Allan Simonsen – The Superstar Striker: Allan Simonsen was voted European Footballer of the Year in 1977. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach from 1972 to 1979. Hennes Weisweiler spotted the 165-centimeter striker at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and brought him in for 200,000 marks. In his first two Bundesliga seasons he struggled, managing just 17 appearances and two goals, and was nearly sold. No buyer came forward.\n\nThen came the breakthrough in 1974/75. Simonsen played all 34 league games, scored 18 goals and formed a fearsome attack with Jupp Heynckes and Henning Jensen.
Gladbach won the title and Simonsen became a superstar. He scored eight goals in Europe as BMG beat Twente Enschede to win the UEFA Cup.\n\nThey defended the league title in each of the next two seasons under Udo Lattek, with Simonsen scoring crucial goals. In 1977 he also scored in the European Cup final against Liverpool, which Gladbach lost 3:1, and in the same year he became the first Dane to win the Ballon d’Or.
In 1979 he scored in the UEFA Cup final again, helping secure the club’s last international trophy. After that triumph, he moved to Barcelona — and with his departure, Borussia’s great era effectively ended.