title: VfR Mannheim
text: # VfR Mannheim
  
  VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the national title in 1949 with a victory over Borussia Dortmund. They have played through most of its recent history as an unheralded local amateur side and were, until 2015, part of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (V).
  
  ## History
  
  Predecessor sides FG Mannheim, Mannheimer FG Union and Viktoria Mannheim were each founding members of the German Football Association in 1900. These various Mannheim teams were members of the VSFV (Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine or Federation of South German Football Clubs) and after their merger in 1911 played as VfR through the 1910s and 1920s in the Westkreis-Liga. The club emerged as the league champions of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1922 and the Bezirksliga Rhein in 1925. They took part in the national playoffs after their Bezirksliga title and subsequent regional Süddeutschland win, but went out in an eighth final to TuRu Düsseldorf. The club finished in mid-table throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s in the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar.
  
  ### Success through the 1930s and 1940s
  
  After the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich into sixteen top flight regional leagues, Mannheim began play in the Gauliga Baden. The club performed well in the years leading up to World War II and the throughout the conflict, taking division titles in 1935, 1938, 1939, 1943 and 1944. However they could not translate this success in league play into success in the national playoffs with their best result being an advance to the 1943 quarterfinals where they were put out 2–3 by eventual vice-champions FV Saarbrücken.
  
  Mannheim repeated as division champions in 1944. Wartime conditions made playing football increasingly difficult in the country, so much so that the national playoffs were initially abandoned and VfR declared champions by the sport's governing authority. However, this decision was revoked after protests from other clubs and the playoff competition reinstated. Mannheim advanced only as far as the eighth final before being eliminated by 1. FC Nürnberg.
  
  ### Postwar national championship
  
  After the war VfR Mannheim played in the first division Oberliga Süd where they earned unremarkable results until a surprising breakthrough in 1949 that saw the team transform a distant second-place finish in their division into a national championship. After thrashing Hamburger SV 5–0 in the opening round, they upset Kickers Offenbach, who had finished eleven points ahead of them in their Oberliga division that season, by a score of 2–1. VfR then earned a come from behind 3–2 overtime victory over Borussia Dortmund in front of 90,000 fans in the final. Between 1903 and 1944 German national champions were awarded the Viktoria trophy. The 1944 final between Dresdner SC and Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg was the last Viktoria match ever played as the trophy disappeared at war's end. The missing prize was replaced by the Meisterschale in 1949 and was first awarded to Mannheim despite 1. FC Nürnberg being Germany's first postwar champions in 1948. Today the Meisterschale recognizes the country's Bundesliga champions and is inscribed with the names of each national championship team since 1903. The Viktoria has since been recovered and is held by the German Football Association.
  
  The next year they again met Dortmund in the playoffs, this time in the opening round, and once again eliminated them. However, they would themselves be put out in the next round by Preußen Dellbrück and begin a slide into anonymity.
  
  ### Descent from the top flight
  
  Mannheim played in the second tier Regionalliga Süd formed in 1963 at the same time as Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga. After ten years near or at the bottom of the league table they fell to tier III football, the Amateurliga Nordbaden. Despite ongoing financial problems they rebuffed offers of a merger from SV Waldhof Mannheim in 1998 and again in 2003. They were denied a license that year and driven to the Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V). However, the side performed well enough to win their division the next season and promotion to Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV), where they play today. With a sixteenth place in 2007–08, they narrowly avoided relegation, being on equal points with the seventeenth team.
  
  After suffering relegation in 2009, the club took two seasons to recover before returning to the Oberliga in 2011. In its first season back the club finished second in the league behind SSV Ulm 1846. In the 2014–15 season the club came second-last in the league and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.
  
  ## Honours
  
  The club's honours:
  
  League
  
  German football championship
  
  Champions: 1949
  
  Southern German championship
  
  Champions: 1925
  
  Regional
  
  Westkreis-Liga (I)
  
  Champions: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914
  
  Kreisliga Odenwald (I)
  
  Champions: 1922
  
  Runners-up: 1920, 1921
  
  Bezirksliga Rhein (I)
  
  Champions: 1925, 1926
  
  Runners-up: 1924, 1927
  
  Gauliga Baden (I)
  
  Champions: 1935, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1944
  
  Runners-up: 1934, 1937, 1940
  
  Amateurliga Nordbaden (III)
  
  Champions: 1973, 1976
  
  Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V)
  
  Champions: 2004
  
  Runners-up: 2011
  
  Southern German Cup
  
  Winners: 1959
  
  North Baden Cup (Tiers III-VII)
  
  Winners: 1972, 1997, 2001
  
  Runners-up: 2004
  
  Other sports
  
  The club has won the German championship in baseball in 1965, 1966 and 1970.
  
