What is the oldest football club in Germany?
Altonaer FC von 1893
"Altona" is one of Germany's oldest football clubs: they were part of the Altona-Hamburg football league formed in 1894, as well as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900. In 1903 at their home ground, they hosted the first-ever German national championship final played between "VfB Leipzig" and "DFC Prague". The match was refereed by "AFC" player Franz Behr, who also served as the vice-chairman of the newly formed DFB until 1904. The club rescued the match by providing a new ball when the original one proved to be unsuitable for play. The hosts of the country's first title match never won or even played in a national final, being able to advance only as far as the semi-finals in 1903 and 1909, and the quarter-finals in 1914.
Sport in Hamburg
The Vierländer Schützengesellschaft (approximate translation: Vierlande Shooting Club) is one of the oldest still existing organisation in Hamburg. It was established in 1592. In 1830 the Hamburg Chess Club (Hamburger Schachklub, HSK or HSK von 1830) was founded.
Der Hamburger Ruder Club was founded in 1836, as one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world. In 1934 it was merged with the Germania Ruder Club (GRC), to form Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club (HGRC). The Germania Ruder Club's coxed fours won rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. 
On January 20, 1900 the FC Association 1893 Hamburg and FC Eintracht Altona were two of 86 founders of the German Football Association. As old as the history of sports clubs in Hamburg, as old is the history of competing and hosting tournaments. The 3rd Chess Olympiad organized by the German Chess Federation took place between July 13 and July 27, 1930, in Hamburg. 12 players from the Hamburg Chess Club won the German Team Championship in 1956 and 1958. In 1987 the Hamburg Chess Club were German Cup winner (Pokalsieger).
List of German football champions
Brought to the country by English expatriates, the sport had taken root in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Leipzig in the 1890s, leading to the growth of city, regional, and academic leagues, each with their own championships. Following the establishment of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball Bund) in 1900, the first recognized national championship match was hosted by Hamburg club Altona 93 in 1903 in which VfB Leipzig defeated DFC Prag 7–2, and was awarded the Viktoria, the championship trophy from 1903 to 1944. Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues. Since 1963, the first-place finisher in the Bundesliga has been recognized as the national champion.
BFuCC Deutschland Berlin
BFuCC Deutschland Berlin was an early German association football club from the city of Berlin. The club is notable as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund, en:German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900. The club's full name was "Berliner Fußball -und Cricket Club Deutschland" and, like many other clubs of the era built around enthusiasm for the new English sports of football, rugby, and cricket, "Deutschland" also fielded a cricket side.
FC Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e.V., commonly known as FC Bayern München (), FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria (Bayern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, and is the most successful club in German football history, having won a record 28 national titles and 18 national cups.
History of association football
The oldest club in continental Europe could be the Swiss club Lausanne Football and Cricket Club, founded 1860. Football was introduced in a Belgian school in Melle (near Ghent) in 1863. In the Netherlands the first football match was played in 1865 in Enschede. This was followed by the founding of Koninklijke HFC by Pim Mulier in 1879. The Koninklijke HFC was the first Dutch football club. Ten years later, in 1889, the Royal Dutch Football Association (the KNVB) was founded. Association football was introduced in the Danish club, Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) by English residents, in Swiss club FC St. Gallen in 1879 and in Belgium Royal Antwerp FC in 1880. This makes KB, St. Gallen, Koninklijke HFC and Royal Antwerp FC the oldest still existing football clubs on Continental Europe. However, Royal Antwerp FC (nickname "The Great Old") is the only one that never merged with or into another club.
1. FC Nürnberg
1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg () or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the Bundesliga. Founded in 1900, the club initially competed in the Southern German championship, winning their first title in 1916. Their first German championship was won in 1920. Before the inauguration of the Bundesliga in 1963, 1.FCN won a further 11 regional championships, including the Oberliga Süd formed in 1945, and were German champions another seven times. The club has won the Bundesliga once and the DFB-Pokal four times.
SC Union 06 Berlin
SC Union 06 Berlin traces its roots back to the F.C. Olympia Oberschöneweide, a club formed in 1906. Renamed to SC Union Oberschöneweide the predecessor club won the Berlin championship in 1920, 1923, 1940 and 1948 as well as the Berlin Cup in 1947 and 1948. "Union's" greatest success however came in the 1923 German football championship where it reached the final but lost 3–0 to Hamburger SV. After the Second World War the club reformed as SG Oberschöneweide. It took part in the 1948 German football championship but lost to 7–0 FC St. Pauli in the quarter finals.
1. FC Phönix Lübeck
1. FC Phönix Lübeck is a German association football club from the city of Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein. The club's has, historically, played at highest level in Germany, with the last stint of this coming from 1957 to 1960 in the tier one Oberliga Nord. After the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 "Phönix" played in the tier two Regionalliga Nord from 1967 to 1974 but has since fallen to regional amateur level.
Eintracht Duisburg 1848
Eintracht Duisburg is a German sportsclub from the city of Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1848 it is one of the country's oldest sport associations.
