31 October 1920 - Germany's Golden Player

On 31 October 1920, Kaiserslautern and West Germany legend Fritz Walter was born.

Gifted with a remarkable combination of ball control, vision, and agility, Walter, who was born in Kaiserslautern, spent his entire career with his hometown club. He made his first-team debut for them at the age of 17, but World War II interrupted his career for several years. Play resumed in 1945 and Walter soon guided the team to their first major silverware, winning league titles in 1951 and 1953. He retired in 1959 with a record of 380 goals in 411 league appearances. In 1985, the club renamed their stadium after him.

His greatest achievement, however, came with the West German national team in 1954, when he captained them to their first World Cup trophy, beating Hungary 3-2 in a final known as "the Miracle of Bern" (Hungary were up 0-2 after only 8 minutes before West Germany rallied for the win).

Despite the wartime hiatus, Walter earned 61 caps between 1940 and 1958, scoring 33 goals. When UEFA, in preparation for their fiftieth anniversary in 2004, asked each member nation to name their one greatest player--the Golden Players--of the previous fifty years, Germany selected Walter.

He passed away in June 2002 at the age of 81.

23 May 1954 - It Had To Be The Shoes

On 23 May 1954, Hannover won their second German championship, beating Kaiserslautern 5-1. And they did it with a little tactical advantage in footwear.

Six teams--the five regional Oberliga champions and one runner-up--qualified for the German championship tournament and were split into two groups. The two group winners then contested the final, which was played at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

Before the match, eight of Hannover's eleven starters were given new Puma boots with a special feature--screw-in studs. Puma had been developing the technology for several years, first releasing the "Super Atom" model in 1951. When Kaiserslautern won the German championship in 1953, seven of their players wore the Super Atom. By 1954, however, Puma had developed an improved style dubbed the "Brasil" and Hannover quickly adopted the new boots.

They must have been quite an improvement. Even though Kaiserslautern took a 13th minute lead, Hannover reeled off five straight goals to take the title with an overwhelming 5-1 victory (including one Kaiserslautern own goal from defender Werner Kohlmeyer in the 48th minute). It was their second title, with the first having come in 1938.

After seeing the success of the Brasil, West Germany used the boot for their 1954 World Cup team which won the tournament over Hungary. Coincidentally, the German team included five members from Kaiserslautern side (including Kohlmeyer), but not one player from Hannover.