Sportfreunde Stuttgart  The Sportfreunde Stuttgart is a German association football club from the city of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club was formed, as a gymnastics club, on 18 April 1874, under the name of Turnverein Heslach. In June 1889, the club changed its name to Turnverein Karlsvorstadt. On 20 June 1896, a separate football club, the Fußballclub Karlsvorstadt, was formed. In 1900, it merged with two other clubs, the "F.C. Adler" and the "F.C. Askania" to form the Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 1896. The club was a founding member of the Südkreis-Liga in 1908, then the highest level of play in the Baden-Württemberg region. In 1909 the club participated in the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in Italy, which is believed to be the precursor of the World Cup. The club existed there as a mid-table side but, in 1912–13, after a league reduction from 13 to eight clubs the previous season, it came last and was relegated. In this era, the club had Eugen Kipp in its ranks, who played 18 times for Germany between 1908 and 1913, 16 of those as a "Sportfreunde" player. After the First World War, on 2 August 1919, Turnverein Karlsvorstadt and Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 1896 merged to form the current club, Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 1896. The team made a return to the highest league in the region, which was now the Kreisliga Württemberg and came third in 1919–20. "Sportfreundes" most successful season came in 1921–22. It took out the title in its local division, the Kreisliga Württemberg having been split into two regional divisions. In the Württemberg-final, it managed to defeat Stuttgarter Kickers 1–0 and 3–2. From there, it advanced to the Württemberg-Baden championship, where it overcame Karlsruher FV 1–0 and 1–1. Advancing to the Southern German championship, it lost 0–1 to Borussia Neunkirchen in the semi-finals. The next season saw the club missing out on qualification for the new Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden and "Sportfreunde" was relegated to the second tier, where it stayed until 1926, when it earned promotion.