Southern German football championship
The Süddeutsche Fußball-Verband (SFV), the Southern German Football Association was formed in Karlsruhe on 17 October 1897, three years before the German Football Association (DFB) was formed. It originally was named Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine (English: Association of Southern German football clubs). One of the leading figures and driving force in the Southern German football was Walther Bensemann, founder of the "kicker sportmagazin", a position he retained until the Nazis rise to power. The other driving force behind football in the south of Germany was Friedrich Wilhelm Nohe, chairman of the Karlsruher FV. The association was formed by eight clubs, those being:
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund , BVB, or simply Dortmund, is a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1909 by eighteen football players from Dortmund, the football team is part of a large membership-based sports club with more than 145,000 members, making BVB the second largest sports club by membership in Germany. Dortmund plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system.
Dresden English Football Club
The Dresden English Football Club was founded in 1874 and was the first football club in Germany, probably the first in continental Europe. That year, over 70 members participated, primarily Englishmen working in Dresden, watched by hundreds of spectators. They played on a meadow at the Güntzwiesen, near the Blüherpark and the site of today's Glücksgas Stadium.
SC Germania Hamburg
On 20 Oktober 1894 the "Hamburg-Altonaer Fußball-Bund", the "Football Association of Hamburg and Altona" - Altona was Prussian city, immediately to the west of Hamburg, that like Wandsbek should be merged with Hamburg in 1937 - was founded and as the third German football association outside the imperial capital Berlin after the short-lived south-west German "Süd-Westdeutsche Fußball-Union". The team of SC Germania, dominated by foreigners, mostly Britons, secured itself in 1896 and 1897 the first two championships of the association - undefeated on both occasions. In that period the "Heiligengeistfeld" and the "Exerzierweide" in Altona, the latter was also venue of the first national German championship final in 1903, found use as homegrounds.
SC Germania, like "Hamburger FC 1888" were amongst the 86 clubs who founded on 28 January 1900 the national German football association Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Both, like all clubs, from the Hamburg-Altona association and Bremen, were represented at the assembly in Leipzig by Walter Sommermeier.
Elektra Berlin
Elektra Berlin was a German association football club from the city of Berlin and was a predecessor of current-day club "FC Treptow". The club was the team of the city's power utility workers, established in 1928 as "Workverein der BEWAG Berlin". It was renamed "Sportverein BEWAG Berlin" on 28 January 1937 before being again renamed "SV Elektra Berlin" on 3 October 1938. The club was lost on 11 May 1942.
FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin
FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin was formed in a merger of BFC Viktoria 1889, one of the oldest football clubs in Germany, and Lichterfelder FC, a club which had gone through a number of name changes and mergers before.
Salzburger AK 1914
Salzburger AK 1914 is a football club based in the city of Salzburg, Austria. It was founded in 1914 and is the oldest football club from that city.
FC Hanau 93
Founded in 1893, the club is Hesse's oldest. In its first year, the club was winless in a half dozen matches, but the next season emerged as south German champion and earned an appearance in a national championship match. Hanau was one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association formed in 1900.
Sport in Hamburg
Sport in Hamburg has a long and distinguished history. Hamburg sport clubs were instrumental in introducing British sports to Germany, or in some cases the continent as a whole. Next to ball and equestrian sports, water sports play an important role in Hamburg. Some of the founders of the German Football Association (DFB) came from Hamburg. One of the world's oldest rowing clubs is based in Hamburg.
FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin
FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin is a German association football club, formed in 2013 following a merger of BFC Viktoria 1889 and Lichterfelder FC. With 1,600 active members the club has the largest football department in Germany.
Oldest football clubs
The history of the formation of the oldest football clubs is of interest to sport historians in tracing the origins of the modern codes of football from casual pastime to early organised competition and mainstream sport. The identity of the first or oldest football clubs in the world, or even in a particular country, is often disputed or claimed by several clubs, across several codes of football.
SV Göppingen
SV Göppingen is a German association football club from the city of Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg. The team was established on 13 October 1905 as "1. Göppingener Fuβballverein" and lays claim to being the oldest football club in the city. On 24 April 1920, soon after World War I the club merged with "Athletiksportverein 1895 Göppingen" and took on its current identity. The origins of predecessor side "ASV" go back to 11 August 1895 formation of "1. Athletik Klub Göppingen". This club merged with "Kraftsportverein Fortuna Göppingen" in 1901 to become "Athleten-Klub Foruna Göppingen". They adopted the name "Athletiksportverein Göppingen" early in 1907, and in 1911 merged with "Sportclub Göppingen".
SC Naumburg
Naumburg SC was a German association football club that played in Naumburg, Saxony-Anhalt. The club was founded 29 September 1899 and was the first formed in the city. Part of the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspiel-Vereine (VMBV), "Naumburg" played their home matches at the Vogelwiese ("bird meadow") wearing the team colours of black and white.
SK Vorwärts Steyr
SK Vorwärts Steyr is an Austrian association football club based in Steyr. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Vorwärts Stadium. Currently the club has about 300 members. The club is one of the oldest football clubs in Upper Austria. In 1999 the club went bankrupt and reformed in lower leagues later in 2001. In 2011 Vorwarts was promoted to the Regional League (Middle) which is part of third division of Austrian league football. In 2018 they were promoted to the second division.
