Wanderers FC | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, philosophy, and culture of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Wanderers Football Club. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Wanderers FC is located in Upper Norwood, which is an area in south London. London is located in the southern-central part of England in the United Kingdom.

The men’s side of the club play in the Surrey South Eastern Combination Junior Division 1, which is the 15th tier of the English pyramid. The women’s side of the club play in the Greater London Women’s Football League Division 3 South, which is the 10th tier of the English pyramid.

Wanderers play their home matches at Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School, which was built in 1848 and the club was able to make this their home ground after a crowdfunding campaign to renovate the playing fields. The club can comfortably accommodate about 100 fans, if ever they ever get that many!

Origin

Wanderers FC’s origin dates back to the late 1850s. Brothers John and Charles Alcock, whose family had moved to London from the north-east and attended Harrow School, wanted to continue to play soccer after their move. With J Pardoe and brothers A Thompson and WJ Thompson, they got together and arranged regular matches under the name ‘Forest Club’, as they were living in Leyton, which is in East London. The club’s first match was 15-a-side on March 15th, 1859 when they played the original Crystal Palace Club and won 1-0.

The club became well-known, playing 16 games before being invited to attend the first meeting of the Football Association in 1863. Shortly after that, the Alcocks had a falling out. Some say it was over the direction of the club with John arguing that they should try to buy the land they were playing home games on and set down some roots whilst Charles wanted the team to emulate the ‘Butterflies’ cricket team, which travelled the country playing exhibition matches. Others say, the source of the argument was John’s controversial divorce.

Either way, the new ‘Wanderers’ team, which was Charles’ club, played their first match on April 2nd, 1864, with AM Tebbut scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over No Names Club from Kilburn. Forest played no more than seven games in the 1864-65 season while Wanderers played five (with one match scheduled to be against one another on January 7, 1864. After the 1864-1865 season, Forest ceased to exist and Wanderers began to flourish for a short time.

Unfortunately, the original club folded in 1887. It laid dormant for more than a century before it was reformed in 2009 by Mark Wilson. Mark was playing at a weekly 7-a-side game and took over the administration after the previous organizers stepped down. At the time, the club generated £35 a week, which was donated to charity, and the players decided they wanted the challenge of an 11-a-side game. Mark searched for teams in Kennington, where the team played, but the only one whose name kept coming up was ‘Wanderers’.

He learned about the history and got in touch with the great grand-daughter of the club’s founder, Charles Alcock, and received her support for the project. Mark then contacted all of the clubs Wanderers had faced in the FA Cups; Oxford University were the most eager for a game and so the club travelled up to Oxford to play their 1st XI at Iffley Road Sports Ground. It was a terribly one-sided game but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and was already planning ahead for the next one! The newly reformed Wanderers played friendlies for a couple of seasons before their competitive league application was accepted for the 2011-2012 season.

Nickname

The club doesn’t have an official nickname as Wanderers is kind of a nickname itself. Apparently, the original incarnation of the Wanderers in the 1800s were sometimes called the ‘Rovers’, although that might have been confusing with matches against Clapham Rovers.

Wanderers FC have recently started rolling out ‘The Worlds Club’ as an identity due to the international nature of the players they have had turn out for the club in recent years.

Crest

Clubs didn’t wear badges until much later than when Wanderers first existed. So, there isn’t a crest from the 1800s for the club, but when it was reformed, the Wanderers crest looked like this.

Wanderers FC crest

The simple white lion came from the Harrow School crest (which was where the Alcock brothers graduated and learned the game of soccer). The lion also represented the Football Association’s ‘Three Lions’ emblem because the original Wanderers club founded the Football Association in 1863.

The five-pointed star represents the club’s five FA Cup wins.

In 2011, Wanderers decided to run a badge design competition for its first season in a competitive league. Richard Debenham was the winning designer. He made the current iteration of the crest, with the badge being round, and a hexagon in the center with sweeping arcs around it. This design was intended to incorporate both traditional and modern styles.

Important Events

I’d like to mention 8 important dates in the club’s history in this section.

In early 1859, the club was formed with March 15 being the club’s first official match.

On October 26, 1863 Forest FC (which would later become Wanderers) was one of the 11 founding member clubs of the Football Association.

On March 16, 1872, Wanderers defeated Royal Engineers 1-0 to win the 1st ever FA Cup.

Wanderers defended their title on March 29, 1873 when they defeated Oxford University 2-0 to win the second FA Cup.

A few years later, on March 18, 1876 Wanderers defeated Old Etonians 3-0 to win their 3rd FA Cup.

On March 24, 1877, Wanderers beat Oxford University 2-0 to win its 4th FA Cup.

The following year, on March 23, 1878 the club beat Royal Engineers 3-1 to win its 5th and final FA Cup. The FA Cup victories in 3 consecutive years is still a record that has not been broken in England although Blackburn Rovers tied the record of 3 straight FA Cup wins in the 1880s.

We’ve already discussed the club folding in 1887 and reforming in 2009, so the final important date I’d like to highlight is the 2011-12 season when Wanderers FC competed in the Surrey South Eastern Combination Junior Division 4. That was the first time in the club’s history it had ever formally entered into a competitive league.

Noteworthy Players

I’d like to highlight 2 interesting players from the 1800s in this section.

Cricketing legend WG Grace played two match for Wanderers. One in 1871, which was a 1-0 win over the original Crystal Palace Club and one in 1872, which was a 1-1 draw with Clapham Rovers, in which he scored. ‘The Doctor’, which was Grace’s nickname, would play over 870 first-class cricket matches and hit over 120 centuries, scored over 1,000 runs, and took 9 wickets in test matches for England. I don’t know what any of that means but he is widely regarded as one of England’s greatest ever cricket players.

The second player I’d like to mention is Liberal Member of Parliament, William Henry Gladstone, who was the son of the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone played one match for Wanderers in the 1870-71 season and went on the play for Scotland in the first of five unofficial international fixtures that CW Alcock arranged between England and Scotland.

Noteworthy Managers

Wanderers Men have only technically had managers in the modern era. These have been Mark Wilson (2009-2015), Jamie Harvey (2015-2016), Jasper Kain (2016-2017), and Joseph Poxon (2017-current ). However, FA Cup winning player for Arsenal and manager of Wimbledon, Bobby Gould, took over for one match – the restaging of the 1872 FA Cup Final at the Oval in 2014.

For the Wanderers Women, the club has only had two managers; Kate Vogelsang (2015-16) and Lewis Adams (2016-2019).

In competitive matches, these managers have the following records:

  • Mark Wilson (2011-2015) – 98 games, 59 wins, Junior Div. 4 runners-up, Junior Div. 3 winners – 60.2% win record
  • Jamie Harvey (2015-16) – 23 games, 12 wins – 52.2% win record
  • Jasper Kain (2016-17) – 29 games, 12 wins – 41.4% win record
  • Joe Poxon (2017- ) – 71 games, 26 wins – 36.6% win record
  • Bobby Gould (2014) – 1 game, 0 wins – 0%…
  • Kate Vogelsang (2015-16) – 11 games, 4 wins – 36.3% win record
  • Lewis Adams (2016-2019) – 85 games, 10 wins – 11.8% win record

Rivals

Competitively, there are only 11 clubs that Wanderers have faced more than 10 times in their history. The lack of recurring matches against the same opponent means the club doesn’t really have rivals.

Historically, Wanderers close rivals were Clapham Rovers and Royal Engineers.

In modern times, Royal Engineers play in a different league structure and so the clubs rarely play. Engineers developed the passing style whilst Wanderers promoted a dribbling style, so in the Victorian era, it was a real clash of cultures.

Clapham Rovers were geographically Wanderers closest rivals, but both clubs folded around the same time. Nowadays, Clapham Rovers are a well-established Sunday league team. Again, due to being in different leagues, the two sides rarely meet.

South London Women alienated their reserves in 2014 and the team became Wanderers Women, under the guidance of Kate ‘Bob’ Vogelsang. Many of the defecting players have retired but there’s still a bit of needle between the teams, so South London Women would be Wanderers Women’s closest rival.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of May 2021, which is when we are recording this video.

Wanderers Men’s 1st XI has been in the Surrey South Eastern Combination Junior Division 1 for 10 years this season, which is level 15 of the English Pyramid if the Premier League is level 1. This was previously considered level 14, but the league often reorganizes as clubs join or leave and, in some cases, as other leagues fold completely. That has meant a few seasons of chaos, not helped by a steady reduction in the number of men playing 11-a-side in the UK. In the 2018-19 season, Wanderers were relegated because two other teams folded.

Wanderers Women’s 1st XI took the brave decision to move from the London Women’s Friendly League into the league pyramid for the 2016-17 season. The Women’s XI have had to play women’s teams from numerous professional and semi-professional clubs, including Brentford, Millwall, Tooting & Mitcham, Sutton United, and Peckham Town. After the loss of several key personnel, the team decided to return to the renamed Clapham Women’s Friendly League.

The club has 5 major Trophies, which are the 5 FA Cups previously mentioned. Additionally, the club won the Surrey South Eastern Combination Junior Division 3 (2013-14) and has won the FA Charter Standard Club of The Year award three times. Twice for the county in 2015 and 2020 and once for the region in 2015 as well.

Club Founder Charles Alcock has 186 appearances and club re-founder Mark Wilson has 250 appearances.

In competitive fixtures only, Mark Wilson has 150, Jamie Harvey has 131, James Byrne has 129, and the most capped overseas player is Australian Adam Wood with 71.

For the Women’s XI, Wales’ Lowri Morris has 60 competitive appearances.

Charlie Tracey had 57 goals in 81 games, putting him one ahead of CW Alcock’s original record of 56 goals. Current player Ryan O’Neill has surpassed both of them, hitting 55 goals in 97 competitive appearances over 5 seasons and 74 goals in 124 games overall.

On the women’s side, Emma Landry scored 38 goals in only 22 games between 2018 and 2020, before returning to her native Canada.

Adam Wood had 17 clean sheets which is the club record by a distance. Closest to him are Kate Hayes (retired) who had 4, Turkish Cypriot Yusuf Ozkan who also had 4, and current number 1 from Zambia, Barak Ngoma who has 8 and counting.

