 34 10 9 15 35:47 -12 39 15. Ratinger Spvg. 04/19 34 10 6 18 34:55 -21 36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. Sportfr. Hamborn 07 (N) 34 6 7 21 34:78 -44 25 relegated 17. Fortuna Düsseldorf II 34 6 6 22 32:74 -42 24 relegated 18. FC Wegberg-Beeck 34 4 8 22 32:72 -40 20 relegated