TSC Eintracht Dortmund
Predecessor side "Dortmunder SC 1895" was established on 10 May 1895 as "Dortmunder Fussball Club 1895" and is recognized as the city's oldest football club. The team folded in 1897, but was re-formed on 27 October 1899. It was joined by "Fussball Club Union Dortmund" in 1910 and on 13 July 1913 merged with "Ballspielverein 1904 Dortmund" to become "Sportvereinigung Dortmund 1895" before first adopting the name "Dortmunder Sport Club 1895" in 1919. This combined side made an appearance in the top flight regional playoff round in 1920–21.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Since 2004, Borussia Mönchengladbach have played at Borussia-Park, having previously played at the Bökelbergstadion since 1919. Based on membership, Borussia Mönchengladbach is the fifth largest club in Germany, with over 75,000 members. The club's main rivals are FC Köln, against whom they contest the Rheinland Derby.
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
The "Bad Homburger Golf Club 1899 e. V." in the "Röderweisen" in Dornholzhausen—nowadays part of Bad Homburg—- is Germany's oldest golf club. It had its beginnings in the Bad Homburg Spa Park ("Kurpark"), where the old clubhouse and even playable parts of the old golf course may still be found.
DSV 78 Hannover
On 7 June 1964, Germanys oldest rugby club finally earned its first German championship, beating FC St. Pauli 11–0 in Offenbach am Main.
Hannover 96
Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 , Hannover, HSV (although this may cause confusion with Hamburger SV) or simply 96, is a German association football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. Hannover 96 play in the Bundesliga, the first tier in the German football league system, having earned promotion from the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second tier, after finishing runners-up in the 2016–17 season.
VfB Sangerhausen
The roots of the club go back to the formation of "VfB Sangerhausen" in 1906. Following the end of World War II occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of most organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs, and the team was lost. In 1945 the former membership of "VfB" and other sports clubs were re-organized as "Sportgemeinde Sangerhausen". Area footballers established "SG Wacker 48 Sangerhausen" in 1948. The following year local teams were merged into the multi-sports club "Betreibssportgemeinschaft Mifa Sangerhausen" while the footballers moved on to form "BSG Einheit Sangerhausen". In 1956 "Einheit" was merged into "BSG Stahl Sangerhausen", which was itself known as "BSG Aktivist Sangerhausen" in 1950–51. The club was again renamed in 1970 to become "BSG Mansfeld-Kombinat Sangerhausen".
Berlin Sluggers
The Berlin Sluggers, officially named "Sluggers eV Berlin", is a baseball club founded on October 1, 1985 in Berlin, Germany, making it the oldest baseball club in Berlin. The first men's team played a few seasons in the first division of the German Baseball Bundesliga in the early nineties and was promoted again for the 2011 season. However, though the team qualified to advance to the first division in 2006, it was unable to do so due to financial constraints.
FFC Heike Rheine
FFC Heike Rheine was a German women's football club based in Rheine, North Rhine-Westphalia. Heike Rheine was the first independent women's football club in Germany.
Ansbach Grizzlies
The Ansbach Grizzlies are an American football team based in Ansbach, Germany. The club, together with the Düsseldorf Panther and the Munich Cowboys, is one of the oldest in Germany. The Grizzlies were a dominating force in the game during the first decade of American football in Germany, reaching all of the first eight German Bowls.
Berliner Fussball Club vom Jahre 1893
Berliner Fußball-Club vom Jahre 1893 was a German association football club from the city of Berlin. The club is notable as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund, en:German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900. It was one of the predecessors of current day club "Nordring Berlin".
FC Nordstern 1896 München
FC Nordstern 1896 München was a short-lived German association football club in Munich, Bavaria. Both "Nordstern" and "1. Münchner FC 1896" laid claim to being the oldest football clubs in the city. Alongside "FC Bavaria 1899 München", these clubs were notable as founding members of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball Bund) at Leipzig in 1900.
BFC Germania 1888
German football clubs typically include the date of their founding in their club's name. A number of sides – for example SSV Ulm 1846, VfL Bochum, and TSV 1860 München – have earlier founding dates, but were formed as gymnastics or athletics clubs and did not take up football until Germania's formation.
History of rugby union
By the end of the 19th century, rugby football and rugby union had spread far and wide. This spread was by no means confined to the British Empire.
Rugby football was an early arrival in Germany. The first German rugby team existed at Neuenheim College – now called Heidelberg College – in Heidelberg. Around 1850, the game started to attract the attention of the students. Students under the guidance of the teacher Edward Hill Ullrich were the ones who then founded the rugby department of the Heidelberger Ruderklub von 1872/Heidelberger Flaggenklub was established. (HRK 1872) in 1891, which today claims to be the oldest German rugby club. The oldest still existing rugby department within a club is that of DSV 78 Hannover, formed in 1878 by Ferdinand-Wilhelm Fricke. German rugby has traditionally been centred on Heidelberg and Hanover, but has spread over the entire country in recent decades.
FC Wacker München
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Wacker was one of the pioneers of women's football in Germany commencing operations immediately after the German association permitted the sport in 1970. The women's football department of Wacker was moderately successful, achieving two one year stints in the top-level Bundesliga in 1992/93 and 1994/95. They left the club to form their own independent club in 1999, FFC Wacker München, becoming the first independent wonmen's football club in Bavaria. Since 2005 FFC Wacker co-operates with TSV 1860 München. They now play in Group South of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga (women).