And a few last interesting facts about the club:

  1. Over 50 different nationalities have been represented by players at Wanderers, which is why they’ve started using the hashtag #TheWorldsClub.
  2. Wanderers (formed in 1859) and Reigate Priory (formed in 1870) never played one another until 2018 – there have been 5 matches between the clubs with Wanderers winning four and drawing one.
  3. In the 1873 FA Cup, Wanderers were allowed to go straight to the Final without playing a game as it was originally a ‘Challenge’ cup. The club could also choose the date, time, and venue.
  4. Wanderers biggest competitive win was 12-1 against Great Brixton in the 2014-15 season’s Intermediate League Shield just 3 months after beating Ewell Conquerors 11-1 in Junior Division 2.
  5. In the 2014-15 season, Ivorian midfielder Wens Kuwa scored in five consecutive games. The next season, he did so in four consecutive games.
  6. Wanderers have had 2 sets of relatives play for them – Darren, Charlie, and Andy Tracey (were brothers from Blackpool) and Rob, John, Steve, and Ronnie Bowers (were cousins and brothers).
  7. Every year, Wanderers tries to arrange an overseas tour (obviously the club hasn’t been able to with Covid restrictions. Prior to the restrictions, the club has been to Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Poland, Czechia, Spain, and Hungary.
  8. Lastly, Wanderers has a partner club based in Ghana called Wanderers FC Ghana – they run under-14s and under-16s team in the Ningo-Prampam district

So there you have it… a bit of history on Wanderers Football Club. 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. Cheers!

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Dynamo FC Saint Cloud | Club History

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 Dynamo Football Club Saint Cloud. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Dynamo FC St. Cloud is located in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The club represents the entire central region of Minnesota, which is where the city of St. Cloud is located. Minnesota is located in the upper midwestern part of the United States.

Dynamo’s 1st team currently plays in the Minnesota Amateur Soccer League’s (MASL) Division 1 and the club’s second team plays in the MASL Division 3. The MASL is a league that has promotion and relegation with an average of 10 teams in each of the 4 divisions. US Soccer does not have a fully functional pyramid and there are technically no divisions below the 3 fully professional divisions, but the MASL Division 1 is likely the equivalent of a 5th or 6th tier division if US Soccer did have a pyramid.

For the past three seasons, Dynamo FC has played at Whitney Park. In 2019, the club also played some matches at the College of Saint Benedict’s new stadium.

Origin

Dynamo FC Saint Cloud was founded on March 15, 2017 by current Co-managers Eduardo Silva and Ed Johnson, as well as then general manager, Nathan Kroll. The club was formed to give a platform for college, high school, and other aspiring players in Central Minnesota a place to play and develop together. The name, crest, and colors were voted on by the players that played in the inaugural season. The managers wanted the players to feel like they owned the club.

Nickname

The club’s nickname is based off the first part of the club’s official name, Dynamo. Dynamo was selected as the club’s name because Central Minnesota’s granite industry was fueled by the power of electric generators, which are also known as dynamos. Without the granite industry, the St. Cloud area wouldn’t be what it is today. Dynamo FC aspires to be the catalyst for soccer in the community just like dynamos were the catalyst for the granite industry in the area.

Crest

Let’s take a look at Dynamo’s crest now.

Dynamo FC Saint Cloud crest

The hammer and pickaxe symbolize the St. Cloud area granite industry, and the bolt represents the electricity that the dynamos provided for the industry.

The stars on the crest represent the club’s pride in being an American club.

The gold color in the crest was selected to represent electricity, and the black and white colors provided a nice complement to the gold.

Important Events

I’d like to highlight 4 important dates in the club’s history in this section.

On June 24, 2017, the club won its first trophy the Wilson Cup, which is a tournament for the teams in Divisions 2 through 4 of the MASL. Dynamo was the first Division 4 team to win the Cup in over a decade. Later in that same season, Dynamo won the title and earned promotion to Division 3 for the 2018 season.

On March 18, 2018, Dynamo announced the addition of a second squad, Dynamo FC ‘18 that would also play in the MASL. The squad was the result of incredible interest in the club by local players as well as a way to develop young players in the squad. The 2018 season resulted in another successive promotion for the first team, although they finished 2nd in the division to rivals Lions FC.

On January 29, 2019, AS Roma’s English account honored Dynamo FC St. Cloud as its Twitter Team of the Day for Dynamo’s work on social media. The AS Roma account has hundreds of thousands of followers and this was amazing for raise the club’s profile & awareness online.

Lastly, on July 28, 2019, Dynamo FC clinched promotion to Division 1. It was the first time in history that a team from the St. Cloud area would have the right to play in Division 1 of the MASL. Both squads also won the title of their respective divisions this season.

Noteworthy Players

I’d like to quickly highlight 8 players in this section.

First, I’d like to mention the Lommel brothers: Leighton, who wears #10, and Logan, who wears #16. The Lommels do a lot for the club on and off the field. Notably, Logan designed the club’s crest, and Leighton scored the club’s first ever goal on May 7th, 2017.

Next, I’d like to highlight the Rodriguez brothers: Uriel, who wears #9 and Christian, who wears #26. The Rodriguez’s play with flair and skill. Christian is coming off of a 40 goal high school season with Rocori. And Uriel has been a core player for Dynamo since day 1. He assists, scores, and helps with the overall flow of the attack.

Kevin Argueta wears #8 and has been a mainstay in the club since its inception. Kevin has also played a role in helping player manage the second team.

Abdiaziz Handule wears #11 and is a speedy winger that can score goals in key moments. He famously scored the match winner that won Dynamo the Wilson Cup.

David Verwijs grew up in Holland, and he is Dynamo’s iron man. No player has appeared in more matches for Dynamo than the center back.

And lastly, Junior Perez wears #6 and is a player that can play genuinely any position well (including goalkeeper). Junior has been instrumental to Dynamo earning three successive promotions.

Noteworthy Managers

So far, Eduardo Silva and Ed Johnson have co-managed the first and second team to an overall record of 66 wins, 19 losses, and 3 draws. They have put in countless hours on and off the pitch to better the club. They are always looking for new ways to improve the club financially, aesthetically, and most importantly, the on-the-field product. Eduardo & Ed believe in playing meaningful possession, and they are always willing to adjust in order to get a positive result.

Ed Johnson has 13 years of coaching experience under his belt, and has coached from youth to adult ages at various levels.

Eduardo Silva hails from Brazil and coaches with passion. Both him and Ed’s love for the game have driven them to provide a club for the community.

Rivals

Dynamo FC St. Cloud has 2 rivals: Lions FC & Granite City FC

Lions FC has been Dynamo’s biggest rival on the pitch. Over the last two seasons, the two clubs have fought for the title. In 2018, Lions FC won the battle, securing the Division 3 title, and in 2019 Dynamo won the Division 2 title. Both were runners-up to each other in each season. All-time, St. Cloud is 1-3 versus Lions FC and this rivalry should continue to develop as both clubs will be in Division 1 in 2020.

And Dynamo’s other rivalry has a unique backstory. Granite City FC and Dynamo FC have yet to play an official match versus each other. The two clubs are rivals due to the fact that they exist in the same location. The clubs also have varying visions. Oddly enough, a group of players from Dynamo originally played for Granite City, but left that club to create a more ideal club for the St. Cloud community.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of December 2019, which is when we are recording this video.

2020 will be St. Cloud’s 4th season in the MASL. It will be the first time that they have earned the right to play in Division 1 after three successive promotions.

The club has won 4 trophies. These include:

  • 2 MASL Division 4 titles (once with the first team in 2017 & once with the second team in 2019)
  • The Wilson Cup in 2017
  • and the MASL Division 2 title in 2019

Before we get to the last interesting fact, I wanted to mention that Dynamo FC is always looking for new people that are excited to expand the beautiful game in the St. Cloud area. If you or anyone you know is interested in playing, coaching, managing the club, or collaborating in any way, please reach out to them. Their email is dfcstc@gmail.com and we also link to their social media accounts in the video description below.

And 1 last interesting fact about the club: in the match that clinched promotion to MASL Division 1 versus Lewis Dragons away, Dynamo started with seven players in a 3-3 formation due to flash floods that put highways to a stop. As the match wore on, players showed up 1 by 1, and St. Cloud won the match by a score of 3-0.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Dynamo FC St. Cloud. 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. Cheers!

VfL Wolfsburg | Club History

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 Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg, also known as VfL Wolfsburg. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

VfL Wolfsburg is located in the central part of the city of Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg is located in the northern, central part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is the Volkswagen Arena, which opened in 2002 and holds about 30,000 people.

Origin

We can’t talk about the club’s history without discussing the city of Wolfsburg’s history. The city was officially founded on July 1, 1938. It was planned by the Nazis as a place for workers at a new car plant to be built in the city. The initial name of the city was ‘Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben’ which meant city of the Kdf-Wagens by Fallersleben. Kdf-Wagens was Volkswagen’s first company name.

The initial plans for the city only ended up being about 10% completed due to the outbreak of WWII. After the war, the city was officially renamed to Wolfsburg in May of 1945. Wolfsburg came from the name of a 13th-century castle located in the city.

Now let’s discuss the club’s founding. On September 12, 1945 a group of 11 men and 1 woman founded the ‘Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg’. The name meant ‘club for physical activities Wolfsburg’ and it was chosen because the founders didn’t want to commit to only 1 sport. The club members played many different sports.

At the time, sporting goods were tough to find in Germany, so a club member happened upon 10 green kit tops. The wives of club members sewed shorts out of bed sheets and these are the reasons why the club’s colors became green & white.

Nickname(s)

Wolfsburg has 2 nicknames: die Wölfe and die Grün-Weißen.

Die Wölfe means the Wolves in English. It comes from the city’s name.

And die Grün-Weißen nickname means the green-whites. It comes from the club’s kit colors, which we’ve already shared the story of how it got them.

Crest

VfL Wolfsburg old crest

The current Wolfsburg crest has been used since 2002, but I want to briefly discuss an older crest first. This crest was used by Wolfsburg starting in the 1950s. The W obviously stands for Wolfsburg, but it was specifically designed & shaped to depict the towers of the Wolfsburg castle, where the city gets its name.

VfL Wolfsburg crest

So now that we know why the W is shaped the way that it is, let’s talk about the current crest. You’ll notice that the same shape is used for the W, but the turret tops have been removed. This was unpopular with fans who didn’t like that the reference to the castle was removed.

Additionally, the circle is open at the top, which is supposed to signify the club striving towards the top of German soccer.

Important Events

Wolfsburg went through a middling existence for most of its early years. It fluctuated between the amateur and professional 2nd & 3rd divisions from its creation until the late 1980s and early 1990s. Finally, the club started to put together decent results in consecutive years, and broke through from the 3rd division in to the 2. Bundesliga after the 1991-1992 Oberliga Nord season. Wolfsburg entered a 4-team group stage after the season and finally on June 13, 1992 officially won the group and clinched promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. The club hasn’t been lower than the 2nd division since this date and it hasn’t been relegated since 1977.

