Eintracht goalkeeper Loy: We only saw the crowds

A few days before his 91st birthday on May 14, Egon Loy and his wife Irmgard receive the Egon Loy in the living room at home. The couple have lived in the tranquil Oberursel at the foot of the Taunus since 1984. Eintracht invitation to the final in Seville, they canceled with a heavy heart. "As much as we would be like, but we don't pack that. We are both over 90," says Loy. Larger distances cause problems on foot, but the mentally is still in top shape. Although the big games against the Glasgow Rangers and Real Madrid are now 62 years ago, Loy's memories and stories are still precise. The 90-minute interview feels like a journey through time.

• "These were all professionals, Mordskerle"
• "We came to 60 games a year"
• "Bayern Munich was still small at that time"
• "There were 50 marks for a home win, 75 marks for an away win"
• "In the Hampden Park were 127,000 spectators"
• "We put the pistol on your chest"

Egon Loy: During the semi-final round against West Ham United, they kept their fingers crossed with their former teammates Erwin Stein, Dieter Stinka and Istvan Sztani. What memories came up when the final against the Rangers was determined, Mr. Loy?

Egon Loy: Before the game, we talked about what was the nicer final for Eintracht: against Leipzig or Glasgow? Of course everyone said Glasgow Rangers. At that time we were still amateurs and the Rangers a professional team that consisted of English and Scottish players. A club with a great tradition. At halftime of the first leg it was still 1-1, but in the second half it was one of our best games...

Irmgard Loy: Sorry that I will interrupt you, I'll go again right away. But this game here in Frankfurt against Glasgow was the most beautiful football game in my eyes. It went so well with the many goals, nobody expected that.

Egon Loy: What did the roles look like?

Loy: We were the outsider, but in the second half we played fantastic football. As our trainer Paul Oswald wanted to see it: fresh, pious, free, happy and on it. Then we scored five goals.

And then came the second leg in the Ibrox Stadium. Then they got six of us again, that was great.

Egon Loy

Egon Loy: Did the Rangers know how to do them?

Loy: No, not at all. They were starring. And then came the second leg in the Ibrox Stadium. Then they got six of us again, that was great. In the final against Real Madrid we also had the Scots sympathy. Incidentally, this game was also on May 18, 1960, but we are still talking about that.

Egon Loy: Exactly, but let's stay with Glasgow for a moment. How did you experience the trip there back then?

Loy: Within Germany we always took the bus or train to the games, and of course we flew to Glasgow. But not much has changed. The day before we arrived, trained a bit, then we went to the game and the next day home. At home game, however, we had to go to work beforehand, except for players like Alfred Pfaff or Richard Kreß, who had become self -employed. We were all still a contractual player, no professionals. So we had to practice a job. So we worked until at 3 p.m., then I drove from the opera square to the federal gymnastics school at the stadium. There we always met with the larger games that took place in the Waldstadion. At 4 p.m. there was a meeting point, then we drank a cup of coffee together and ate a piece of cake. Then we went to the stadium in our training suits between the spectators via the entrance at the Gleisdreieck.

"These were all professionals, Mordskerle"

Egon Loy: and then such a performance came out...

Loy: Yes, these were all professionals, Mordskerle. I had the impression that they didn't quite take us fully. But later we met with two or three games in the hotel on the counter after the game in Glasgow, these were fun guys.

Egon Loy: Where were you employed?

Loy: at the MG, the metal society, an old Frankfurt company. I was employed in the company pension scheme. There was a pension fund for the entire MG group. First I was employed by the pension fund, later the head of this pension fund for the entire group. We managed a lot of money for our members. Until the metal company was based in 1994 by the then CEO Heinz Schimmelbusch by false business. These were deadlines with oil in America, and then it went down the stream. But the metal society or the Degussa were great companies, very socially committed.

Egon Loy: What changed through the introduction of the Bundesliga?

Loy: 1965 coach Elek Schwartz came to us. He previously worked with Benfica Lisbon with professionals and was used to training in the morning. Of course he wanted to keep that in Frankfurt. I had a gentlemen agree with the company's chairman, so that I was able to drive two hours to training on the Riederwald in the morning.

"We came to 60 games a year"

Egon Loy: and today many complain about the stress...

Loy: At that time we had 30 games in the Oberliga Süd, the games in the final round for the German championship, a few cup games and much more friendly games than today. We came to 60 games a year, which was a lot.

Egon Loy: Eintracht traveled a lot, where did it go on the friendly games?

Loy: where we were everywhere! We were in Moldova in 1959, then traveled to Kyiv, Moscow and Leningrad, we went back over Helsinki. We also played many games as sparring partners against national teams, against the Netherlands, Hungary or Romania. We were very much in demand. We also had a president who liked to travel. This is apparently like that at Eintracht, even today with Peter Fischer. We experienced a really great time, noticed a lot and seen it.

