From the 1980–81 season through the 1988–89 season, the Bundesliga was almost entirely dominated by the two sporting goods manufacturers Adidas and Puma. While at the start of the 1980s, with Hummel and Pony, there were still two other manufacturers visibly in the mix, starting with the 1984–85 season, the two Herzogenaurach-based market leaders dominated the Bundesliga all on their own. And even though the long-established brand Erima was occasionally present during this time with its curved emblem on Bundesliga jerseys, this was solely due to an agreement with its owner, Adidas: “Two brands = twice the publicity” was the simple equation. In total, Adidas/Erima outfitted 20 teams from 1980 to 1989, while Puma outfitted 13 teams. The field of equipment suppliers didn’t really become diverse until the 1992–1993 season. But that, in turn, is another story...

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Fortuna Düsseldorf holds a surprising record in the DFB Cup—one that most people would probably attribute to another club.

It’s hard to believe, but not all records in German soccer belong to FC Bayern. Despite 21 DFB Cup titles in 25 final appearances, it’s not the Munich team but Fortuna Düsseldorf that holds the record for the most consecutive cup wins. Between August 6, 1978, and January 31, 1981, Fortuna did not lose any of its 18 cup matches, thereby relegating Bayern and 1. FC Köln—each with 17 consecutive wins—to a shared second place. Fortuna’s winning streak could have been even longer—and far more out of reach for all subsequent teams—had they not lost the final on April 15, 1978, at Gelsenkirchen’s Parkstadion to none other than Cologne, with a score of 0–2. They avenged that loss against their Rhineland rivals two years later at the same venue with a 2–1 victory.

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In 1973, Wolfenbüttel's Günter Mast, manager of Jägermeister, together with Ernst Fricke, president of Eintracht Braunschweig, turned the Bundesliga world upside down and presented the DFB with a problem. On January 8, 1973, the general assembly of Eintracht Braunschweig voted by a large majority to replace the lion in the club’s crest with the head of a stag. The Hubertus stag is the logo of Mast’s herbal liqueur brand, Jägermeister. The German Football Association (DFB) stipulated that the crest could be no larger than 14 centimeters and that the letters E and B for the club’s name must also appear within it. On March 24, Eintracht Braunschweig took the field for the first time with the stag’s head on their jerseys during a home game against FC Schalke 04. Günter Mast paid the club 100,000 marks a year for this advertising coup. And the DFB realized too late that it had been outwitted. After a legal skirmish that dragged on for half a year, the association officially approved advertising on soccer team jerseys in October 1973. In the meantime, the pioneer, Eintracht Braunschweig, had been relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga, so on January 5, 1974, in a match against Hertha BSC, Hamburger SV became the first Bundesliga club to officially take the field with its sponsor, Campari, emblazoned on the chest.

In Mönchengladbach, it took another two years before Borussia also unveiled a shirt sponsor. Like many clubs in the Bundesliga, Borussia had long maintained a strongly negative opinion toward this type of advertising. In a report in the Rheinische Post (RP) on January 17, 1976, Borussia’s chairman, Dr. Helmut Beyer, explained why the club had finally changed its mind: “Once a certain amount is reached, my logical arguments against it simply run out.” And Beyer had already publicly mentioned this amount—at least 750,000 marks per season—for the first time two years earlier.

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The word "STOFFKUNDE" stands for textile or fabric science. And in German schools some classes have the ending "-kunde"; for example, Erdkunde, which is a geography class. Or Sozialkunde, which stands for "social studies" and so on. So this newsletter is kind of a “school class" about football shirt history. And especially about German football shirts and German shirt history.

Many of you might know me already as the author of three books about football shirts. My best-known is probably "Bundesliga-Trikots von 1963 bis heute," which was first published in May 2018 and which is a collector's item by itself already. Hard to get by these days. And if possible, mostly not for under 60 €. Double the price it once cost.

There will be a completely revised and extended new version of it published next year in fall 2027 by my actual publisher: Verlag Die Werkstatt.

My other books are "Das Gladbach Trikot von 1900 bis heute" and "Das Eintracht Frankfurt Trikot von 1899 bis heute."

"Das Gladbach Trikot" was first published in November 2021 and gets its extended new third edition in September this year. With 48 more pages and a new cover. You can pre-order it here now already on Amazon!

Here’s what awaits you in the updated and expanded 3rd edition:

• 48 additional pages

• New jersey stories featuring shirts worn by Peter Dietrich, Horst Wohlers, Jupp Heynckes, Uwe Kamps, Wolfgang Kneib, Thorsten Albustin, Christopher Heimeroth, Jonas Omlin, Tiago Pereira Cardoso, Moritz Nicolas, Yann Sommer, Christoph Kramer, Jonas Hofmann, Nico Elvedi, Frank Honorat, Joe Scally, Rocco Reitz, Haris Tabakovic, and Waehl Moya.

• An interview with Patrick Herrmann—covering, among other things, his journey through squad numbers: from 42 to 15, and finally to 7.

• A detailed background story on the "Diebels era."

• An updated overview of squad numbers, covering the 2021/22 season through to the current status of the 2026/27 season (cutoff date: July 31, 2026).


"Das Eintracht Frankfurt Trikot von 1899 bis heute" was first published in October 2024 and got reprinted in fall 2025.

The team of authors for the FC Schalke 04 jersey book—scheduled for release in autumn 2028—has now been finalized. Alongside Patrick Schleu, who is handling the collector aspect and coordinating the jersey selection, WAZ editor Robin Haack will join the team; together with me, he will be responsible for writing most of the text. We are beginning initial preparations this autumn, with plans to launch the actual photo shoots, interviews, and research in earnest sometime next year.

In July 2025 I started the weekly STOFFKUNDE newsletter. In April 2026 followed a podcast with the same name in which I interviewed people from outfitters, football clubs, auction houses, and others in the football jersey business. All episodes are in German.

With the beginning of the World Cup 2026, I took a break and adjusted the newsletter to concentrate more on shirt history and shirt stories. The focus is now the same as in my books. I leave intensive shirt news to other platforms and businesses.

My main interests and focus on football shirts are outfitters, shirt sponsors, and merchandising. Especially the 1960s to the late 90s. But also, of course, before and after those years.

Because to be able to tell more background stories and conduct more interviews and research in the kit history, the STOFFKUNDE becomes a bimonthly digital newsletter-magazine from October onward.

To be able to research all those stories, I need your support. With a STOFFKUNDE membership, you will be able to read all stories published in this newsletter-magazine and not just the free pieces.

Also, you will be able to read a lot of stories in English, which I have just published in German for the first time.

There will be translated stories from my books and columns I wrote in the past and which haven't been published in English so far. Also, a lot of my new stories or interviews I will publish in the future will be first published here. So if you are a member and supporter of the STOFFKUNDE, you will be able to read all that old and new material here at that platform first and exclusively!

My plan is to publish an English version of my book Bundesliga-Trikots as well after it is published next year. But my content strategy changed anyway. In the past my books were the first outlet where I published my shirt stories, interviews, or longer researched background stories. That will change now.

That's also the reason why I will start with the English version of my newsletter-magazine and the membership program here on Steady. I know that I have a lot of fans all over the world who would love to read my stories in English.

My podcast will continue as well, but that will probably stay mainly in German at the moment. Astonishingly, I have many listeners from all over the world. So I will add international guests from time to time too to my podcast.

Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter or becoming a member. I appreciate your support, and I am really looking forward to writing for you.

Any feedback is welcome. Just write me an e-mail to newsletter@stoffkunde.com or follow me on social media at Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Blue Sky for further info.

All the best from Munich,
Yours, Steve