Fortuna Sachsenross Hannover
Fortuna Sachsenross Hannover is a German sports club for football and pétanque based in Hanover. The club's roots are convoluted and can be traced to several local clubs, the oldest of those going back to 1891.
Weißenseer FC
Weißenseer FC is a German football club from district of Weißensee in the city of Berlin. The club's roots go back its founding on 8 September 1900, while more recently it has been linked with "Sportverein Prussia Berlin" and "Pankower Fußball Verein Bergmann-Borsig".
SC Germania Hamburg
The northern German associations joined to form the Northern German Football Association, the "Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband" in 1905. In that period many players left Germania, which forthwith was in decline and eventually was relegated in 1912. After the outbreak of World War I Germania, like all other clubs, had a shortage of players and in order to be able to field teams entered into temporary associations with "SV Uhlenhorst-Hertha" and SC Concordia.
After the end of the war the club could not revive its fortunes and merged on 2 June 1919 with "Hamburger SV von 1888", Northern German champions of that year, to form today's Hamburger SV, seven times German champions and European Cup of Champions' winner of 1982. Hamburger SV carries 1887 as its official year of foundation. The club colours were the Hanseatic red and white in honour of the City of Hamburg, with the blue and black of the oldest of the founding clubs, Germania, being used on the team badge. It is through Germania that HSV can lay a claim to being the German football club tracing back the furthest.
Segelclub Rhe
Segelclub Rhe ("Sailing Club Rhe") is the oldest yacht club in Germany. It was established in 1855 in Königsberg, East Prussia.
Segelclub RHE began when Ernst Burow, then a high school student, got a fishing boat as a present and needed a few friends to sail it. The club quickly became very successful and organized not only sailing events in the Baltic Sea and nearby lakes in the summer, but also ice sailing competitions in the winter. Segelclub RHE contributed to the foundation of the Deutscher Segler-Verband (German Sailing Association) in 1888.
Football in Germany
The Dresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany. It was founded in 1874 by Englishmen living and working around Dresden. In the following 20 years the game achieved a growing popularity. Football clubs were founded in Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe.
Nordring Berlin
SG Nordring Berlin is a German association football club based in the capital city of Berlin. The club traces its roots back to 22 November 1893 establishment of "Berliner Fussball Club vom Jahre 1893". "BFC 93" became one of the founding clubs of the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund, en:German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900. They played top flight city football in the Märkischer Fussball Bund from 1904–07 before slipping to lower tier competition.
Braunschweig
Braunschweig's major local football team is Eintracht Braunschweig. Founded in 1895, Eintracht Braunschweig can look back on a long and chequered history. Eintracht Braunschweig won the German football championship in 1967, and currently plays in the 3. Bundesliga, the third tier of German football, and attracts a large number of supporters. Braunschweig was also arguably the city in which the first ever game of football in Germany took place. The game had been brought to Germany by the local school teacher Konrad Koch, also the first to write down a German version of the rules of football, who organized the first match between pupils from his school "Martino-Katharineum" in 1874. The 2011 German drama film Lessons of a Dream is based on Koch.
BTuFC Toscana Berlin
BTuFC Toscana Berlin was an early German association football club from the city of Berlin. The club is notable as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund, en:German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900.
BFC Fortuna 1894 Berlin
Fortuna Berlin ("Berliner Fussball Club Fortuna 1894 ") was a German association football club established on 1 November 1894 in Berlin out of the memberships of the clubs "Semnonia Berlin" and "Berliner FC Hercynia". The short-lived side is notable as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) in Leipzig in 1900. The club colours were black and blue and the footballers played in a kit of white shirts and black shorts at their home pitch at Tempelhofer Feld.
Hamburger SV
SC Germania was formed originally as an athletics club and did not begin to play football until 1891, when some Englishmen joined the club and introduced it. SC Germania had its first success in 1896, winning the Hamburg-Altona championship for the first of five times. Germania player Hans Nobiling emigrated to Brazil at the end of the 19th century, where he became an important pioneer of the game, instrumental in the foundation of SC Internacional, the third oldest club of the country which became part of São Paulo FC, one of the major sports clubs of Brazil, in 1938 and SC Germânia of São Paulo, which later became EC Pinheiros.
Football in Berlin
Hertha BSC were founded on 25 July 1892 and were a founding member of the German Football Association (DFB) in 1900. Hertha won its only two German championships in 1930 and 1931, the latter being the last DFB league title won by a Berlin club. Hertha was the most successful club in the Brandenburg football championship (1892-1933), winning on 12 occasions, including seven consecutive titles between 1925 and 1931 and the last-ever season in 1932-33 before the league's abolition by the Nazi regime.
Dortmund
Dortmund is home to the sports club Borussia Dortmund, one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund are former Bundesliga champions most recently in 2011–12. Borussia Dortmund won the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1997, as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1966. This made it the first European Cup winner in Germany. 'Die Borussen' are eight-time German Champions and have won four German Cups. Borussia Dortmund play at Westfalenstadion, currently known as Signal Iduna Park. It was built for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and also hosted some matches of 2006 FIFA World Cup. It is Germany's largest football stadium with a maximum capacity of 81,359 spectators.
Borussia Dortmund has a women's handball team playing in the first Bundesliga.