The club was incredibly close to relegation only 1 season later and I’d like to discuss that as our next important event. The club had clinched safety from relegation on the last matchday of the season, June 6, 1993, when it beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-1 on the road. Even though the club clinched safety from a sporting perspective, the club was in a bad financial position and was nearly denied a playing license for the 2. Bundesliga’s 1993-1994 season. Only hours before the deadline in the summer of 1993, local individuals, who supported the club, put up over half a million Deutschmarks to ensure the club wouldn’t be relegated. This was critical for the club’s survival in professional soccer.

The third event I’d like to highlight happened on June 11, 1997. On this date, Wolfsburg met Mainz 05 on the final day of the 2. Bundesliga season. Both sides knew the winner of the match would secure automatic promotion to the Bundesliga if they won, so tensions could not have been higher. Mainz took an early 1-0 lead, but Wolfsburg roared to life and made it 3-1 before halftime. Mainz fought back to make it 3-3 before the 60th minute, but Wolfsburg scored 2 more goals, conceded a late one, and held on for a 5-4 victory. The thrilling match meant Wolfsburg qualified for the Bundesliga and the first division for the first time in the club’s history.

The 4th event I’d like to discuss is the club’s amazing Bundesliga title in 2009. On May 23, 2009, Wolfsburg destroyed Werder Bremen 5-1 to clinch the title ahead of Bayern Munich. It was the club’s first ever major trophy and an amazing year for the club. Strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite scored a combined 54 goals with the club’s playmaker Misimovic registering 20 assists. It was the greatest season in club history.

And the final event I’d like to mention is the club winning its second major trophy, the DFB Pokal in 2015. The final occurred on May 30, 2015 in Berlin with Wolfsburg facing Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund jumped out to an early lead, but Wolfsburg scored 3 goals in 16 minutes to win the match 3-1. It was the club’s first and so far only DFB Pokal victory and a glorious day for the club.

Supporters

At time of recording, the club has 118 official Fan Clubs.

Additionally, German soccer is famous for clubs having Torhymne or goal songs. For some reason, Wolfsburg’s Torhymne is the song ‘Rama Lama Ding Dong’. While catchy, I have no idea why this is the club’s goal song, but it has been the celebration song since at least 2012 and likely many years before then.

Noteworthy Players

I’m going to highlight 5 players in detail here and briefly mention 2 others.

Siegfried “Siggi” Reich joined his hometown club of VfL Wolfsburg in 1991 after beginning his professional career in 1981 with Borussia Mönchengladbach. When Reich joined, Wolfsburg were still in the amateur divisions, but Reich helped the club qualify for the 2. Bundesliga in 1992. He’d play for the club in 162 matches, scoring 89 goals and was instrumental in establishing the club in the professional 2. Bundesliga. Reich was one of the most famous players for the club during this time.

Roy Präger played for VfL Wolfsburg for 4 seasons between 1995-1999 and then for another 3 seasons from 2002-2005. Präger was a striker with Wolves and played in both the 2. Bundesliga and Bundesliga with the club. He’s thought of very fondly by Wolfsburg supporters after playing more than 150 games.

Krzysztof Nowak was an incredibly talented playmaker for Wolfsburg beginning in 1998. He was a Polish international player with 10 caps. His promising career was unfortunately cut short in February of 2001. Nowak was diagnosed with ALS and he unfortunately passed away in 2005 because of the disease. Before passing, he started the Krzysztof Nowak Foundation to help find a cure for ALS and VfL Wolfsburg is still heavily involved with the charity.

Martin Petrov is widely considered one of the best players to ever play for the club. Petrov once scored all 4 Wolfsburg goals in a 4-3 victory over Mainz 05. He was a Bulgarian International player and was with Wolfsburg for 133 matches from 2001-2005. His performances attracted the attention of Atlético Madrid and he’d go on to play for a handful of other clubs in England, Spain, and Bulgaria. Likely the best performances of his career came at Wolfsburg where he’s still fondly remembered.

And the 5th player I’d like to highlight is likely the most talented pure striker in the club’s history, Edin Džeko. Džeko joined Wolfsburg in 2007 after being the 2nd top scorer in the Czech league. He had begun his career as a midfielder and was deemed not good enough, but a change of club and a move to striker proved to be incredible for the young player. In Džeko’s first season at Wolfsburg, he led the club into qualifying for the UEFA Cup, now known as the Europa League. He followed that up with his legendary 2008-2009 season that won Wolfsburg the Bundesliga. His standout performances for Wolfsburg attracted a then club record transfer to Manchester City in January of 2011. Džeko has had an incredible career and is one of the most underrated central strikers of his generation. His career breakout came while at Wolfsburg and he is a club legend.

Additionally, for personal reasons, I want to mention Claudio Reyna & Kevin De Bruyne. Claudio Reyna was a great US men’s national team player in the 1990s and 2000s. He’s not a Wolfsburg legend, but he became the first American to captain a European club while with Wolfsburg which is why I wanted to mention him.

And I believe Kevin De Bruyne is the best attacking midfielder in the world right now. De Bruyne currently plays for Manchester City in England, but spent a year and a half with Wolfsburg from winter 2014 to summer 2015. In his only full season with the club, he was named German player of the year and set a new Bundesliga record with 21 assists. De Bruyne helped Wolfsburg win the club’s only DFB Pokal. He’s so impressive to watch when he’s healthy and I needed to highlight him here.

Noteworthy Managers

I’m going to highlight 5 managers in this section.

The first manager I’d like to talk about is Imre Farkaszinski. He took over as manager of the club for 1 season 1958-1959, but couldn’t help the club avoid relegation. He’d return in 1966 and would manage the club for 9 more years. He’d have 2 other interim stints with the club in 1978 & 1983 and though his time with the club didn’t result in any trophies or much glory, the sheer length of his time as manager made him worthy of mention.

The next manager I’d like to discuss is Wolfi Krause. He managed Wolfsburg from 1984 to 1988 while the club was still in the 3rd division. Though Krause couldn’t lead the club out of the division, he developed an attractive style of play and laid the foundation for the club to eventually gain promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in the early 1990s.

The 3rd manager I’d like to highlight is Wolfgang Wolf. I am not making that name up. Wolfgang Wolf managed Wolfsburg for 5 seasons. Not only was he perfectly named to manage the club, he did an admirable job for the club in its early Bundesliga years. He guided Wolfsburg to respectable top half Bundesliga finishes and reached the 3rd round of the UEFA Cup, now called Europa league. Wolf managed the club from 1998 to 2003 and will go down in the history books as the greatest name to fit with a club ever.

The 4th manager I’d like to mention is Felix Magath. In his first period with Wolfsburg, Magath took over in 2007, led the club to a decent 5th place finish that season, before accomplishing the miraculous and winning the Bundesliga in the 2008-2009 season. Unfortunately, before the season was over, Magath agreed to a 4 year contract with another Bundesliga club, Schalke 04. The man should have been a legend at Wolfsburg, but this decision left an understandably bad taste in Wolfsburg supporters’ mouths. Magath would return in the spring of 2011 but left the club again in October 2012 after a terrible start to the season. Magath deserves mention in this section but is not thought of as fondly as he could have been by Wolfsburg fans.

And the final manager I’d like to talk about is Dieter Hecking. Hecking took over Wolfsburg on a permanent basis after the mess that Magath had left the club in in 2012. He’d ensure a mid-table finish that season before impressive finishes of 5th, 2nd, and 8th place. The 2nd place finish was in the 2014-2015 season when Wolfsburg also won the DFB Pokal. It was a truly remarkable season for the club. Unfortunately, the 2016-2017 season didn’t start well for the club and Hecking was fired. Even with the poor start, Hecking managed Wolfsburg in 165 matches, averaging 1.75 points per match. Those were very respectable numbers and made him worthy of highlighting in this section.

Rivals

Similar to clubs like Hoffenheim & RB Leipzig, Wolfsburg doesn’t have any true rivals because of the club’s ownership structure. The Bundesliga has rules intended to encourage majority ownership of clubs by supporters and any clubs that circumvent these ownership rules are largely derided by opposition supporters. Hannover 96 would be the closest thing to a rival.

The cities of Wolfsburg and Hannover are located in the German state of Lower Saxony. The two are about 60 miles apart and have met in the Bundesliga many times. Hannover supporters don’t acknowledge Wolfsburg as a true rival, which I’ve already highlighted, but this deserves mention.

Eintracht Braunschweig also deserves a quick mention. The two clubs play in stadiums less than 25 miles apart, but amazingly they’ve only met a handful of times since the Bundesliga was formed in 1963. If the two clubs meet in meaningful competitions in the future, this has the potential to grow into a rivalry, though Braunschweig and Hannover are already bitter rivals.

What do you think? Who are Wolfsburg’s current rivals and who could you see a rivalry developing with 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.

VfL Wolfsburg has played 23 seasons in the top flight in its history.

The club has 2 major trophies.

  • 1 Bundesliga title (2009)
  • 1 DFB Pokal (2015)

Wolves’ record appearance holder is Diego Benaglio with 321 first team appearances.

The club’s record goalscorer is Wilfried Kemmer with 237 first team goals.

Wolfsburg’s record transfer purchase was Julian Draxler from FC Schalke on August 31, 2015 for ~€43M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City FC in England on August 30, 2015 for ~€76M.

And 1 last interesting fact about the club:

Wolfsburg was involved in the first ever penalty shootout in the DFB Pokal’s history on December 23, 1970. The DFB had just instituted the penalty rule for the competition and after Schalke and Wolfsburg drew in both legs of their matchup, the match went to penalties. Though Schalke won 4-2, it was an historic moment in German soccer for Wolfsburg.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg. 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!

1. FC Union Berlin | Club History

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 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin, also known as Union Berlin. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Union Berlin is located in the southeastern part of the German capital city of Berlin. Berlin is located in the northeastern part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is called the ‘Stadion An der Alten Försterei’, which translates as ‘stadium at the old forest warden’s lodge’.  The stadium opened in 1920 and currently holds about 22,000 people, but the club plans to expand to about 37,000 people in the near future.

Origin

Union Berlin can trace its origin to 1906. During this year, there were 3 separate clubs that existed in the area of Oberschöneweide, which was a suburb of Berlin at the time. Members of the 3 clubs recognized that they couldn’t survive individually, so they met on June 17, 1906 at the ‘Großkopf’ restaurant on Luisenstrasse to form Sport Club Olympia Oberschöneweide.

The club would go through some mergers and name changes in its early years. On February 20, 1909, the club was officially renamed Sport Club Union 06 Oberschöneweide after one of these mergers. It was the first time Union was associated with the club.