  Recent managers
  
  Recent managers of the club:
  
  Manager
  
  Start
  
  Finish
  
  Rainer Ulrich
  
  1 January 2005
  
  31 June 2006
  
  Walter Pradt
  
  1 July 2006
  
  17 April 2007
  
  Rainer Ulrich
  
  18 April 2007
  
  30 June 2007
  
  Dieter Heimen
  
  1 July 2007
  
  25 October 2007
  
  Ralf Köhnlein
  
  26 October 2007
  
  31 December 2007
  
  Rafael Sánchez
  
  1 January 2008
  
  13 January 2009
  
  Gernot Jüllich
  
  13 January 2009
  
  28 January 2011
  
  Kenan Kocak
  
  2 February 2011
  
  Present
  
  Recent seasons
  
  The recent season-by-season performance of the club:
  
  Season
  
  Division
  
  Tier
  
  Position
  
  1999–2000
  
  Regionalliga Süd
  
  III
  
  3rd
  
  2000–01
  
  Regionalliga Süd
  
  8th
  
  2001–02
  
  Regionalliga Süd
  
  9th ↓
  
  2002–03
  
  2003–04
  
  Verbandsliga Baden
  
  V
  
  1st ↑
  
  2004–05
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  IV
  
  12th
  
  2005–06
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  10th
  
  2006–07
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  15th
  
  2007–08
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  16th
  
  2008–09
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  V
  
  16th ↓
  
  2009–10
  
  Verbandsliga Nordbaden
  
  VI
  
  4th
  
  2010–11
  
  Verbandsliga Nordbaden
  
  2nd ↑
  
  2011–12
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  V
  
  2nd
  
  2012–13
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  3rd
  
  2013–14
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  15th
  
  2014–15
  
  Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  17th ↓
  
  2015–16
  
  Verbandsliga Baden
  
  VI
  
  3rd
  
  2016–17
  
  Verbandsliga Baden
  
  With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.
  
  ↑ Promoted
  
  ↓ Relegated
  
  References
  
  ↑ Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kassel: Agon-Sportverlag. ISBN 9783897841475.↑ Grüne, Hardy (1996). Vom Kronprinzen bis zur Bundesliga. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-928562-85-1↑ VfR Mannheim .:. Trainer von A-Z (in German) weltfussball.de, accessed: 4 September 2011↑ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables↑ Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Archived 7 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues
  
  External links
  
  Official website (in German)
  
  Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)
  
  VfR Mannheim at Weltfussball.de
  
  vteVfR MannheimInformation
  
  Club
  
  Managers
  
  Players
  
  Matches
  
  Matches
  
  1949 German football championship Final
  
  vteOberliga Baden-Württemberg (V) 2023–24 clubs
  
  TSG Backnang
  
  FSV 08 Bissingen
  
  FC Denzlingen
  
  TSV Essingen
  
  1. FC Normannia Gmünd
  
  1. Göppinger SV
  
  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach
  
  FSV Hollenbach
  
  FC Holzhausen
  
  VfR Mannheim
  
  ATSV Mutschelbach
  
  FC Nöttingen
  
  SV Oberachern
  
  Offenburger FV
  
  1. CfR Pforzheim
  
  FV Ravensburg
  
  SSV Reutlingen
  
  FC 08 Villingen
  
  List of clubs in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
  
  vte2. BundesligaSeasons
  
  1974–75
  
  1975–76
  
  1976–77
  
  1977–78
  
  1978–79
  
  1979–80
  
  1980–81
  
  1981–82
  
  1982–83
  
  1983–84
  
  1984–85
  
  1985–86
  
  1986–87
  
  1987–88
  
  1988–89
  
  1989–90
  
  1990–91
  
  1991–92
  
  1992–93
  
  1993–94
  
  1994–95
  
  1995–96
  
  1996–97
  
  1997–98
  
  1998–99
  
  1999–2000
  
  2000–01
  
  2001–02
  
  2002–03
  
  2003–04
  
  2004–05
  
  2005–06
  
  2006–07
  
  2007–08
  
  2008–09
  
  2009–10
  
  2010–11
  
  2011–12
  
  2012–13
  
  2013–14
  
  2014–15
  
  2015–16
  
  2016–17
  
  2017–18
  
  2018–19
  
  2019–20
  
  2020–21
  
  2021–22
  
  2022–23
  
  2023–24
  
  2023–24 clubs
  
  Eintracht Braunschweig
  
  Fortuna Düsseldorf
  
  SV Elversberg
  
  Greuther Fürth
  
  Hamburger SV
  
  Hannover 96
  
  Hertha BSC
  
  1. FC Kaiserslautern
  
  Karlsruher SC
  
  Holstein Kiel
  
  1. FC Magdeburg
  
  1. FC Nürnberg
  
  SC Paderborn
  
  VfL Osnabrück
  
  Hansa Rostock
  
  Schalke 04
  
  FC St. Pauli
  
  Wehen Wiesbaden
  
  Former clubs2. Bundesliga (1981–present)
  