Oldest football clubs
The Danish Kjøbenhavns Boldklub is the oldest football club on continental Europe. The club was formed in 1876 and association football was first played two years later.
Cologne Crocodiles
The Cologne Crocodiles were formed in 1980, making it one of the oldest American football clubs in Germany. The club, in its first season, took part in the Nordwestdeutsche Football Liga, a renegade league which only existed for two seasons, 1980 and 1981.
SV Stern Britz 1889
SV Stern Britz 1889 is a German football club from Britz, which is part of the city district of Neukölln in southcentral Berlin. Predecessor "BFC Stern" was one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association in 1900.
Football in Berlin
BFC Viktoria 1889 was established in 1889 and was a founder of the DFB in 1900. The club emerged as the strongest football club in Berlin at the turn of the century, until World War I and won two German championships (1907–08 and 1910–11). It was weakened by the division of Berlin during the Cold War, as only one of Berlin's clubs was permitted entry to the new Bundesliga in 1963, an honour given to Hertha.
Sportfreunde Siegen
The club was founded in 1899 as the football department of a gymnastics club called "Turnverein Jahn von 1879 Siegen", being one of the first clubs in Western Germany to offer organized football to its members. In 1923, it merged with "Sportverein 07 Siegen" to become an independent football club called "Sportfreunde Siegen von 1899".
Football in Austria
The oldest team in Austria is First Vienna FC, champion of the German Cup in 1943 and six Austrian leagues. SK Rapid Wien is the most successful team in the country, with 32 league titles, one German championship and two runners-up in the European Cup Winners Cup. FK Austria Wien also managed to be a finalist of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1978 and FC Red Bull Salzburg were finalist of the UEFA Cup in 1993–94.
Göteborgs BK
Göteborgs BK ("Gothenburg Ball Club") is a now defunct Swedish football club which was located in Gothenburg. The club is the oldest football club in Sweden known by name, and the second oldest known club in Sweden, only preceded by an unnamed society from Gothenburg that was mentioned in an article in Göteborgs-Posten in May 1874. Göteborgs BK was founded a year later, in 1875, and most likely only played the code of football known as Swedish football which was similar to, but not identical to association football. The first chairman was G. Bohlander, a wholesaler.
BFC Frankfurt
"BFC Frankfurt" folded after only a brief existence with the club's members leaving to join "Union 92 Berlin", which in turn became part of current day club "Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin". Nonetheless, "BFC Frankfurt" is recognized as one of the earliest football clubs formed in Germany – with some sources marking it as the country's first – and it was also one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900.
SC Germania Hamburg
Hans Nobiling, a player of Germania, emigrated in the late 19th century to Brazil where he was in 1899 instrumental in founding two of the four oldest football clubs of the country, SC Internacional (SP) which became in 1938 part of São Paulo FC, three times world cup winner, and "SC Germánia" of São Paolo, which today as EC Pinheiros is considered as one of the biggest general sports clubs of the southern hemisphere. Internacional and Germánia won a total of four State Championships of São Paulo
Football in Luxembourg
The oldest football club in Luxembourg is Fola Esch, founded as the "Football and Lawntennis Club" on 9 December 1906 by English language teacher Jean Roeder. Being the oldest club in the country, they are also part of the Club of Pioneers, a group set up by Sheffield FC to join together the oldest clubs in each country.
Ferdinand-Wilhelm Fricke
Ferdinand Wilhelm Fricke (October 11, 1863 – January 17, 1927) was a German teacher and, at the age of 15, founder of the Deutscher FV 1878 Hannover, the oldest rugby union club in Germany. Fricke was also the first chairman of the German Rugby Federation.
Dynamo Dresden
Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club, based in Dresden, Saxony. It was founded on 12 April 1953, as a club affiliated with the East German police, and became one of the most popular and successful clubs in East German football, winning eight league titles. After the reunification of Germany, "Dynamo" played four seasons in the top division Bundesliga (1991–95), but have since drifted between the second and fourth tiers. The club currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga.
SuS Stadtlohn
SuS Stadtlohn (full name: "Spiel- und Sportverein Stadtlohn 19/20 e.V.") is the largest sports club in the German city of Stadtlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 1919. The first squad of its soccer division plays in the Oberliga Westfalen.
ASC 1898 Bremen
ASC Bremen or "Allgemeinen Bremer Sportclub von 1898" was a German association football club based in the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Founded in 1898 the club played briefly (1900–1902) in the Verband Bremer Ballspiel Vereine (Federation of Bremen Ballsport Clubs) fielding both first and second division sides. "ASC" is recognized as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) in Leipzig in 1900.
SSVg Velbert
SSVg Velbert is a German association football club located in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded in 1902 as "Velberter FC 02" and marks itself as the third oldest football club in the region.
Kickers Offenbach
Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs including "Melitia", "Teutonia", "Viktoria", "Germania" and "Neptun". From 1921 to 1925 they were united with "VfB 1900 Offenbach" as "VfR Kickers Offenbach" until resuming their status as a separate side, "Offenbacher FC Kickers". Since 2012, Kickers Offenbach's stadium has been the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium.