After the 2nd World War, the Allies dissolved all existing clubs and forced them to take on different names. So SC Union 06 Oberschöneweide became Sportgemeinschaft Oberschöneweide in 1945. In 1948, clubs were allowed to restore their original names and the club added Union back to its name to become Sportgemeinschaft Union Oberschöneweide.

The club would go through even more mergers and name changes over the next 20 years or so before finally becoming its current name of 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin on January 20, 1966. The club’s colors also became red & white with this name change which are its current colors.

Nickname(s)

Union Berlin’s 2 nicknames are more or less the same. The club is nicknamed either die Eisernen or Eisern Union. These nicknames mean the Iron Ones or Iron Union.

Both nicknames feature the German word ‘Eisern’ which means iron in English.

This nickname came about because the club was previously nicknamed Schlosserjungs, which means metalworker boys in English. The Schlosserjungs was a reference to the club’s blue kits worn in its early years resembling the same uniforms worn by local metal workers in Oberschöneweide. The Eisern related nicknames evolved from this Schlosserjungs nickname over the years as the club was renamed and changed its colors.

Crest

The club’s main colors of red and white are featured on the crest as well as accent colors of yellow & black. The club’s full name is the main element of the crest.

Additionally, in the letter ‘C’, there is a soccer ball combined with the Berlin Bear. The soccer ball obviously refers to the sport that the club plays and the Berlin Bear is from the city of Berlin’s coat of arms. Bears have featured on the city seal since the 13th century.

The 1. FC Union Berlin crest’s shape is unique as it doesn’t fit the conventional circular crest design used by many German clubs.

Important Events

On June 9, 1968, Union Berlin played FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the final of the FDGB Pokal or East German Cup. Union conceded a goal within the first minute, but fought back with goals from Meinhard Uentz and Ralf Quest to win the match 2-1. It was the club’s first and so far only major trophy.

The next event I’d like to discuss is that the club qualified for the 2. Bundesliga in back to back years in 1993 & 1994, but were denied a playing license because of the club’s poor financial position. These were very disappointing times and it unfortunately wasn’t the club’s only financial issues, which we’ll discuss more in our next section.

The 3rd event I’d like to highlight is the fantastic 2000-2001 season. On April 29, 2001, Union beat Rot-Weiss Essen 1-0 at home. The win clinched the Regionalliga Nord division championship and automatic promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. It was the first time since German reunification that Union would be playing in the 2. Bundesliga. The great times weren’t over for the club that season though. On May 26, 2001, Union lost the DFB Pokal final to Schalke 2-0. Union were in the 3rd division at the time, so reaching the final was an incredible accomplishment. Though Union lost the final, the club qualified for the UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League) because Schalke had already qualified for the Champions League that season. Union became the first and so far only 3rd tier club to qualify for the UEFA Cup/Europa League. The 2000-2001 season was a great one for the club.

And the final events I’d like to highlight are from the 2018-2019 2. Bundesliga season. Union finished the season in 3rd place in the league, which meant it’d have a promotion playoff against the 16th place finisher from the Bundesliga, VfB Stuttgart. On May 23, 2019, Union drew 2-2 away at Stuttgart. Four days later on May 27, the club held Stuttgart to a 0-0 draw at home. That meant Union would advance on the away goals rule and would become just the third lower-division side to win the playoff against a Bundesliga club since it was reintroduced in the late 2000s. It was an historic day for the club as it meant the club would play in the Bundesliga for the first time ever.

Supporters

There are so many incredible stories about FC Union Berlin supporters. For time purposes, I’m only going to mention a few here, but you should definitely look into the club and its supporters in more detail. 

In 2004, the club was on the verge of bankruptcy. Fans decided to help raise money for the club by donating blood to local hospitals and giving the money received from the hospitals to the club. The campaign was called ‘Bluten für Union’ or ‘bleeding for Union,’ in English.

Then, in 2008, the club was still in a bad financial position and needed to renovate its stadium to secure a playing license for the 3rd division. More than 2,300 supporters donated over 140,000 voluntary working hours to completely renovate the stadium.

Additionally, while all Union Berlin supporters are passionate, probably the most passionate sit in the Waldseite or forest side of the stadium behind the one goal. In the Waldseite, if people are using their phone or other recording devices too much, they are asked to relocate to another part of the stadium. People in the Waldseite are expected to be focused on and passionately supporting Union Berlin for the entire match. It should be noted that this is kind of the case all over the stadium as Union supporters want people focused solely on the game and supporting die Eisernen.

Lastly, the supporters’ famous chant is Eisern Union. One side of the stadium will call out Eisern and the other side responds with Union. The chant will go back and forth between the two sides before everyone applauds at the end.

Noteworthy Players

Günter Hoge was nicknamed Jimmy Hoge and was a fantastic dribbler who was a crowd favorite. He actually played at one of 1. FC Union Berlin’s predecessor clubs starting in 1964 and was forced into an early retirement in 1970 after going binge drinking with his ex-coach. Before retiring, Jimmy became the first ever East German national team player to come from Union Berlin and he helped lead Union to their 1968 East German Cup win.

Lutz Hendel was nicknamed ‘Meter’ and joined Union Berlin as a youth player in 1968. He’d make his first team debut in the spring of 1976 and the midfielder would play many matches for Union Berlin across 2 different stints with the club. Hendel was twice voted Unioner of the year by fans and is the club’s all-time record appearance holder.

Wolfgang Matthies was a goalkeeper for many years at FC Union Berlin, debuting in 1974. He’d have 3 different stints with the club and was voted Unioner of the year by fans on 4 different occasions. In 2006, fans voted Matthies as the most valuable player in the club’s history and he is unquestionably a club legend.

And the final player I’d like to discuss is Karim Benyamina. Nicknamed “Big Ben”, Benyamina joined the club in 2005 in the summer immediately after it had been relegated to the 4th division. Benyamina would help lead the club out of the 4th division in his first season and would be a key player as the club reached the 2. Bundesliga in 2009. Big Ben left Union in 2011 as the club’s all-time record goalscorer and the club promised to not allow anyone else to wear his #22 jersey unless they break his goal scoring record.

Noteworthy Managers

I’d like to highlight 4 managers in this section.

First is Werner Schwenzfeier who was the club’s first manager in 1966 after becoming 1. FC Union Berlin. Schwenzfeier would manage just over 100 games for Union, lead the club back into the East German top division, and win the 1968 East German Cup. He left in 1969, but his legacy will forever be remembered because this trophy is still the only major trophy in the club’s history.

The second I’d like to talk about is Heinz Werner. Werner led the club for 181 games from 1976 to 1982, helping the club get back to the top division in East Germany. He was mysteriously replaced in 1982 and nearly joined the club as manager again in 1992, but it didn’t work out. Werner has remained connected to Union over the years and was named honorary member of the club in January 2011.

The third manager I’d like to discuss is Uwe Neuhaus. Neuhaus is the longest tenured manager in the club’s history, managing 266 games from 2007 to 2014. He led the club out of the 3rd division and solidified its place in the 2. Bundesliga for many seasons. Before leaving in 2014, Neuhaus would win more than 100 games with Union Berlin and is one of the greatest & longest serving managers in the club’s history.

And the final manager I’d like to briefly mention is current manager Urs Fischer. Taking over in the summer of 2018, Fischer immediately led the club to promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history. For that reason alone, he deserves mention here and it’s also been helpful that he has the club mid-table at time of recording in its first ever Bundesliga season. If Fischer can establish Union as a regular Bundesliga club, he is well on his way to legendary status at Union Berlin.

Rivals

Eisern Union have a handful of rivals with some being old and some being new. Let’s start with Union’s old rival.

The club’s main rival in its East German years was BFC Dynamo. In the 1970s, Dynamo Dresden were one of the best clubs in East Germany, so the Stasi forced the relocation of the club’s squad to a small club in Berlin called BFC Dynamo because it wanted a powerful club in the capital. BFC Dynamo immediately became a powerhouse because it was government backed and allowed to manipulate the league. Union supporters were always known for being anti-establishment and this became one of the fiercest rivalries in East Germany even though Union didn’t enjoy much success on the field against their rivals. With the reunification of Germany in 1990, this rivalry has basically gone away as the two sides rarely meet anymore.

Union’s current main rival is likely fellow Berlin based Hertha BSC. Union Berlin has a smaller fan base, lower economic resources, and is the underdog compared to Hertha’s size, strength, and relative success. The rivalry is also very interesting because the clubs were separated by the Berlin wall for many years, and therefore, haven’t actually played many times in competitive matches. In fact, there was a partnership between the clubs and their supporters when Germany was divided with fans supporting both teams. The two clubs met in a friendly in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, but 8 months before Germany was officially reunified. The rivalry typically isn’t as intense as many other rivalries in Germany, but the first ever top flight meeting of these 2 sides happened on November 2, 2019 and Union won 1-0. The match was a true derby game with passion overflowing from some Union supporters who invaded the pitch at full-time. If both sides remain in the Bundesliga, this rivalry should continue to grow.

And lastly, I’d like to mention Union’s rivalry with RB Leipzig. As already mentioned, Union supporters are known for being anti-establishment and really committed to the concept of community based clubs. For this reason, RB Leipzig’s ownership structure of being owned by the Red Bull energy drink company makes the club a target of Union’s passion. Union’s first ever Bundesliga home match was against RB Leipzig and the Union supporters were silent for the first 15 minutes as a protest against Leipzig. Though many Union supporters will likely say that RB Leipzig isn’t even a real club and therefore can’t be considered a rivalry, the passion from Union supporters against RB Leipzig is palpable and the different philosophies of these two clubs creates a dynamic that makes for an interesting rivalry.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of December 2019, which is when we are recording this video.

Union Berlin is currently playing in its first ever Bundesliga season. The club had at least 6 top flight seasons in the East German league as well.

The club’s 1 major trophy is the 1 FDGB (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) Pokal or East German Cup in 1968.

Union’s record first team appearance holder is Lutz “Meter” Hendel with 422 first team appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Karim Benyamina with 87 first team goals in all competitions.

Eisern Union’s record transfer purchase is a tie between Anthony Ujah & Marvin Friedrich who each were purchased for ~€2M. Ujah was bought on July 1, 2019 from 1.FSV Mainz 05. And Friedrich was bought on July 5, 2019 from FC Augsburg.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Bobby Wood to Hamburger SV on July 1, 2016 for ~€4M.

And 2 last interesting facts about the club:

(1) In 2003, 89 fans snuck into the club’s stadium just before Christmas to sing Christmas carols. The German league takes a break in the winter time, so fans wanted to get together to wish each other a Merry Christmas near the actual holiday. For 2 years, the event was a small, underground gathering before the club officially recognized it. Now, more than 20,000 people attend the Union Weihnachtssingen event near Christmas.

