50 Years Ago: Decision to launch German Bundesliga

On July 28, 1962 it was decided at a meeting in Dortmund to launch a new single, professional top tier in German football under the name of Bundesliga. It would take the German FA (DFB) and the clubs about year to get everything in place and then in August 1963 the Bundesliga was launched on the pitch.

This historic date was celebrated yesterday in the golden hall of Dortmund's Westfalenhallen, exactly where 50 years ago the launch meeting had been held. Now the Bundesliga is set to enter its historic 50th season in a few weeks time.

Germany's professional league was set-up later then their counterparts in England, Spain and Italy due to the fact that the country had come out of two world wars and had
been rebuilding the country.

At the meeting in Dortmund in 1962 103 delegates voted in favour of the Bundesliga, while 26 voted against the introduction of professional football in Germany. Surely then the men deciding on the creation of the Bundesliga did not know what an impact the league would have on Germany.