For the Haters
Bremen haters can frame the Bundesliga statistics from
Bremen haters can frame the Bundesliga statistics from the 1979/80 season above all else....
the 1979/80 season above all else.
Relegation in 1979/80: Eintracht Braunschweig went down in
Relegation in 1979/80: Eintracht Braunschweig went down in 18th and Werder Bremen, out of north German solidarity, followed them.
18th and Werder Bremen, out of north German solidarity, followed them. The 1979/80 campaign remains the worst Bundesliga season in Werder's history. Almost all of the club's negative records were set in that year, when not even vice world champion Wolfgang Weber or coaching hardliner Fritz Langner could prevent what was, up to that point, the club's only relegation.
The records of shame included the following:
Worst final position: 17th in 1979/80, just ahead
Worst final position: 17th in 1979/80, just ahead of Braunschweig, remains Werder's lowest finish in the top flight....
of Braunschweig, remains Werder's lowest finish in the top flight.
Most goals conceded: in 1979/80 Werder keeper legend
Most goals conceded: in 1979/80 Werder keeper legend Dieter Budde Burdenski had to pick the ball out of his net 93 times....
Dieter Budde Burdenski had to pick the ball out of his net 93 times.
Heaviest away defeat: on April 12 Bremen lost
Heaviest away defeat: on April 12 Bremen lost 7:0 at the home of eventual champions Bayern Munich.
7:0 at the home of eventual champions Bayern Munich. Until the club's promotion in 1981 it stood as the heaviest away defeat in the Bundesliga, together with a 7:0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt in 1963/64. Then came the already mentioned 9:2 in Frankfurt in November 1981.
Most defeats: Werder lost 20 games in the
Most defeats: Werder lost 20 games in the relegation year of 1979/80....
relegation year of 1979/80.
Worst goal difference: in 1979/80 it stood at
Worst goal difference: in 1979/80 it stood at minus 41, with those 93 goals conceded....
minus 41, with those 93 goals conceded.
But a number of sad records were set
But a number of sad records were set in more recent times as well....
in more recent times as well.
Fewest points: the lowest total came in 2012/13.
Bremen's 34 points only guaranteed survival on Matchday 33.
Fewest wins: that same 2012/13 season also brought
Fewest wins: that same 2012/13 season also brought the fewest wins, with only eight.
the fewest wins, with only eight. Even in 1979/80 there had been eleven, and in 1974/75 nine.
Not to forget: between 1989 and 1992 Werder
Not to forget: between 1989 and 1992 Werder were the draw specialists of the Bundesliga.
were the draw specialists of the Bundesliga. They recorded 14 draws in both 1989/90 and 1990/91, and bettered that only in the 38-game season of 1991/92 with 16 draws. Forty-four draws across three seasons - no other club managed that in the same span.
Negative record run against Bayern Munich: with the
Negative record run against Bayern Munich: with the 6:1 defeat on December 14, 2019, Bremen lost to Bayern for the twentieth time in a row, a longer losing streak against one specific Bundesliga opponent than any other club had suffered by December 2019.
6:1 defeat on December 14, 2019, Bremen lost to Bayern for the twentieth time in a row, a longer losing streak against one specific Bundesliga opponent than any other club had suffered by December 2019. The goal difference was equally grim: Bayern scored 72 goals in those matches, six times as many as Werder's 12. The low point came in 2013/14, when Bremen lost 7:0 at home to Bayern, which remained their heaviest home defeat as of December 2019.
Otto II: under Otto Rehhagel, Werder finished league
Otto II: under Otto Rehhagel, Werder finished league runners-up three times after promotion, in 1983, 1985 and 1986.
runners-up three times after promotion, in 1983, 1985 and 1986. The second place in 1985/86 was especially bitter. Bremen led the table from Matchday 2 to Matchday 33 and were still overtaken by Bayern on the final day. A 2:1 loss in Stuttgart cost Werder the title, while Bayern beat Gladbach 6:0 and went ahead on goal difference.
The Kutzop penalty: Bremen could actually have wrapped
The Kutzop penalty: Bremen could actually have wrapped the title up as early as Matchday 33, when they were awarded a controversial handball penalty at 0:0 against Bayern in the top match of April 22, 1986.
the title up as early as Matchday 33, when they were awarded a controversial handball penalty at 0:0 against Bayern in the top match of April 22, 1986. Michael Kutzop, then the safest penalty taker in the Bundesliga, hit the outside of the post. It was his only miss in Bundesliga play from 18 attempts - and the most famous one in Bundesliga history.
The Champions League of 1993/94: Werder entered the
The Champions League of 1993/94: Werder entered the newly revised competition as Germany's first representative.
newly revised competition as Germany's first representative. The premiere showed that the top class was still one size too big for Bremen and King Otto, despite the 5:3 spectacle against Anderlecht. On March 30, 1994 Werder suffered a 5:0 home defeat against Porto in the Weserstadion.
Until Leverkusen and Schalke later matched or exceeded such losses, it remained the heaviest home defeat by a German team in the competition.
DFB Cup: in more recent cup history, Bremen
DFB Cup: in more recent cup history, Bremen lived by the motto everyone embarrasses themselves as well as they can between 2012 and 2014.
lived by the motto everyone embarrasses themselves as well as they can between 2012 and 2014. Three years in a row the green-and-whites went out in round one to a third-division club. Heidenheim tripped them up in 2012, and in 2013 and 2014 Preussen Muenster and Saarbruecken both advanced after extra time. In 2016 the slogan became full Lotte as Sportfreunde Lotte beat the favorites 2:1.
Longest losing streak: Werder have lost five straight
Longest losing streak: Werder have lost five straight matches on seven different occasions, including the seasons 1966/67, 1968/69, 1979/80, 2002/03, ...
matches on seven different occasions, including the seasons 1966/67, 1968/69, 1979/80, 2002/03, 2009/10, 2011/12 and 2015/16.
Longest run without a win: Werder Bremen went
Longest run without a win: Werder Bremen went 13 matches without victory from Matchday 22 to Matchday 34 in 2012/13....
13 matches without victory from Matchday 22 to Matchday 34 in 2012/13.
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SVW · FY 2023-24For the Haters — Update 2020–2026
The 2019/20 season had already been a disaster.
The 2019/20 season had already been a disaster.
Werder only saved themselves from relegation on the penultimate matchday. A year later, in 2020/21, there was no escape — but the drop had a long prehistory.
Even the 2020 relegation playoff against 1. FC Heidenheim had been dramatic: 0–0 in the first leg, 2–2 in the second — Werder surviving only on away goals. That they had to go down a year later, after 40 years as permanent Bundesliga furniture, felt traumatic to many fans.