(2) For the 2014 World Cup, fans were allowed to bring their sofas onto the pitch at the club’s stadium and watch matches on the stadium’s big screen. 750 sofas were brought to the stadium for the event.

So there you have it… a bit of history on 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin. 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!

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | Club History

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.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 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!

SV Werder Bremen | Club History

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 Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899, also known as Werder Bremen. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

Werder Bremen is located in the central, slightly southeastern part of the city of Bremen. Bremen is located in the northern, slightly western part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is called the Weserstadion, which opened in 1909 and holds about 42,000 people.

The Weserstadion is the oldest stadium currently in the Bundesliga and though it has been around for more than 100 years, it has been rebuilt and upgraded to be a proper, modern first-division ground.

Origin

Werder Bremen’s founding story literally starts with a tug of war. Sometime in early 1899, a group of 16-year-old students won a local game of tug of war. As a result of winning the game, the students were given a soccer ball as a prize. On February 4, 1899, the students formed Fußballverein Werder Bremen.

Fußballverein means football club in German. Football is what most of the world calls the sport of soccer. Werder was a regional word that referred to a river island or peninsula, called Stadtwerder in the city of Bremen where the students first played soccer. And Bremen was the name of the club’s city.

In 1920, the club changed its name to the current name of Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899. The change from Fußballverein (soccer club) to Sportverein (sports club) was to coincide with the club adopting many other sports.

After the Nazi’s rise to power and WWII, the allies who occupied Germany after the war did not allow clubs to exist in the form that they did under Nazi rule. So Werder was dissolved and reformed under a few different names. In 1946, it adopted the name of SV Werder Bremen, but was not allowed to have the von 1899 part of its name.

The ‘von 1899’ part of the club’s name was added back to the club after it was restructured on December 5, 2003. That’s when the club returned to the name it first adopted in 1920, which was Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899.

Nickname(s)

The club’s 2 nicknames are Die Grün-Weißen, which means the Green-Whites in English, and die Werderaner, which means The River Islanders in English.

The Green Whites nickname comes from the club’s kit colors. Super creative.

And the River Islanders nickname refers to the area in Bremen where the club originally was created and played its first matches.

Crest

Let’s look at the club’s crest now.

SV Werder Bremen crest

Stretching as far back as 1920, Werder Bremen has used this iconic white W on a green diamond shaped background.

The W obviously refers to the clubs name of Werder and the colors of Green and white are the club’s main kit colors.

The club experimented with a few variations of this logo over the years, but they were only subtle changes. The crest used today has been used since 1994 and looks almost identical to the one used in the 1920s.

Important Events

I’d like to discuss 5 important events in the club’s history in this section.

First, on September 13, 1961, Werder Bremen met 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the Final of the DFB Pokal in Gelsenkirchen. Werder scored a goal in each half and prevailed 2-0 to win the club’s first major trophy in its history.

The second event I’d like to highlight happened on May 15, 1965. This was the final day of the 1964-1965 Bundesliga season and Werder beat 1. FC Nürnberg 3-2 on the road. The result meant Bremen clinched the title of the 2nd ever Bundesliga season. It was Werder’s first ever German league title.

The third event I’d like to discuss is a sad one for the club. On May 24, 1980, the club mathematically secured a relegation place from the Bundesliga after losing 5-0 at home to 1. FC Köln. The club had been trending in the wrong direction for weeks though and this was merely a formality. The 1979-1980 season is the only time the club has been relegated since the Bundesliga was created in 1963 and is one of the worst seasons in club history.

Moving forward to happier times, the 4th event I’d like to mention happened on May 6, 1992. Werder played AS Monaco from the French League, who were managed by Arsene Wenger at the time, in the European Cup Winners Cup Final in Portugal. This was Werder’s first appearance in a European cup final. Just like the club’s first DFB Pokal victory, Werder scored a goal in each half and won 2-0. This was a massive accomplishment for the club.

And the final event I’d like to discuss is the club’s greatest ever accomplishment to date and it’s actually a combination of 2 dates. On May 8, 2004, first-place Werder Bremen, beat second-place Bayern Munich 3-1 in Munich to open a 9 point gap in the table with only 2 matches remaining. That meant Werder were crowned Bundesliga champions and this is the club’s last league title. The celebrations weren’t over yet for Werder supporters that season. On May 29, 2004, Werder beat Alemannia Aachen 3-2 in the DFB Pokal Final. With that result, Werder Bremen became 1 of only 4 German clubs ever to win the double, meaning the domestic league and domestic cup titles in the same season. It was a historic season for the club.

Supporters

Before every match, supporters sing the club’s anthem called ‘Lebenslang Grün-Weiß.’ This translates to English as ‘Lifelong Green & White.’ The song was written in 2004 by the band Original Deutschmacher after Bremen’s double winning season that we discussed in our last section.

Additionally, Werder Bremen’s Torhymne or goal song is “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” by the Proclaimers. It’s incredibly catchy and one of the best goal celebration songs in the league. Supporters sing this after every Werder goal.

Noteworthy Players

I’d like to discuss 6 players in detail in this section and briefly highlight 3 others.

Horst-Dieter Höttges was a left back who joined Werder Bremen in 1964 and made more than 400 appearances for the club over a 14 year career. He won the Bundesliga with Werder in 1965 and made 2 World Cup squads, as well as a European Championship roster, for West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s.

Dieter Burdenski has the most appearances in club history. Burdenski was a goalkeeper for Bremen from 1972-1988. He remained with the club as it suffered its only relegation in club history and was a key player during Werder’s rise to the top of German soccer that began in the late 1980s. Burdenski won a Bundesliga title with Werder in the 1987-1988 season, but he retired just before the club entered its first golden period when it won 4 major trophies in the early 1990s.

Rudi Völler was a striker at Werder Bremen from 1982 to 1987. Though he was only with the club for 5 years, he scored a remarkable 119 goals in only 174 appearances. Völler was one of the best German attackers of his generation and was capped 90 times for West Germany & Germany. He was a key member as West Germany won the 1990 World Cup.

Torsten Frings had 2 separate stints with Werder Bremen beginning in 1997 and ending in 2011. Frings was one of the best central midfielders in Germany’s history and he was a critical piece of Werder winning the 2009 DFB Pokal. Frings played in 2 World Cups and 2 European Championships with Germany and made almost 450 appearances for Werder Bremen in his career.

Frank Baumann joined Werder in 1999 after beginning his career with FC Nürnberg in 1994. Werder would be the only club Baumann would play for during the rest of his career, which ended in 2009. Baumann was a versatile player who could play as a central defender or a defensive central midfielder. With Werder, he won the Bundesliga once and the DFB Pokal twice. Baumann was a player during the club’s historic 2003-2004 double-winning season.

Claudio Pizarro had 5 different stints with Werder Bremen during his career and he is still an active player on the squad at time of recording. Pizarro first joined Werder in 1999 and is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. Pizarro is one of the best Peruvian players ever and is the Bundesliga’s all-time top foreign scorer at time of recording. He is most certainly a Werder Bremen legend.

Lastly, I’d like to quickly mention Per Mertesacker, Mesut Özil, & Miroslav Klose. All 3 are German internationals who spent time with Werder Bremen. They’ve gone on to have excellent careers and were all key members of the 2014 World Cup winning Germany roster. They didn’t really have legendary Werder careers, so I’m only going to mention their names in this section.

Noteworthy Managers

The 2 greatest managers in the club’s history are Otto Rehhagel and Thomas Schaaf.

Otto Rehhagel was appointed as Werder’s manager in March of 1981 after Bremen’s manager at the time was experiencing lingering symptoms from a car accident suffered in February. Rehhagel was a curious appointment as he didn’t have a ton of historical success up to that point and had actually previously managed Werder for a short time in 1976. Rehhagel was much more successful in his 2nd stint at Werder, immediately leading the club out of the 2. Bundesliga. He’d go on to manage Werder through the club’s first golden age when it regularly competed for trophies. In total, Rehhagel managed more than 650 matches between 1981 & 1995 with Werder. He won 2 Bundesligas, 2 DFB Pokals, and a European Cup Winners cup with the club. Rehhagel is the club’s longest ever serving manager and had great success managing underdogs after leaving Werder, winning the Bundesliga with F.C. Kaiserslautern and the European Championships with Greece. Rehhagel was nicknamed ‘King Otto’ by Werder supporters and is a legendary manager for the club.

And the other manager I’d like to discuss is Thomas Schaaf. Schaaf first joined the club in 1972 as a player. He’d play for Werder for 17 years before moving into a coaching role with the youth academy in 1987. Schaaf slowly rose up the coaching ranks at Werder over the next 12 years and was appointed first team manager in May of 1999. Schaaf managed the club for 14 years and nearly 650 matches. He was in charge for the club’s historic 2003-2004 double winning season. Schaaf also won 2 DFB Pokals with the club. He is the club’s other legendary manager in its history and currently, Schaaf serves as Werder Bremen’s Technical Director at time of recording.

Rivals

Werder’s main rival is Hamburger SV. Matches between the clubs are called Nordderby matches, meaning North Derby matches in English, because both clubs are located in Northern Germany. They also happen to be 2 of the most successful clubs in German soccer’s history and are located about 70 miles apart. Both clubs can trace their origins to the 19th century and first met in 1927. Since the Bundesliga was formed in 1963, both clubs have been a part of nearly every Bundesliga season. This is one of the tightest rivalries in the Bundesliga’s history from a results, goals, and trophies perspective. Each side is about even in all of those categories in this matchup. All of these events over the course of the last century or so have led to the Nordderby being one of the greatest & fiercest rivalries in Germany.

Also, Werder Bremen developed a rivalry with Bayern Munich in the 1980s that stretched all the way to the early 2000s with the clubs competing for trophies across multiple competitions. Werder handed Bayern some embarrassing losses in this time period and Bayern returned the favor on more than 1 occasion. This is more of a historic rivalry though as Werder has slipped down the pecking order in German soccer the last decade or so. I wanted to mention Bayern as a minor rival, but Hamburger SV is by far Werder’s main rival.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of December 2019, which is when we are recording this video.

Werder Bremen has played 56 seasons in the top flight in its history.

The club has 11 major trophies including:

  • 6 DFB-Pokals (German Cups)
  • 4 Bundesliga titles
  • 1 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup

Bremen’s record first team appearance holder is Dieter Burdenski with 616 first team appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Claudio Pizarro with 153 goals at time of recording. He is still an active player and may add to that tally.