We were in America, in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Cairo and almost everywhere in Europe.

Egon Loy

Egon Loy: What was the most interesting journey?

Loy: That was in 1964, when we traveled through South Africa for three weeks and played in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Windhoek. We have been in America, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Cairo and almost everywhere in Europe.

"Bayern Munich was still small at that time"

Egon Loy: The motto "Eintracht Frankfurt International" was really lived back then.

Loy: Yes, Eintracht has already been a few clubs in this regard. Bayern Munich was still small at that time.

Egon Loy: Is it true that you came to harmony because your father -in -law banned a move to Cologne?

Loy: When I was still playing in Schwabach, I had some offers, also from Cologne. They offered me that I am being hired in the Kaufhof, but I don't work there at all. My father -in -law sat during the conversation. He was city inspector, and that didn't fit him. At the time I worked in the Schwabach city administration and also attached great importance to getting a decent job. The game committee chairman Willi Balles brought me to Frankfurt, where I got the work at the metal company.

"There were 50 marks for a home win, 75 marks for an away win"

Egon Loy: Did you later become a professional?

Loy: We had contracts, but no professional contracts. As an amateur in the top division, there was a contractual player, there were 150 marks as a fixed and premiums for each game: 50 marks for a home win, for an away win 75 marks. This changed in 1963 due to the introduction of the Bundesliga, then there were 800 marks and 100 marks winning bonuses.

Egon Loy: did you earn more in the normal profession?

Loy: Yes, I earned more with the metal society, there were very good bonuses. The football fee was a great extra bread.

"In the Hampden Park were 127,000 spectators"

Egon Loy: We are now talking about the 1960 final. How did you experience the game against the world stars of Real Madrid?

Loy: Real Madrid had won the national champion of the national champion four times since the introduction in 1955 and beaten in the semi -finals Barcelona. Nevertheless, they had a bit of jet in front of us. Her manager Emil Östreicher had observed us in the semi -final games against Glasgow. Nevertheless, we were the blatant outsider. There were 127,000 spectators in the Hampden Park, that was incredible. When we came out of the cabin, it was like a wall, we only saw the crowds.

Egon Loy: How did the game go?

Loy: We started very well and even took the lead 1-0 through Richard Kreß, I thought: Now the game would have to be over... but we had a big drawback, Ivica Horvath was our co -runner Has been, for health reasons he had to stop a year in advance. It was almost two meters tall and had nipped almost everything with his head. What Puskas, Di Stefano and del Sol then played was unique. I was better in the previous games, and so it happened to others. Richard was good and Erwin Stein scored two goals, but Alfred Pfaff, Dieter Stinka, Dieter Lindner or Hans Weilbächer didn't have their best day.

Egon Loy: Nevertheless, this finale was later elected "Century game".

Loy: The game had a great response. My wife and I were always in Florida for a few years in winter. They showed the final very often on TV at "Fox". That was the final with most spectators, most goals and the greatest income for UEFA.

Egon Loy: What about your premiums?

Loy: When we looked at our pay slip on the Riederwald on the first floor in the first floor, we thought: Oh dear God, they only want to give us 1000 marks for the game, even though they had taken tens of thousand. We didn't participate.

"We put the pistol on your chest"

Egon Loy: How do you sit down?

Loy: We had a plus: The next game should take place in Ghent against a Flanders selection. For this, Eintracht should receive $ 30,000, the dollar was at 4.20 marks at the time. So that was a lot of money. The board had a meeting at the president at home in Neu-Isenburg. There we drove with our cars and put the pistol on their chest. We said: "You know something, we don't go to Ghent tomorrow, we don't play." Then they had to add small and we increased the premium to 3000 marks.

Egon Loy: understandable, they finally played the premiums.

Loy: and we always had a full house in Frankfurt. I remember a final round against Pirmasens, there were additional grandstands on the back straight, so that there were 81,000 spectators in the Waldstadion - a record. By the way, in 1961 we played again in Glasgow.

Egon Loy: on what occasion?

Loy: In the Hampden Park they had built a floodlight system. We were invited to the inauguration to play against the Rangers. We came there, brought our things into the cabin, looked at the place, and no spectator was there three quarters of an hour before the game. But when we got out, the stadium was filled with 104,000 spectators - in a friendly game. We beat her again, 3-2.

Interview: Julian Franzke

_ Reading the second part of the big Egon Loy interview with Egon Loy on Tuesday. In it, the former goalkeeper speaks about the opportunities "of his" Eintracht in the Europa League final against the Rangers. He also explains what ability Manuel Neuer has ahead of his national team colleague Kevin Trapp and how goalkeeper training looked like in the 1950s