Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim, also known as TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
Though the club is named Hoffenheim, it plays its home matches in the slightly southern part of the town of Sinsheim, which is near the town of Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim & Sinsheim are located in the southwestern part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground was formerly called the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena but is now called the PreZero Arena. It opened in 2009 and holds about 30,000 people.
Origin
On July 1, 1899, the club was founded as Turnverein Hoffenheim and was a gymnastics only club.
In 1921, Fußballverein Hoffenheim was created as a completely separate club.
The 2 clubs existed separately until 1945. After the end of World War II, the clubs merged to form Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim. That stands for Gymnastics & Sport community 1899 Hoffenheim. That is the club’s official name still today.
The club would exist as a small club, playing in the amateur divisions in Germany until 1989 when Dietmar Hopp decided to invest in the club. We’ll talk more about that in our important events section, but it is worthy of mentioning here as 1989 is basically the birth of the modern TSG 1899 Hoffenheim that we know today.
Nickname(s)
The club’s first nickname of die Kraichgauer means the people from the Kraichgau region. The town of Hoffenheim is located in the Kraichgau region in Germany.
The club’s other nickname is Achtzehn Neun und Neunzig, which is the German word for 1899. That comes from the club’s founding year and its official name.
Crest
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much information about the club’s crest.
Clearly, the club’s main colors of blue and white are used. Additionally, the club’s name is included.
I couldn’t find why the club chose the intricate shield shape or why it split the crest diagonally. If you have any more details on the crest, please let us know in the comments section below the video. I’d love to hear them.
Important Events
Likely the most important day in the club’s history was June 14, 1989. Hoffenheim lost a promotion/relegation playoff match against 1. FC Stebbach 4-2 after extra time on this day. The loss meant Hoffenheim were relegated to the 9th tier of German soccer. Though this was an incredibly disappointing day for the club, SAP cofounder Dietmar Hopp was in the crowd watching his hometown club of Hoffenheim. The loss spurred Hopp to invest in Hoffenheim. Initially, Hopp’s vision wasn’t to get the club into the Bundesliga. Hopp merely wanted to help pay for equipment, kits, and some infrastructure items. And Hopp wanted the club to be able to better develop youth players. For reference purposes, Dietmar Hopp is worth $16B at time of recording. He reportedly owns more than 95% of TSG Hoffenheim and his investment in the club, which has grown considerably since that first investment, has allowed Hoffenheim to build the infrastructure necessary to get it to the Bundesliga where it is today. June 14 was the greatest loss in the club’s history.
TSG Hoffenheim steadily climbed the German soccer divisions throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, which brings us to our next important date that I’d like to discuss. On December 2, 2003, Hoffenheim beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 in the round of 16 of the DFB Pokal. At the time, Hoffenheim were in the 3rd division and this was the first time that the club had reached the national headlines. Though Hoffenheim would lose in the next round, this result was an incredible day for the club and its supporters.
The next event I’d like to discuss happened on May 18, 2008 when TSG beat Greuther Fürth 5-0 to secure 2nd place in the 2. Bundesliga. That meant Hoffenheim were promoted to the Bundesliga after spending only 1 season in the 2nd division. Less than 20 years after playing in the 9th division of German soccer, TSG had qualified for the 1st division. It was a glorious day for the club and 10,000 supporters gathered at the town hall to celebrate with the team.
The 4th event I’d like to mention is a group of matches at the end of the 2012-2013 Bundesliga season. On the final matchday of the season, Hoffenheim (then in 17th place) traveled to Borussia Dortmund (then in 2nd place) on May 18, 2013. Hoffenheim pulled off a miraculous come from behind victory to win 2-1 and move up to 16th place. The 16th place finish meant Hoffenheim would play Kaiserslautern, the 3rd place club from the 2. Bundesliga, in a 2-legged playoff to see who would play in the 1st division the next season. Hoffenheim won the first leg 3-1 on May 23 and also won the 2nd leg 2-1 on May 27. The 5-2 aggregate scoreline meant Hoffenheim retained its place in the Bundesliga, which was critical to our last set of events that I’d like to discuss.
On April 30, 2017, 1899 beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 in the 4th to last match of the season. The win clinched automatic qualification to a European competition for the first time in Hoffenheim’s history. The club would go on to finish the season in 4th place and qualify for the Europa League. It was the highest ever league finish up until that point. Hoffenheim then followed the historic 2016-2017 season with an even more historic one. In the 2017-2018 season, Hoffenheim finished in 3rd place (it’s highest ever league finish) and automatically qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever. The clinching match happened on May 12, 2018 when Hoffenheim beat Dortmund 3-1 at home. It was one of the greatest victories in club history.
Supporters
Hoffenheim’s die-hard supporters are located in the Bitburger Südkurve at home matches. The Südkurve is the only standing grandstand at the stadium.
Additionally, the club’s anthem is a catchy song called ‘Wir sind Hoffe’ from the band Rhein-Neckar-Helden. ‘Wir sind Hoffe’ has been played at matches since early 2009.
Noteworthy Players
I’d like to quickly mention a handful of players in this section.
First, I’d like to discuss TSG Hoffenheim club legend Sejad Salihovic. Salihovic joined the club in the summer of 2006. He’d spend 9 years at the club and become the modern record holder for appearances and goals scored. He was a key member of the club as it reached the Bundesliga and survived the relegation scare that we previously mentioned. Salihovic is a club legend and one of the most important players in club history.