Werder’s record transfer purchase was Davy Klaassen from Everton FC in England on July 27, 2018 for ~€13.5M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Diego to Juventus in Italy on July 1, 2009 for ~€27M.

And 1 last interesting fact about the club: With Hamburg’s relegation a few seasons ago, Werder Bremen is now the club to play in the most Bundesliga seasons since the league began in 1963. Werder has been a part of every Bundesliga season with the exception of 1 in 1980-1981.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899. 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!

SC Paderborn | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, philosophy, and culture of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Sport-Club Paderborn 07, also known as SC Paderborn. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

SC Paderborn is located in the northwestern part of the city of Paderborn. Paderborn is located in the central, slightly western part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is called the Benteler-Arena, which opened in 2008 and holds about 15,000 people.

Origin

SC Paderborn was officially created on June 1, 1985 when the rival clubs of SV 07/10 Schloß Neuhaus and FC Paderborn merged. The origins of these clubs began in the early 1900s, so let’s talk about their beginnings.

On August 14, 1907, 20 soccer fans formed a soccer club called Arminia Neuhaus that was located in the northern part of Paderborn. Three years later, a club called VfB Senne was founded on September 17, 1910 in the neighboring village of Sennelager. Each of these 2 clubs would go through some name changes over their 60 year independent existence.

On June 8, 1973, the two clubs, which were now named SV 07 Neuhaus & TuS Sennelager merged to form TuS 07/10 Schloß Neuhaus. So that’s the history of 1 out of the 2 of the clubs that merged in 1985. Still with me? Great.

The other club of FC Paderborn traces its roots back to 1908. In 1908, 4 people founded FC Prussia Paderborn. This club merged with another club called VfB Paderborn in 1912, but it could not survive and shut down in 1913. Former players of the Prussia club then formed SV 13 Paderborn on October 12, 1913. In 1915, former members of the VfB club then reformed a club that would eventually become VfJ 08 in 1920. The 08 referred to the club’s original founding year of 1908 before it shut down in 1913.

These 2 clubs existed as rivals until 1969. In 1969, the clubs merged to form 1. FC Paderborn 08/13. So that was the history of the other club that merged in 1985.

Each of FC Paderborn and TuS Schloß Neuhaus had middling success and realized that if they wanted to reach higher levels of German soccer, they’d need to merge. The merger happened on June 1, 1985 and the club became TuS 07/10 Paderborn-Neuhaus.

Finally, in 1997, the club rebranded to its current name of Sport-Club Paderborn 07. Sport-Club means sports club. Paderborn is the city where the club plays. And 07 refers to 1907 when the first club that would eventually become the current club was formed.

Nickname(s)

Surprisingly, the club is one of only a few clubs in the world that doesn’t really have a nickname.

The TuS Schloß Neuhaus club was nicknamed the Lords of the Castle because there is a castle in the northwestern part of Paderborn where the club played. But, that nickname went away after the merger in 1985.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and/or suggestions for current or future nicknames for Paderborn. Let us know in the comments section.

Crest

Let’s take a look at the club’s crest now, which was last updated in 2010.

SC Paderborn 07 club crest

Unfortunately, I was not able to find any details explaining the club’s crest. It seems to be straightforward with the club’s name of SC Paderborn 07 e. V. written and a circular shape to the crest with the club’s colors of blue, black, and white used.

The circular shape is used by many clubs in Germany for their crests, but Paderborn has an interesting design with portions of the crest existing outside the circle. I’m not sure why the word Paderborn begins outside the circle and why the thick black line dividing the circle in half extends out to the right.

With the club rebranding in 1997, it’s likely these were just design elements to make the logo look interesting without really a deeper meaning. All of this is conjecture on my part, so if you have additional details, please let us know in the comments section.

Important Events

Many of the club’s important historical events were related to mergers covered in our Origin section, so I’m going to discuss 4 events in this section and they are all from relatively recent years.

The first event I’d like to highlight happened on August 21, 2004. In the first round of the DFB Pokal, 3rd division Paderborn met Bundesliga club Hamburg SV on this date. After Hamburg took a 2-0 lead, Paderborn were awarded a pair of dubious penalties and Hamburg had a player sent off. Paderborn won the match 4-2, but it was later proven that the match official, Robert Hoyzer, was involved in fixing matches for a Croatian gambling syndicate. This match was one of the nine that Hoyzer helped fix. Paderborn didn’t do anything wrong in this situation, but it’s a famous event that involved the club and I wanted to mention it here.

The second event happened on June 4, 2005, when Paderborn beat VfL Wolfsburg’s 2nd team 4-0 in the last match of the Regionalliga Nord season. The win meant Paderborn finished in 2nd place and secured promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. It was the first time that the club clinched promotion to a professional division since the merger in 1985 and was a great day for Paderborn and its supporters. The return to professional soccer allowed the club to construct a new stadium and professionalize a lot of the club’s infrastructure.

The club would go through a handful of up and down seasons over the next few years, so let’s jump to May 11, 2014. This was the final matchday of the 2. Bundesliga season and Paderborn played VfR Aalen. In a tight match that finished 2-1, Paderborn prevailed and secured 2nd place in the 2. Bundesliga. That meant the club achieved automatic promotion to the Bundesliga. It was the first time in the club’s history that it would be playing in Germany’s top division.

That promotion kickstarted a wild 6 years for the club that I’d like to highlight as my last event here. After being promoted to the Bundesliga in 2014, the club immediately suffered back to back relegations, finishing dead last in the respective divisions in 2015 & 2016. In the 2016-2017 season, Paderborn finished 18th in the 3. Liga. That meant the club should have been relegated to the amateur 4th-division Regionaliga, but 1860 Munich, who was relegated from the 2. Bundesliga that season, decided not to pay the €10 million 3. Liga entry fee. That meant 1860 Munich would go down to the amateur Regionaliga and Paderborn were safe in the 3. Liga. Paderborn then miraculously achieved consecutive promotions in 2018 & 2019 by finishing 2nd in the 3. Liga and the 2. Bundesliga to return back to the Bundesliga for the 2019-2020 season. Neither of the recent promotions would have been possible without 1860 refusing to pay the 3. Liga license fee. Like I said, it’s been a wild ride for Paderborn supporters in recent years.

Supporters

Before every SC Paderborn home match, the song Das Paderborn-Lied from the band Madison-Band is played. The song was written in 1999 and is a song about love for the city of Paderborn.

Additionally, fans will sing an SC Paderborn specific song called “Helden geben nie auf!” meaning heroes never give up. These are two of the well-known songs associated with SC Paderborn & its supporters, which is why I wanted to highlight them here.

Noteworthy Players

For SC Paderborn’s 100-year anniversary in 2007, readers of the Westfälischen Volksblattes voted on a team of the century for the club. Most of the players only had short stints with the club so I’m going to quickly mention their names.

Goalkeeper was Stephan Loboué.

Defenders were Friedhelm Lüning, Markus Bollmann, & Günter Kutowski.

Midfielders were Peter Hobday, Thomas von Heesen, & Christian Schreier

And strikers were Antonio Di Salvo, René Müller, & Dieter Hecking.

For those math whiz viewers, you’ll have counted 10 players. That’s because the 11th player, defender Markus Krösche, is a club legend worthy of more time. Krösche joined the club in the summer of 2001 while the club was in the 3rd division. He’d remain at the club for 13 years as it fluctuated between the 2nd and 3rd divisions before retiring in 2014 after helping the club gain promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in its history. Krösche was a long-time captain at the club and is a legendary player in SC Paderborn’s history.

Noteworthy Managers

Pavel Dotchev managed SC Paderborn for more than 140 matches across 2 stints at the club. In his first stint, he successfully led the club out of the 3rd division and into the 2. Bundesliga in 2005, which we discussed in our Important Events section. He did not stay on as manager that season, but returned in February 2008. Dotchev suffered relegation to the 3. Liga that season, but immediately led Paderborn back to the 2. Bundesliga in 2009 before departing again. He’s one of the longest tenured managers in Paderborn’s tumultuous history.

And the other manager I’d like to highlight here is Steffen Baumgart. Baumgart became manager of Paderborn in April 2017, which was one of the club’s lowest points since its merger in 1985. As we previously mentioned, Paderborn finished the 3. Liga season in 18th place that year, but were saved from relegation by 1860 Munich. Baumgart has since stabilized the club and led them to consecutive promotions that sees Paderborn currently playing in the Bundesliga. He’s been manager for 110 matches at time of recording and has a contract through June 2021. If Paderborn can survive in the Bundesliga or, simply not completely bottom out like after their last relegation, Baumgart could go on to become the greatest manager in club history. No matter what happens in the future, Baumgart has earned his place in the SC Paderborn history books.

Rivals

Because of Paderborn’s unusual club history, it doesn’t have a true rival. Germans are very traditional when it comes to soccer, and the fact that Paderborn was formed in 1985 as a merger of 2 clubs, then rebranded in 1997, has hurt their rivalry credentials so to speak.

Still, I’d like to highlight Arminia Bielefeld in this section. Bielefeld fans consider other clubs to be bigger rivals, but there is a rivalry with SC Paderborn, especially from the SC Paderborn supporters’ perspective. Matches between Paderborn and Bielefeld are called Ostwestfalen Derby matches because both clubs are located in the region of Ostwestfalen or East Westphalia in English.

The 2 cities of Paderborn and Bielefeld are about 45 kilometers or 28 miles apart. Going back through Paderborn’s history including its predecessor clubs, Arminia and Paderborn have met less than 20 times in competitive matches across Germany’s amateur and professional divisions. Bielefeld has been the more successful club in those matchups. This rivalry could continue to develop if both clubs are in the same division for an extended period of time, which hasn’t really happened. Hopefully we can see this rivalry develop and Paderborn can have a true rivalry.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of December 2019, which is when we are recording this video.

SC Paderborn has played 2 seasons in the top flight in its history.

The club has no major trophies.

Paderborn’s record first team appearance holder is Markus Krösche with 373 first team appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Veselin Petkov Gerov with 95 first team goals.

Paderborn’s record transfer purchase is a tie between 2 players. Kevin Stöger from VfB Stuttgart on August 25, 2015 for ~€1M. And Nick Proschwitz from FC Thun in Switzerland on July 1, 2011 for ~€1M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Nick Proschwitz to Hull City in England on July 18, 2012 for ~€3.3M.

