was relegated following a next-to-last place finish in 1958. WSV returned to the top flight for the 1962–63 campaign, which was the last Oberliga season before the creation of the new first division Bundesliga. Although they had a poor regular season, the team enjoyed a good DFB-Pokal run, advancing to the semi-finals where they lost a closely fought match (0–1) to first division side and eventual cup winners Hamburger SV before a record hometown crowd of 40,000. Rise to the Bundesliga The following year, the club became part of the Regionalliga West, one of five divisions on the newly established second tier circuit. Wuppertal delivered a solid performance, finishing second in their division to Alemannia Aachen. They remained competitive throughout the remainder of the 60s and on into the early 70s. They broke through to the top flight on the strength of a Regionalliga West title and victory in the subsequent Bundesliga promotion playoffs in 1972. WSV swept its opposition, winning all eight of its promotion round matches, a feat unique in the 11 seasons played under this playoff format. Bundesliga 1972–75 Die Löwen played three seasons in the top flight with their debut 1972–73 season being their most successful. While they never seriously challenged eventual champions Bayern Munich for the title, newly promoted WSV spent five weeks in second place before finally settling for a fourth-place finish – a result that has only been bettered twice by teams newly promoted to the Bundesliga. The fourth-place finish earned the club a place in the 1973–74 UEFA Cup tournament the season after. They went out in the first round 6:8 on aggregate (1–4, 5–4) to Polish side Ruch Chorzów. In the league that season they only escaped relegation on goal difference after an 82nd minute away goal in the final match of their campaign in Stuttgart. Widely regarded as having too old a roster to compete, in the third top tier season the club stumbled to an ignominious last place finish on 12 points. This stands as the second-worst Bundesliga result in history, only four points better than the Tasmania Berlin side of 1965–66. The only bright spot of this poor campaign was a 3–1 victory over the Bayern Munich side built around Franz Beckenbauer that dominated European football at the time. Post-Bundesliga (1975) to 2013 After the 1975 relegation from the Bundesliga, Wuppertal next played five seasons in the second