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.

9 May 1945 - Heynckes The Hometown Hero

On 9 May 1945, striker Josef "Jupp" Heynckes was born in Mönchengladbach where he went on to become his home team's all-time top scorer.

Heynckes made his professional debut in 1964 with Borussia Mönchengladbach, then in the second-tier Regionalliga West. But his 23 goals in 25 league appearances that first season helped the club earn promotion to the Bundesliga for the following season. He played only two more season there before transferring to Hannover in 1967.

He did well at Hannover, scoring 35 goals in three seasons, but returned to Gladbach for the 1970-71 season which ended with them as league champions. Additional titles followed in 1975, 1976, and 1977--along with the 1975 UEFA Cup--as Heynckes established himself as one of the world's premier strikers. He was the league's top scorer in 1974 and 1975, with 30 and 29 goals, respectively. He retired from playing in 1978 having scored a club record total of 292 goals in 400 appearances for Gladbach (plus another 35 in 101 appearances for Hannover).

He moved immediately into management, taking charge of Gladbach from 1979 to 1987, then again from 2006 to 2007 . His resume includes a long list of other teams, including Athletic Bilbao (twice), Schalke, Benfica, and Real Madrid (with whom he won the Champions League in 1998). He is currently in his third stint as manager of Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga in 1989 and 1990.