Mainz
Other cultural aspects of the city include:The local football club 1. FSV Mainz 05 has a long history in the German football leagues. Since 2004 it has competed in the Bundesliga (First German soccer league) except a break in second level in 2007–08 season. Mainz is closely associated with renowned coach Jürgen Klopp, who spent the vast majority of his playing career at the club and was also the manager for seven years, leading the club to Bundesliga football for the first time. After leaving Mainz Klopp went on to win two Bundesliga titles and reaching a Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund. In the summer 2011 the club opened its new stadium called Coface Arena. Further relevant football clubs are TSV Schott Mainz, SV Gonsenheim, Fontana Finthen, FC Fortuna Mombach and FVgg Mombach 03.
FC Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German association-football club and multi-sports club originally from the district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The "04" in the club's name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke has long been one of the most popular professional football teams and multi-sports club in Germany, even though the club's heyday was in the 1930s and 1940s. Schalke play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. As of June 2018, the club has 155,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the fourth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics (track and field), basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports and eSports.
TSG Bergedorf 1860
TSG Bergedorf is a German association football club from the borough of Bergedorf in the city of Hamburg. The origins of the club are in the formation of the gymnastics club "Bergerdorfer Mannerturnverein" in 1860. In the 1880s two other clubs emerged from this parent association; "Bergedorfer Turnerschaft 1880" and "Allgemeiner Turnerverein Bergedorf von 1885".
FC Polonia Berlin
FC Polonia Berlin is a football club founded by Poles living in Berlin and Germans of Polish descent. The club was founded in 2012, but it refers to the tradition of the "Polski Klub Sportowy Berlin" founded in 1911 and merged in 1951 with "BSG Handelsorganisation Berlin" at "BSG Empor Berlin" (East Berlin). PKS Berlin (or "PKS Zryw Berlin") was in the 3rd division of the GDR. Polonia Berlin plays in Kreisliga C (eleventh-tier). The name Polonia is used by other Polish-centred clubs in Germany (for example "Polonia Hamburg") and abroad.
CSV Olympia 1897
CSV Olympia 1897 is a German association football club from the city of Berlin, formed following a 1992 merger with "BFC Olympia 1953 Berlin". One of the city's earliest football clubs, SC des Westens 97 Berlin, is now part of "CSV Olympia".
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. , commonly known as Hamburger SV, Hamburg or HSV , is a German sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department. Although the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three earlier clubs, it officially traces its origin to 29 September 1887 when the first of the predecessors, SC Germania, was founded. HSV's football team had the distinction of being the only team that had played continuously in the top tier of the German football league system since the founding of the club at the end of World War I. It was the only team that played in every season of the Bundesliga since its foundation in 1963, until 2018 when the team were relegated for the first time in history.
SV Germania Schöneiche
The earliest predecessor of today's association was the gymnastics club "MTV Germania Kleinschönbeck Schöneiche" founded in 1894. In the aftermath of World War II occupying Allied authorities disbanded organizations across the country, including sports and football associations. "Germania" was re-established as "SG Schöneiche" and became part of the separate East German football competition that emerged in the Soviet-occupied part of the country. As was common in East Germany through the 1950s and 1960s the team underwent several name changes, playing as "BSG Lokomotive Schöneiche", "BSG Motor Friedrichshagen", "BSG Motor Ostend", "BSG Empor Köpenick", "TSG Schöneiche". Before German re-unification the club was known as "BSG ZBE Landbau Schöneiche". The footballers did not enjoy any real success, with their play being limited to district league competition.
FC Augsburg
Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg from 1921 to 1969. With over 12,200 members, it is the largest football club in Swabian Bavaria.
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by Franz John. Although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, it won the European Cup three times in a row (1974–1976). Overall, Bayern has reached ten European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their fifth title in 2013 as part of a continental treble. Bayern has also won one UEFA Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup and two Intercontinental Cups, making it one of the most successful European clubs internationally and the only German club to have won both international titles. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 28 titles and has won 10 of the last 14 titles. They have traditional local rivalries with 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with Borussia Dortmund since the mid-1990s.
History of German football
Since the launch of the Bundesliga on 24 August 1963 fifty-five clubs have played in the league ranks. To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the league, two clubs with distinguished Bundesliga histories met in a game on 24 August 2003: Hamburger SV, once known as the "dinosaur" for being the only club which has played in every season of the league's existence until relegation in 2018, and Bayern Munich, the most successful side in German football, which had just won their seventeenth Bundesliga title.
F.C. Copenhagen
Football Club Copenhagen is, in many ways, both an old and a new club. Even though the club was established in 1992, it is rooted in more than 100 years of club tradition. The club's first team represents two separate clubs: Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (continental Europe's oldest football club) founded in 1876 and Boldklubben 1903 founded in 1903. The two Copenhagen clubs merged their first teams to found Copenhagen on 1 July 1992. Copenhagen used Boldklubben's club license to play in the Danish Superliga championship, while Kjøbenhavns Boldklub became the official reserve team of the club. With the rebuilding of the Parken Stadium, Denmark's national team stadium, the new club had a modern stadium to play at from the beginning. The initial ambition of the club was continually to qualify for one of the European competitions each season. To reach this goal, the club needed a solid economy, a relatively big fan base and an "attractive and positive style of football."