And 2 last interesting facts about the club:

(1) Paderborn scored the longest-distance goal in Bundesliga history. The historic goal happened on September 20, 2014 when Paderborn midfielder Moritz Stoppelkamp scored from 82 metres out to secure a 2-0 win over Hannover. It was 1-0 late in the match and Hannover sent their goalkeeper forward for a free kick. Paderborn cleared the service to the top of their own 18 yard box where Stoppelkamp did well to control off his chest and send a half volley the length of the pitch into an open net. Paderborn then renamed a street near their stadium Stoppelkamp-Allee as a tribute to this goal.

(2) Additionally, Paderborn encourages supporters to arrive to its stadium by bicycle and offers 2,000 bike lock stations. That is the most bike lock stations offered by any club in the Bundesliga.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Sport-Club Paderborn 07. 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!

SC Freiburg | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, philosophy, and culture of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of Sport-Club Freiburg, also known as SC Freiburg. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

SC Freiburg is located in the central part of the city of Freiburg. Freiburg is located on the very southwestern edge of Germany, close to the border with France & Switzerland. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is called the Schwarzwald-Stadion, which opened in 1954 and holds about 24,000 people.

The club is moving to a new 34,700 seater stadium in 2020 in the northern, slightly western part of the city. It is experiencing some opposition from local residents and courts in regards to when games can be played. It’s something to continue following and we’ll link to articles with more info in the video description (you should definitely check them out).

Origin

SC Freiburg’s creation can be traced back to 2 clubs formed in 1904. The first club was created by a group of high school students and was named Freiburger Fußballverein 1904. In another part of the city of Freiburg, the club of Schwalbe was formed that same year.

Each of those clubs would go through some name changes before they merged in 1912 to become Sport Club Freiburg. The club would go through many mergers, name changes, and turmoil throughout the two World Wars before the club legally reformed as Sport-Club Freiburg in 1952. Shortly after the club was legally reformed, the soccer portion of the club formed a separate entity on June 27, 1952.

Nickname

Freiburg’s main nickname is the Breisgau-Brasilianer in German or the Brazilians of Breisgau in English. The city of Freiburg’s full name is Freiburg im Breisgau, so that’s where the Breisgau part of the nickname comes from. The other part of the nickname comes from the club’s attractive style of play in the 1990’s that people often associate with Brazilians.

Crest

The club has used the same crest since 1958.

SC Freiburg crest

The bottom right portion of the crest is simply a stylized version of the letters S, C, & F for Sport-Club Freiburg. The top left portion of the crest is supposed to be the head of a griffin. A griffin is a mythical creature with its top half as an eagle and its bottom half a lion. You can see the griffin featured on the right side of Baden-Württemberg coat of arms. Baden-Württemberg is the state in Germany where Freiburg is located.

Baden-Württemberg coat of arms

It also deserves mention here that the head on Freiburg’s crest doesn’t really look like the griffin on the Baden-Württemberg coat of arms, but instead looks exceptionally similar to the Ganter brewery logo. The Ganter brewery is based in the city of Freiburg.

Ganter Brewery logo

I’ll let you decide for yourself what the inspiration for the animal in the upper left portion of the crest is.

Either way, it’s remarkable that the club has used this same crest since 1958.

Important Events

Likely the most important day in the club’s history was July 1, 1972 when Achim Stocker became club president after winning an election. At the time, the club was a small, amateur club and was not even the biggest club in Freiburg. Stocker went about professionalizing the club and attracting sponsors that were key to the club’s survival. Additionally, Stocker appointed Volker Finke as manager in 1991, which was instrumental in getting the club to where it is today. Stocker was president for 37 years and is likely the single most critical person in SC Freiburg’s history. The club’s new stadium will be on Achim-Stocker-Straße in his honor and it all started when he became president on July 1, 1972.

The next event I’d like to highlight came on May 25, 1993. On this date, SC Freiburg beat Hansa Rostock 1-0 in the 44th matchday of the 2. Bundesliga season. The result clinched automatic promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history. The entire season was incredibly impressive from Freiburg as the club was in first place from the 7th matchday through the 46th, which was the last day. It was an historic season for the club.

The club followed that historic season with an arguably just as memorable one in the 1994-1995 Bundesliga season. In the 2nd match of that season on August 23, 1994, Freiburg beat German powerhouse club Bayern Munich 5-1. It was one of the most impressive wins in the club’s history and worthy of calling out here. It was even more impressive as it wasn’t a one off fluke event that year with the club finishing in 3rd place in the Bundesliga that season. That is its highest ever league finish.

The 4th event I’d like to mention happened on September 12, 1995 when SC Freiburg hosted Slavia Prague in the first leg of the first round of the UEFA Cup. Though Freiburg lost the match 2-1, it was the club’s first ever match in a European competition. The club wouldn’t advance past the first round in this version of the tournament, but it is still an important date in the club’s history and worthy of mentioning here.

And the final event I’d like to discuss happened on February 26, 2013. Freiburg faced Mainz 05 in the DFB Pokal quarterfinals on this date. Freiburg trailed 2-0 late into the match, but goals in the 86th and 90th minutes forced extra time. Daniel Caligiuri scored the winning goal for Freiburg in the 109th minute of extra time to advance the club to its first ever DFB Pokal semifinal appearance. Freiburg fell 2-1 to Stuttgart in that semifinal match and this DFB Pokal run was the deepest the club has ever gone in that tournament, which is why I wanted to highlight it here.

Supporters

SC Freiburg’s anthem played before homes matches is called Badnerlied. It is a song that was first printed in the early 1900s and is about the pride of the former state of Baden, which is now a part of Baden-Württemberg. The city of Freiburg is located in this state and the song specifically highlights Freiburg as the place where wine is grown.

Noteworthy Players

I’d like to quickly highlight 7 players from the club’s history here.

First is Joachim Löw. Löw is now famous as the long-time German National Team manager, but he is Freiburg’s all-time leading goalscorer at time of recording. He played for the club over 3 different stints from 1978 to 1989 while it was in the 2. Bundesliga, making more than 250 appearances for the club.

The next player I’d like to mention is Andreas Zeyer, who played for the club from 1989 to 1997 and then again from 1999 until he retired in 2004. Zeyer is the club’s all-time record appearance holder and was a player for some of the club’s best moments.

Rodolfo Esteban Cardoso only played with Freiburg for 2 seasons, but he left a lasting impression. Cardoso was the first South American to ever play for the club and was a key attacking midfielder on the Freiburg side that finished 3rd in the Bundesliga in 1995.

Alexander Iashvili was a midfielder with Freiburg for 10 years from 1997 to 2007. Iashvili made close to 300 appearances for the club and has the most appearances of any non-German player in Freiburg’s history.

Soumaila Coulibaly joined the club in 2000 as a 22 year old. He’d experience a number of highs and lows with the club as it made a run in the UEFA Cup, suffered relegation, and then was promoted again. He would eventually become club captain in 2006 and is a cult hero at the club.

Matthias Ginter came through Freiburg’s youth academy and joined the first team in 2012. Ginter was only with Freiburg for 2 years, but he won the 2014 World Cup with Germany while he was still a Freiburg player. That makes Matthias Ginter the only player in Freiburg’s history to be a World Cup champion while a member of the club. He would join Dortmund shortly after coming back from the World Cup and currently plays for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

And lastly, I’d like to highlight Nils Petersen. Petersen was loaned to Freiburg in the winter of 2015 and joined the club permanently as it suffered relegation that season. Petersen was instrumental in leading the club back to the Bundesliga and he is currently Freiburg’s captain. He’s also very close to breaking Joachim Löw’s all-time club scoring record and Petersen is well on his way to legendary status at SC Freiburg.

Noteworthy Managers

I’d like to highlight 2 managers in this section.

First is Volker Finke who took over as manager in 1991 and led the club to the Bundesliga for the first time in 1993. He’d stay at the club for 16 years, leaving in 2007. Finke experienced a number of ups and downs with Freiburg including 3 promotions, 3 relegations, 2 trips to the UEFA Cup (now called the Europa League), and a 3rd place Bundesliga finish. He is the longest tenured manager in the club’s history and is an absolute club legend.

And the other manager I’d like to highlight is Christian Streich, who is the current club manager at time of recording.  Streich is also the Bundesliga’s longest serving manager at time of recording as he’s been leading Freiburg since 2011. Prior to taking over as manager, Streich spent 16 years coaching in the club’s youth academy and being an assistant to the first team. He took over the team in 2011 while it was in last place in the Bundesliga and led them to a respectable 12th place finish. Streich has been a great leader for the club and Freiburg kept him as manager as it suffered relegation in 2015. The club was rewarded for its faith in Streich as it bounced straight back up to the Bundesliga and has remained in the league since then. Streich has already earned himself legendary status with the club and his status should continue to grow as he builds a legacy at Freiburg.

Rivals

Freiburg has 2 rivals: VfB Stuttgart & Karlsruher SC.

Freiburg’s rivalry with both of these clubs is not a full-blown rivalry, but rather a minor rivalry. Stuttgart and Karlsruher each consider the other one to be their main rival, so Freiburg is often the odd club out in this Baden-Württemberg rivalry triangle. Still Freiburg’s first ever Bundesliga match was a 4-0 victory in Stuttgart over VfB, which is fondly remembered by Freiburg supporters. Like I said, there isn’t much to these rivalries, but I did want to mention VfB Stuttgart & Karlsruher SC as Freiburg rivals.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of November 2019, which is when we are recording this video.

SC Freiburg has played 20 seasons in the top flight in its history.

The club has no major trophies, though the club has won the 2. Bundesliga (or 2nd division) title on 4 occasions.

Freiburg’s record first team appearance holder is Andreas Zeyer with 441 first team appearances.

The club’s record goal scorer is Joachim Löw with 83 first team goals though Nils Petersen is an active player and currently has 82 goals at time of recording. In all likelihood, he will break Löw’s record and continue to add to his tally in the future.

Freiburg’s record transfer purchase was Vincenzo Grifo from TSG Hoffenheim on September 2, 2019 for ~€7M.

And the club’s record transfer sale was Caglar Söyüncü to Leicester City FC in England on August 9, 2018 for ~€21.1M.

And 2 last interesting facts about the club:

(1) SC Freiburg has been relegated from the Bundesliga 4 times since first qualifying in 1993. The club has immediately gained promotion back to the Bundesliga after 1 season on 3 out of the 4 times. The only time the club didn’t immediately bounce back was after the relegation in 2005 when the club spent 4 seasons in the 2. Bundesliga.

(2) And lastly, since 1991, the club has only had 4 managers and only sacked 1 of those 4. Those are impressively small numbers, especially given how modern soccer discards managers relatively quickly.

So there you have it… a bit of history on Sport-Club Freiburg. 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!

RB Leipzig | Club History

Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, philosophy, and culture of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of RasenBallsport Leipzig, better known as RB Leipzig. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.