  Alemannia Aachen
  
  VfR Aalen
  
  Rot Weiss Ahlen
  
  Viktoria Aschaffenburg
  
  Erzgebirge Aue
  
  FC Augsburg
  
  SV Babelsberg 03
  
  SpVgg Bayreuth
  
  Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin
  
  Tennis Borussia Berlin
  
  Union Berlin
  
  Arminia Bielefeld
  
  VfL Bochum
  
  Stahl Brandenburg
  
  Werder Bremen
  
  Wacker Burghausen
  
  VfR Bürstadt
  
  SC Charlottenburg
  
  Chemnitzer FC
  
  Energie Cottbus
  
  Darmstadt 98
  
  Dynamo Dresden
  
  MSV Duisburg
  
  Rot-Weiß Erfurt
  
  Rot-Weiss Essen
  
  Eintracht Frankfurt
  
  FSV Frankfurt
  
  Freiburger FC
  
  SC Freiburg
  
  FC Gütersloh
  
  Hallescher FC
  
  TSV Havelse
  
  1. FC Heidenheim
  
  1899 Hoffenheim
  
  FC Homburg
  
  FC Ingolstadt
  
  Carl Zeiss Jena
  
  Hessen Kassel
  
  TuS Koblenz
  
  1. FC Köln
  
  Fortuna Köln
  
  RB Leipzig
  
  VfB Leipzig
  
  VfB Lübeck
  
  1. FSV Mainz 05
  
  Waldhof Mannheim
  
  SV Meppen
  
  Borussia Mönchengladbach
  
  TSV 1860 Munich
  
  Preußen Münster
  
  Kickers Offenbach
  
  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
  
  VfB Oldenburg
  
  Jahn Regensburg
  
  FC Remscheid
  
  SSV Reutlingen
  
  Hansa Rostock
  
  1. FC Saarbrücken
  
  FSV Salmrohr
  
  SV Sandhausen
  
  TuS Schloß Neuhaus
  
  1. FC Schweinfurt 05
  
  Sportfreunde Siegen
  
  Union Solingen
  
  VfB Stuttgart
  
  Stuttgarter Kickers
  
  Eintracht Trier
  
  KFC Uerdingen 05
  
  SSV Ulm 1846
  
  SpVgg Unterhaching
  
  Wattenscheid 09
  
  VfL Wolfsburg
  
  Wormatia Worms
  
  Wuppertaler SV
  
  Würzburger Kickers
  
  FSV Zwickau
  
  2. Bundesliga Nord (1974–1981)
  
  HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst
  
  Wacker 04 Berlin
  
  1. FC Bocholt
  
  Bonner SC
  
  OSC Bremerhaven
  
  Borussia Dortmund
  
  SpVgg Erkenschwick
  
  Schwarz-Weiß Essen
  
  1. SC Göttingen 05
  
  DJK Gütersloh
  
  Arminia Hannover
  
  OSV Hannover
  
  SC Herford
  
  Westfalia Herne
  
  Viktoria Köln
  
  Bayer Leverkusen
  
  Rot-Weiß Lüdenscheid
  
  1. FC Mülheim
  
  Spandauer SV
  
  DSC Wanne-Eickel
  
  Olympia Wilhelmshaven
  
  2. Bundesliga Süd (1974–1981)
  
  Eintracht Bad Kreuznach
  
  KSV Baunatal
  
  VfB Eppingen
  
  FC Hanau 93
  
  VfR Heilbronn
  
  Bayern Hof
  
  ESV Ingolstadt
  
  MTV Ingolstadt
  
  VfR Mannheim
  
  Borussia Neunkirchen
  
  FK Pirmasens
  
  BSV 07 Schwenningen
  
  Röchling Völklingen
  
  Würzburger FV
  
  Clubs
  
  Introduction
  
  Promotion to 2. Bundesliga
  
  Promotion to Bundesliga
  
  Top scorers :
  
  