FC Mulhouse
Mulhouse was founded under the name Fussball-Club Mülhausen in what was then Mülhausen, Alsace-Lorraine in Germany. The club's location has been dependent on the control of the Alsace region between France and Germany. Mulhouse has played in French football since the re-acquisition of the region after World War II and is the second-oldest football club in France after Le Havre AC. The club has achieved minimal honours in its history having spent most of its existence playing in the amateur divisions of France. However, Mulhouse have spent seven seasons in Ligue 1 and 27 seasons in Ligue 2. The club's highest honour to date in France was winning the Division d'Honneur in 1928. Regionally, Mulhouse has won the Alsace Division d'Honneur seven times. During the club's stint in Germany, it won the Gauliga Elsaß three times.
Koninklijke HFC
Koninklijke HFC (Royal Haarlemsche Football Club) is a football club in Haarlem, Netherlands. It is the oldest club in Dutch history, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the first years the team only played rugby but due to financial problems they switched to association football. The first official football match in the Netherlands was played in 1886 between HFC and Amsterdam Sport.
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Fortuna Düsseldorf is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league in 1913 and was a fixture in the top flight from the early 1920s up to the creation of the Bundesliga in 1963. 2018–19 will be their 24th season in the Bundesliga, and their first since 2012–13.
Ore Mountain Club
The Ore Mountain Club () is one of the oldest and most tradition-steeped local history, mountain and hiking clubs in Germany. The club was founded in 1878. After the Second World War the club and its many branches were banned by the East German authorities, but it was refounded in West Germany in Frankfurt am Main in 1955. Only after the political events of "Die Wende" in 1990 was it newly founded in the Ore Mountains. At the end of 2008 the club had over 3,859 members in 61 branches. Before 1945 there were more than 25,000 members. In 1929 the Ore Mountain Club even had over 28,000 members in 156 branches and managed several accommodation houses on the Fichtelberg near Oberwiesenthal and the Schwartenberg between Seiffen and Neuhausen/Erzgeb..
Norddeutscher Regatta Verein
Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), approx. meaning "North German Regatta Club", is a yacht club in Germany. This club is based in Uhlenhorst, Hamburg, Germany; the clubhouse is located at Hamburg's Lake Außenalster. Founded in 1868,it is one of the oldest and largest yacht clubs in Germany, with some 2,000 members.
SBV Vitesse
SBV Vitesse ("Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse"), widely known as Vitesse Arnhem, or simply as Vitesse (), is a Dutch professional football club based in Arnhem (Gelderland). Established on 14 May 1892, Vitesse is the oldest professional football club in the Eredivisie. The club has enjoyed some success in the competition, has featured in the UEFA Cup competition and became the first Dutch football club to be owned by a foreigner when it was taken over by Georgian businessman Merab Zjordania in 2010. Since 1998, the club has played its home games at the GelreDome. Their best result in the Eredivisie was third place in 1997–98. The club won the KNVB Cup in 2016–17.
First Vienna FC
In 2018 First Vienna FC, became a member of the exclusive Club of Pioneers, as the oldest football club of Austria.
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club (MTV 1879). When a congregation of members of MTV 1879 decided on 27 February 1900 that the footballers of the club would not be allowed to join the German Football Association (DFB), 11 members of the football division left the congregation and on the same evening founded Fußball-Club Bayern München. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all local rivals, including a 15–0 win against FC Nordstern, and reached the semi-finals of the 1900–01 South German championship. In the following years, the club won some local trophies and in 1910–11 Bayern joined the newly founded "Kreisliga", the first regional Bavarian league. The club won this league in its first year, but did not win it again until the beginning of World War I in 1914, which halted all football activities in Germany.
Pro Sport Berlin 24
Pro Sport Berlin 24, formerly Post SV Berlin until 2005, is a German association football club from the city of Berlin. It was formed 29 September 1924 and was one of many the sport clubs established by police and postal workers in the 1920s. Through most of its history the club has been a lower-tier local side.
Helsingin Ponnistus
Helsingin Ponnistus (abbreviated Ponnistus) is a football club from Helsinki, Finland. The club was formed in 1887 making it the oldest football club in Finland. The men's first team currently plays in the Kolmonen (Third Division) and their home ground is at the Töölön Pallokenttä.
LASK Linz
Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK Linz () or simply LASK, is an Austrian association football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club hailing from that region, and currently plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, the top tier of Austrian football. The club's colours are black and white. The women's football section currently plays in the second highest division of Austrian women's football.
List of 1. FC Köln records and statistics
The Oberliga West was the highest level of the German football league system in the west of Germany from 1947 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. With the reintroduction of the German championship in 1948, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga West went on to the finals tournament with the other five Oberliga champions.  1. FC Köln is on 2nd place in the All-time Oberliga West table.
Munich derby
Although the TSV has existed since 1860, a football section was founded in 1899. In contrast, Bayern was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club. The first ever Munich derby was contested in September 1902. In the first years, Bayern mainly won the derbies. However, since football in Germany was organised on a very regional level in this time, the rivalry was not very pronounced since both team played against many other Munich-based teams such as FC Wacker München or 1. Münchner FC 1896. At the end of this period, both clubs became more and more successful: 1860 entered the final of the German football championship in 1931 (but lost against Hertha BSC) and Bayern won against Eintracht Frankfurt one year later. In 1933, 1860 reached the final of the .