RB Leipzig is located in the central part of the city of Leipzig.  Leipzig is located in the eastern, slightly northern part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is called Red Bull Arena. The stadium opened in 2004 and currently holds about 43,000 people, but the club plans to expand to 48,000 within the next 2 years or so.

Origin

The club’s founding date is listed as May 19th, 2009 on the RB Leipzig website, but the story begins much earlier than that.

The club preceeding RB Leipzig was named SSV Markranstädt. That club was officially created on March 29, 1912 at the Alte Börse restaurant in the town of Markranstädt on the outskirts of Leipzig. Its original name was Fußballclub Sportfreunde Markranstädt 1912.

That club existed in relative provincial obscurity throughout its existence, changing its name to Spiel und Sportverein Markranstädt or SSV Markranstädt in 1990. Now, let’s talk about the Red Bull energy company, current owners of RB Leipzig.

Throughout the Red Bull company’s history, it has utilized sports sponsorship as a marketing strategy. In the early 2000s, the company already owned the soccer clubs Red Bull New York, Red Bull Brazil, and Red Bull Salzburg. The company had tried unsuccessfully to purchase a team in Germany. The governing body of German soccer is the DFB and has rules preventing individuals and companies from solely owning clubs. The DFB requires at least 8 owners, but most German clubs are owned by thousands of members & fans.

Red Bull found a way to circumvent this system by purchasing the playing license for SSV Markranstädt who was in the 5th division in 2009 and outside of the DFB’s governing structure. The club’s first team was rebranded RB Leipzig/Markranstädt. The DFB was successful in preventing the club from officially being named Red Bull, but the new owners found a way to circumvent these rules by creating a word called RasenBallsport. It is a made up word that basically can be translated as lawn ball game, but when abbreviated the team would be RB Leipzig, a thinly veiled reference to actually mean Red Bull Leipzig.

The Red Bull owners proceeded to spin off the first team from the rest of the club in 2010 and dropped the Markranstädt from the club’s name. The remainder of the club continued as SSV Markranstädt and still plays in the lower divisions of German soccer. RB Leipzig has methodically risen up the divisions to its current status as a perennial champions league place contender in the Bundesliga. This whole approach to building the club has made RB Leipzig the most universally disliked team in the Bundesliga.

Nicknames

The club’s 2 nicknames are Die Bullen and Die Roten Bullen. These translate as the bulls and the red bulls.

Both are clearly a reference to the club’s sole investor, energy drink company Red Bull.

Crest

The crest is basically the corporate logo of the Red Bull Energy company with the club’s name of RB Leipzig at the bottom.

RB Leipzig original crest

The club’s original crest varied slightly with the yellow circle in the background and the RB in red above the bulls and words Leipzig.

RB Leipzig current crest

The German soccer governing body enacted rules that stated the logo was too similar to the sponsor logo and thus needed to be updated. So, in 2014, the crest was condensed, simplified and slightly updated to the one used today. It’s still exceptionally similar to the Red Bull Corporate logo, but apparently was different enough to pass the sponsor rules.

Important Events

With Leipzig’s relatively short history, I’m only going to highlight 3 events here.

On June 2, 2013, RB Leipzig drew on the road 2-2 at Sportfreunde Lotte in the final match of the 2012-2013 season. This was the playoff to qualify for the 3. Liga, which is Germany’s 3rd division. Leipzig had gone the entire Regionalliga Nordost (or 4th division) season undefeated. The team also was undefeated in its cup matches, which meant the Red Bulls went the entire season undefeated across all comps with 26 wins and 10 draws. Any undefeated season is impressive and thus worthy of mention here.

The next event I’d like to discuss happened on May 8, 2016 when the Red Bulls beat Karlsruhe 2-0. The win clinched a top 2 finish in the 2. Bundesliga season and automatic promotion to the Bundesliga. Seven seasons after the club was more or less created in the 5th division, it had qualified for the top league in Germany. It was a great day for the club.

And the final event I’d like to highlight came on May 6, 2017. On this date, Leipzig beat Hertha Berlin 4-1. The result meant that the Red Bulls secured a Champions League berth for the following season. The club would go on to finish the Bundesliga season in 2nd place. Both the qualification for Champions League and finishing as Bundesliga runners up were incredibly impressive for a club in its first Bundesliga season. The Red Bulls became the first club in Bundesliga history to secure European qualification in its first season.

Supporters

RB Leipzig is almost universally despised throughout German soccer for being a club that circumvented the ownership rules and puts commercialization as a first priority. Whether you agree with that sentiment or not, the club has legitimate supporters who are working to build their own traditions at a club that is about 10 years old.

At time of recording, 28 different RB Leipzig fan groups are organized under a fan coalition called Fanverband Leipzig. The organization has been around since 2013 and represents the fans in communicating with the club.

Additionally, there are certain fan groups that want to own the RasenBallsport part of the club’s name and make a unique culture around the club that isn’t just adhering to the Red Bull parent company’s brand and objectives. It will be fascinating to continue to follow the development of the club’s supporter culture.

Noteworthy Players

Even though the club is young, there are 6 players I’d like to highlight here.

Yussuf Poulsen is the closest thing to a club legend in Leipzig’s short history. He joined the club in 2013 while it was still in the 3rd division and is the club’s all-time record appearance holder. He’s also 3rd on the club’s all-time scoring chart and continues to be a key player for the club 6 years after first signing. One additional piece of interesting info: Poulsen wore the name ‘Yurary’ at his former club and still wears ‘Yurary’ for Denmark on the back of his jersey to honor his father who passed away from cancer when Yussef was 6 years old. Poulsen wanted to wear ‘Yurary’ at Leipzig, but the club had already printed jerseys with Poulsen on the back, so that’s why he doesn’t wear ‘Yurary’ on his back with RB.

The next player I’d like to mention is Emil Forsberg. Forsberg is a Swedish international player and has been with Leipzig since winter 2015. He led the club out of the 2. Bundesliga and into the Bundesliga in the 2015-2016 season and regularly leads the club in assists. He’s one of the most creative attackers in the club’s history.

If Forsberg is the most creative attacker, Timo Werner is the most lethal attacker in the club’s history. Werner joined RB in the summer of 2016, as it prepared to begin Bundesliga play for the first time. He’s since become the club’s 2nd all-time leading scorer and should likely become #1 before the season is over. Werner is a versatile attacker who can play anywhere along the forward line and has become a key member of the German national team.

The 4th player I’d like to mention is Willi Orban. Orban is the club’s captain and has been for a few years now, even though he’s only in his mid-20s. He’s a defensive stalwart for the club and a great leader. Orban has made more than 150 appearances for Leipzig in all competitions and is a Hungarian international.

And these last 2 players are likely the 2 best players to play for RB Leipzig, though I’m only going to briefly mention them because they played for the club for a short time: Naby Keïta & Joshua Kimmich. Keïta only played for RB for 2 seasons, but he was one of the best midfielders in the Bundesliga during his time in the league. He was so dominant that Liverpool in England paid an RB Leipzig transfer record to purchase him.

And Joshua Kimmich is one of the best German players in the world right now. He’s a versatile player that can play in defense or midfield. He joined Leipzig in the summer of 2013 as the club was in the 3rd division. Less than 2 years later, he moved to Bayern Munich while Leipzig was still in the 2nd division. Kimmich has gone on to have a stellar career with Bayern and the German national team but got his professional start with RB Leipzig.

Noteworthy Managers

I’d like to highlight 3 managers in this section.

Ralf Rangnick joined the RB organization in June of 2012 as Technical Director of both RB Leipzig and Salzburg. Rangnick is largely credited with laying the infrastructure and building RB into the massive success story that it has become. He took over as manager of RB Leipzig for the 2015-2016 2. Bundesliga season and led the club to the Bundesliga. He then went back to his Technical Director duties before returning as manager for the 2018-2019 Bundesliga season. He is one of the most critical people to the club’s success in its short existence.

Ralph Hasenhüttl took over for Rangnick after the club gained promotion to the Bundesliga in 2016. Hasenhüttl managed RB for 2 seasons and his first season was a massive success. The club qualified for the Champions League and finished the Bundesliga season in 2nd place. Hasenhüttl is nicknamed  “The Alpine Klopp” as he comes from Austria and has a similar managerial style to Jürgen Klopp (who is one of the best managers in the world right now). Hasenhüttl moved on from RB after his second season.

And the final manager I’d like to highlight is Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann is RB Leipzig’s current manager at time of recording and he is only in his first season. The reason I’m mentioning him is because he is one of the youngest and most respected managers in German soccer today. In 2016, he became the youngest ever permanent Bundesliga manager when he took charge of Hoffenheim at 28 years old. He has immense potential and is one of the brightest young coaches in world soccer. It will be very interesting to follow his coaching journey at RB Leipzig.

Rivals

Because of RB Leipzig’s unique club history and ownership structure, you could say every Bundesliga club is a rival and/or no club is a rival.

Most sets of opposing supporters claim to not acknowledge the club enough to consider them a rival, but when their team plays RB Leipzig, it seems like more anger, vitriol, and emotion comes out because of the supporter’s disdain for Leipzig’s ownership model. Soccer in Germany is very traditional and tribal with many believing that clubs should be majority owned by fans. The Bundesliga has rules intended to encourage that and any clubs that circumvent these ownership rules are largely derided by opposition supporters. The RB Leipzig owners have been the most recent and most brazen about manipulating the rules, which has led to the club’s near universal dislike throughout the Bundesliga.

Stats & Records

The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of November 2019, which is when we are recording this video.

RB Leipzig has played 4 seasons in the top flight in its history.

The club has no major trophies with the team’s greatest accomplishment to date that they finished in 2nd place in the Bundesliga for the 2016-2017 season. They also finished in 2nd in the 2018-2019 DFB Pokal.

RB’s record first team appearance holder is Yussuf Poulsen with 235 first team appearances at time of recording. He is still an active player and is likely to add to that tally.

The club’s record goal scorer is Daniel Frahn with 88 first team goals. It should be noted that Timo Werner has 76 goals at time of recording and is still an active player. He could break that record if he remains with Leipzig through the end of the season & into the future.

Leipzig’s record transfer purchase was Naby Keïta from RB Salzburg in Austria on July 1, 2016 for ~€24M

And the club’s record transfer sale was Naby Keïta Liverpool FC in England officially on July 1, 2018 for ~€60M. The transfer was actually agreed the season before.

And 1 last interesting fact about the club: since the 3. Liga was created in 2008, RB Leipzig is the only team to gain promotion out of the 3rd tier in its first ever season in that division.

So there you have it… a bit of history on RasenBallsport Leipzig. 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!