Borussia Mönchengladbach and Puma: Under the sign of the wildcat

Until the early 1990s, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Puma were as inseparable as Ernie and Bert, Tip and Tap, or Lennon and McCartney. But on New Year's Eve 1992, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" magazine published a somewhat different review of the year. The magazine had compiled "1,000 good reasons to shake your head about 1992." Reason number 903 was: "A shoe swap in Mönchengladbach. After 27 years, VfL is switching from Puma to Asics."

Even though it was officially only 25 years ago, the leaping wildcat, the logo of the Herzogenaurach-based sporting goods manufacturer, was, in a sense, the emblem of the most successful period in Borussia Mönchengladbach's club history. So it's no wonder that the announcement that Puma would return as kit supplier for the 2018/19 season put Borussia Mönchengladbach fans in a state of anticipation. "What belongs together comes together," said Rolf Königs, the club's president at the time.

It all started with Hennes Weisweiler. Just as everything at Borussia Mönchengladbach actually started with Weisweiler. As coach, he was the father of the Foals, who stormed to the top of Europe with daring, attacking football. And ultimately, he was also responsible for what we would call corporate design today. Or rather, his wife was.

When Weisweiler was offered the job as Borussia's coach in the spring of 1964, his wife Lilo was anything but enthusiastic. She told her husband that the Gladbach players always looked so sad in their faded black jerseys. He shouldn't go there. Fortunately, Weisweiler didn't listen to his wife. Although he did, to some extent. From then on, Borussia no longer played in black, but in crisp white – fitting the fresh style of football Weisweiler wanted to see from his team.

White remains Borussia's preferred color to this day, even though the club later played in light and dark blue, various shades of green, black, of course, silver (which was more grayish in appearance), and—yes—even red. Puma's anniversary jersey now features a color that hasn't been seen before: golden accents commemorate the most glorious moments in the club's 125-year history.

And yet: This jersey is, of course, predominantly white, just as the first home jersey of the second Puma era in Mönchengladbach was. With its green round collar and the wide green and thin black stripes on the sleeves, it deliberately recalled Borussia's first Puma jersey, which was also recognizable as such. In January 1976, with Erdgas as the new jersey sponsor, the Puma emblem appeared on Borussia's shirts for the first time. Wearing this jersey, the club subsequently won the last two of its five league titles, as well as the UEFA Cup in 1979.

Apart from the change of main sponsor (from natural gas to Datsun and back again), little changed in the years to come. Until 1985, Borussia played in almost unchanged jerseys. Differences were only noticeable in the details: sometimes there was a round collar, sometimes a V-neck; sometimes the Borussia diamond had a green background, sometimes not; sometimes the Puma emblem was on the right side, sometimes on the left – and sometimes it was absent altogether. The actual design, however, remained virtually the same for years. Timelessly beautiful, you could say. Or, as Borussia's outfitter Sport Erdweg, who worked closely with Puma, claimed in an advertisement in the late 1970s: "Borussia has been considered one of the best-dressed teams in Europe for years."

That the Lower Rhine-Franconian liaison would become such a success story was not necessarily expected. Borussia became a Puma club in the late 1960s rather by chance, thanks in part to the business acumen of Günter Netzer. Behind the club's board, the Foals' playmaker had negotiated with the Herzogenaurach-based sporting goods manufacturer that he and his teammates would wear Puma shoes in the future. In return, they received small perks, such as a television for Christmas or a carpet.

Apparently, the club's management wasn't at all impressed by Netzer's business acumen, but that would soon change. The shoes were later followed by Puma jerseys. Some of them are still considered iconic today. For example, the one from the 1974/75 season, in which Gladbach won the league and UEFA Cup double. Or the pinstripe jerseys from the 1980s.

The relationship between the club and its supplier soon went far beyond purely business. Borussia Mönchengladbach, for many years synonymous with exciting attacking football, increasingly became a highly attractive advertising vehicle for Puma. The company advertised not only international superstars like Pelé and Johan Cruyff, but also Günter Netzer, Berti Vogts, and Rainer Bonhof. And later, Lothar Matthäus, who probably would never have ended up in Mönchengladbach and at Borussia without Puma.

As a child, Matthäus and his family lived right next to the Puma factory in Herzogenaurach. His father worked there as a caretaker for four decades, his mother sewed soccer boots at home on a quilting machine, and little Lothar was allowed to come into the office of company founder Rudolf Dassler at any time. "As a little rascal, I was almost like Puma's mascot," says Matthäus.

Because Borussia Mönchengladbach played in Puma, Matthäus first became a fan – and then a player for the club. Hans Nowak, a former national player and head of PR at Puma, alerted Mönchengladbach to the talent from 1. FC Herzogenaurach. Jupp Heynckes, the designated new head coach, traveled to the south specifically to get a firsthand look at the potential new signing.

Lothar Matthäus still remembers the Landesliga match Heynckes first saw him play in. It was the 5-1 win against Spielvereinigung Vohenstrauß from Upper Palatinate. Matthäus, 17 years old, scored two goals.