In three days' time, Borussia Dortmund will have the chance to claim a fourth DFB Cup title following their triumphs in 1965, 1989 and 2012. Here we tell you the story of how Aki Schmidt became the first Black & Yellow to hold the newly-created trophy aloft some 52 years ago...

The inaugural final of the DFB Cup did not meet the considerable expectations. Quite the opposite, in fact. Approximately 50,000 fans in Hannover's Niedersachsenstadion witnessed a tedious encounter between Borussia Dortmund and Alemannia Aachen of the Regional League West, who had knocked Schalke 04 out at the last-four stage of the competition to prevent a dream final between the two Ruhr clubs.

The outcome was decided in the opening stages, with Aki Schmidt breaking the deadlock in the 11th minute and Lothar Emmerich doubling the advantage eight minutes later. But the remaining 70 minutes were so boring that the spectators could be heard chanting "Stop, stop". Outgoing BVB coach Hermann Eppenhoff defiantly declared: "Who's going to be asking how we won in three weeks' time? The main thing is that we won the Cup and we're in Europe next season." Former Germany boss Sepp Herberger was rather more ironic in his assessment: "I'd say the thing I liked most was the army orchestra, and the weather was nice too. I don't really have anything else to add."

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Perhaps more exciting was what happened in the run-up to the final, with two players threatening to withdraw from the squad. One argument centred on the battle for the No. 1 jersey between Bernhard Wessel – who had featured between the sticks in the previous rounds at Preußen Münster (1-0), Tennis Borussia Berlin (2-1), Eintracht Braunschweig (2-0) and in the action-packed semi-final at home to 1. FC Nürnberg (4-2 AET) – and the soon-to-be "Footballer of the Year" and Germany's 1966 World Cup shot-stopper Hans Tilkowski, who had previously been relegated to the bench. This time, though, Tilkowski got the nod; Wessel was livid.

The other player was striker Timo Konietzka, whose involvement was never in question. But with a move to 1860 Munich in the offing for the frontman, several of the other players felt that Timo should not feature in the final. But, expecting a defensive-minded opponent in Hannover, coach Eppenhoff decided otherwise and picked Konietzka ahead of Franz Brungs, who – together with custodian Wessel – threatened to withdraw from the squad. In the end, however, both stayed and were delighted with the title triumph.

One year later, Borussia Dortmund became the first German club to win a European trophy. (br)