in the league, but none the following season, with Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin achieving its one and only promotion to the Bundesliga while Hertha BSC and Tennis Borussia were relegated to amateur football. The league champions were FC 08 Homburg, also promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time. Arguably one of the most famous play-off contests in 2. Bundesliga history however were the games between third placed Fortuna Köln and Borussia Dortmund. Köln won 2–0 at home, followed by a 3–1 for Dortmund, making a third game necessary as the away goal rule did not apply to the Bundesliga versus 2. Bundesliga play-offs at the time. This third game was won 8–0 by Borussia Dortmund in front of 50,000 in neutral Düsseldorf. In the relegation zone MSV Duisburg followed the two Berlin clubs into amateur football as a third former Bundesliga side that season. Hannover 96 and Karlsruher SC won promotion once more in 1987 while third placed FC St. Pauli, freshly promoted from amateur football again, missed out by a goal in the play-offs against FC Homburg. At the bottom end Eintracht Braunschweig became another former Bundesliga side and champion to drop into the third division. FC St. Pauli ended a ten-year wait for Bundesliga return in 1988 when it finished runners-up to Stuttgarter Kickers who were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time. Third placed SV Darmstadt 98 missed out on penalties in the deciding third game against SV Waldhof Mannheim after each side had won their home game by a goal. Arminia Bielefeld came a distant last and was relegated while 17th placed SpVgg Bayreuth was rescued when Rot-Weiß Oberhausen was refused a license. Fortuna Düsseldorf won the league championship in 1988–89, with two clubs from the Saarland coming second and third, FC Homburg and 1. FC Saarbrücken. Saarbrücken however was unable to overcome Eintracht Frankfurt in the later club's second successful play-off defence of its Bundesliga place. SpVgg Bayreuth finished 17th again but was again spared from relegation when Kickers Offenbach was refused a license. Also relegated were Union Solingen after 14 consecutive seasons in the league. At the end of the season Spanish-born Joaquín Montañés retired from 2. Bundesliga football after 479 games for Alemannia Aachen in the league from 1974 to 1989, a record for any player with a single club in the league. In 1990 Hertha BSC completed its return from amateur