Birthday defeat

They are the only two northern sides in the Bundesliga this season, but when VfL Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen met for the first time the top flight was made up exclusively of teams from the north of the country – hardly surprising, as Germany’s top tier was split into regional divisions before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.

Promotion in 1954 marked the beginning of an exciting period for the Wolves. Just nine years after the club was founded they were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Hamburger SV, Hannover SV and Werder in the Oberliga Nord, as it was known then. Previously unpublished photos from the VfL archives show the first competitive meeting between VfL and Bremen. Alas, the Wolves’ visit to the Weserstadion during the 1954/55 campaign would end in disappointment.