Hamburger SV
Soon after, Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga, was formed, with HSV one of 16 clubs invited to join that first season. Hamburger SV held the distinction of being the only original Bundesliga side to have played continuously in the top flight – without ever having been relegated – from when the league was formed in 1963, until they were relegated in the 2017–18 season, finishing in 17th place. They had shared that special status with Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern until 1996, and with 1. FC Köln until 1998. Altogether, 49 other sides have come and gone since the league's inception. The Bundesliga celebrated its 40th anniversary on 24 August 2004 with a match between "The Dinosaur", as the club has been affectionately nicknamed due to its old age, and Bayern Munich, the league's most successful side.
Football in Berlin
Football in Berlin, the capital of Germany, has a long history. The city contributed 24 of the 86 founders of the DFB, the German Football Association. The DFB Cup Final is held every year at the Olympiastadion since 1985.
Düsseldorf Panther
The Düsseldorf Panther are an American football team from Düsseldorf, Germany. The club is the oldest extant American football club in Europe, having been formed on 1 May 1978.
Bayer
In 1904, the company founded the sports club TuS 04 ("Turn- und Spielverein der Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co."), later SV Bayer 04 ("Sportvereinigung Bayer 04 Leverkusen"), finally becoming TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen ("Turn- und Sportverein") in 1984, generally, however, known simply as Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The club is best known for its football team, but has been involved in many other sports, including athletics, fencing, team handball, volleyball, boxing, and basketball. TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen is one of the largest sports clubs in Germany. The company also supports similar clubs at other company sites, including Dormagen (particularly handball), Wuppertal (particularly volleyball), and Krefeld-Uerdingen (featuring another former Bundesliga football club, SC Bayer 05 Uerdingen, now KFC Uerdingen 05).
SpVgg Helios München
SpVgg Helios München, now playing as SV Helios Daglfing München, is a German association football club from the city of Munich, Bavaria. The club was established 1 March 1919 out of the football department of "Turn- und Sportverein Jahn München". In October of that year, the departed footballers of "TSV" were replaced by the arrival of the footballers from the "Münchener Sportclub", who had originally played as "Bayern Munich". In 1923, this group departed in turn, restoring "Bayern" as an independent club, and opening the way for "Helios" to rejoin parent "TSV". The reunion was short-lived and "Helios" again went its own way as a separate side sometime later in the 1920s.
History of F.C. Copenhagen
The history of F.C. Copenhagen details the development of Danish professional football (soccer) club F.C. Copenhagen. Even though F.C. Copenhagen was founded in 1992, the club traces its roots back to 1876. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) was founded in 1876, making it one of the oldest football clubs in Continental Europe, and Boldklubben 1903 was founded in 1903. The two Copenhagen clubs merged first teams to found F.C. Copenhagen on 1 July 1992. KB were the very first Danish football champions and won the Danish championship 15 times. B1903 have been champions seven times and won the Danish Cup twice. Both clubs put their mark on Danish football through the 20th century.
Wuppertal
In football, Wuppertal's most popular club is Wuppertaler SV who currently play in the Regionalliga West, the fourth tier of the German football league system. Playing their home games at the city's Stadion am Zoo, the club, which enjoyed its last season in a nationwide division during the 2009–10 season, looks back on a rich and eventful history since its establishment as the result of a 1954 merger between the two main Wuppertal clubs "SSV 04 Wuppertal" and "TSG Vohwinkel 80". The club spent a total of seven seasons in the top flight of German football, three of which in the Bundesliga, which they were promoted to during 1972. In their first season in the nationwide first division, the club reached a remarkable fourth place and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first and only time in its history. After a first-round defeat by Polish side Ruch Chorzów and another two widely unsuccessful Bundesliga campaigns, the club disappeared from the top flight again, though, and has yet to return.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth
The origins of "SpVgg Fürth" are in the establishment on 23 September 1903 of a football department within the gymnastics club "Turnverein 1860 Fürth". The footballers went their own way as an independent club in November 1906, after they did not get enough support from "TV Fürth". The team played in the Ostkreisliga and took divisional titles there in 1912, 1913 and 1914 before moving on to participate in the Süddeutsche (South German) regional playoffs for the national championship round. Right from the beginning, there was a great rivalry between the SpVgg Fürth and the 1. FC Nürnberg, predicated on the historical rivalry between the two neighbouring cities. The club grew rapidly, and by 1914, it had 3,000 members and was the largest sports club in Germany. When the club built their own stadium, Sportpark Ronhof, in 1910, it was the biggest stadium of Germany at the time.
1. FSV Mainz 05
1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 or simply Mainz, is a German association football club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 have played in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, for eight consecutive years, starting with the 2009–10 season. The club's main local rivals are Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. In addition to the football division, 1. FSV Mainz 05 have handball and table tennis departments.
Berliner SV 1892
Berliner SV 1892 is a German association football club from the district of Wilmersdorf, Berlin. BSV 1892 is one of the country's oldest clubs and was a founding member of the DFB (German Football Association) in 1900.
DSV 78/08 Ricklingen
On 7 June 1964, Germanys oldest rugby club finally earned its first German championship, beating FC St. Pauli 11-0 in Offenbach am Main.