These next 4 players, I’m going to group together and only briefly mention. All joined while the club was in the 2. Bundesliga for the 2007-2008 season and all left before 2013. Each was instrumental in the club reaching the Bundesliga and maintaining its place in those early seasons. The players were:
- Brazilian playmaker Carlos Eduardo who was signed for a 2. Bundesliga record transfer fee at the time.
- Nigerian international striker Chinedu Obasi who scored 27 goals in 102 matches for the club.
- Vedad Ibišević who is a Bosnia & Herzegovina striker that scored 54 goals in 135 matches for Hoffenheim.
- And Andreas Ibertsberger who was a defender at the club for almost 100 matches.
And the last 2 players I’d like to mention have gone on to have some pretty good careers.
First is Roberto Firmino who joined Hoffenheim in 2011 as a skinny, unproven teenager for about €4M. He’d develop quickly & greatly at Hoffenheim, scoring or assisting on 85 goals in 153 appearances before he was sold for a then club record fee to Liverpool FC in England in 2015. He’s continued to develop at Liverpool, becoming a key part of their attack that recently won the Champions League and is putting up incredible numbers. Firmino is considered one of the best attackers in the world nowadays and is a regular with the Brazilian national team.
Lastly, Kevin Volland joined Hoffenheim from his boyhood club of 1860 Munich and didn’t have any top flight professional experience at the time of his signing. He’d make 144 appearances for the club and be involved in 75 goals before being sold to Bayer Leverkusen in 2016. Before his sale, Volland scored the record-tying fastest goal in Bundesliga history in 2015 when he scored after 9 seconds against Bayern Munich. Volland has gone on to become a talented striker in the Bundesliga and his top-flight professional career began with Hoffenheim.
Noteworthy Managers
I’d like to highlight 3 managers in the club’s history and they each correspond to a different period in the club’s methodical rise to where it is now. First, I’d like to discuss Hansi Flick.
Flick joined Hoffenheim in the summer of 2000, while the club was in the 4th division. Flick immediately led the club to promotion in his first season and stabilized the club in the 3rd division. Flick would manage almost 200 matches for TSG, averaging 1.6 points per match before a slow start to the 2005 season saw him relieved of his duties in November. He’d return to the club as Sporting Director for a short time from 2017-2018 and he is currently an assistant with Bayern Munich serving as caretaker manager for that club. Flick’s leadership at Hoffenheim was very important for the club in the 3rd division.
The next manager I’d like to discuss is Ralf Rangnick. Rangnick became Hoffenheim manager in the summer of 2006, the season after Flick left the club. In his first season as manager, Rangnick led the club into the 2. Bundesliga. He then followed that up with another promotion into the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history, which we’ve already discussed in our Important Events section. Rangnick would build the club into a respectable Bundesliga club before leaving in the middle of the 2010-2011 season. He’s since become involved with running the soccer operations at all of the Red Bull clubs and Ralf Rangnick is one of the most talented sporting directors in German soccer.
And the final manager I’d like to highlight is Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann took over as manager of Hoffenheim in February of 2016 when he was 28 years old. He became the youngest ever permanent manager in the Bundesliga’s history with his appointment. Hoffenheim were in 17th at the time, but Nagelsmann steered them to safety before really making a name for himself. Nagelsmann was the man in charge as the club finished 4th and 3rd in consecutive seasons in 2017 & 2018. Those were the greatest seasons in the club’s history. Nagelsmann ran down his contract with Hoffenheim in 2019 and signed with RB Leipzig where he currently manages. He’s one of the greatest managerial prospects in the world and is already one of the top German managers. His top flight managerial career began with Hoffenheim and he’ll always have a place in the Hoffenheim history books.
Rivals
Hoffenheim doesn’t have any real rivals given its relative shock rise from small, regional club to the Bundesliga over the past 3 decades. As the club establishes itself in the Bundesliga, I could see rivalries developing with clubs near Hoffenheim such as VfB Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Freiburg, Frankfurt or Mainz. I could also see a rivalry developing with Leipzig or Wolfsburg because of the ownership structures at all 3 clubs leading other German supporters to not consider them adequate rivals. I’m kinda spitballing here, so who do you think are Hoffenheim’s rivals or who do you think are likely to become rivals in the future? Let us know in the comments section.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of December 2019, which is when we are recording this video.
TSG Hoffenheim has played 12 seasons in the top flight in its history.
The club has no major trophies, to date.
Since the club entered its modern era under the financial backing of Dietmar Hopp, Sejad Salihovic is the club’s all-time record appearance holder with 249 first team appearances.
Similarly, Sejad Salihovic, with 67 first team goals, is the club’s top scorer in the Dietmar Hopp era. It should be noted that Heinz Seyfert played for the club from 1963-1992 and apparently scored more than 200 goals. He likely has the club’s all-time appearance and goals records, but this was from the club’s amateur years and I wasn’t able to find specific numbers or verify them.
Hoffenheim’s record transfer purchase was Diadie Samassékou from RB Salzburg in Austria on August 15, 2019 for ~€12M.
And the club’s record transfer sale was Joelinton to Newcastle United in England on July 23, 2019 for ~€44M.
And 1 last interesting fact about the club:
When Hoffenheim made its Champions League debut on September 19, 2018 against Shakhtar Donetsk, Julian Nagelsmann became the youngest ever manager in the UEFA Champions League’s history at 31 years and 58 days old.
So there you have it… a bit of history on Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below the video.
Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again soon. Prost!
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