Rot-Weiß Essen

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Rot-Weiss Essen

Full name

Rot-Weiss Essen e.V.

Nickname(s)

RWE

Founded

February 1st, 1907

Ground

Georg-Melches-Stadion

Capacity

22,500

Chairman

Rolf Hempelmann

Manager

Lorenz-Günther Köstner

League

2. Bundesliga

2005-06

Regionalliga Nord (III), 1st





Home colours





Away colours

Rot-Weiss Essen is a German football club based in Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

1 History
2 Stadium
3 Team trivia
4 Current squad
5 Famous players
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

The club was formed as SV Vogelheim on February 1st, 1907 out of the merger of two smaller clubs: SC Preussen and Deutsche Eiche. In 1910, Vogelheim came to an arrangement with Turnerbund Bergeborbeck that allowed the two clubs to field a football side. The footballers left in 1913 to set up their own club, Spiel- und Sportverein Emscher-Vogelheim, which changed its name to Spiel und Sport 1912 after World War I. Finally, in 1923, this side turned again to Turnerbund Bergeborbeck to create Rot-Weiss Essen.

[edit] Breakthrough to the Gauliga

In 1938, RWE broke into top-flight football in the Gauliga Niederrhein, one of sixteen premier divisions formed in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich, and came within a point of taking the division title in 1941. In 1943 they played with BV Altenessen as the combined wartime side KSG SC Rot-Weiß Essen/BV 06 Altenessen. The next season this club was in turn joined by BVB Essen, but played only a single match in a stillborn season as World War II overtook the country.

[edit] Rise and fall

The club returned to first division football in the Oberliga West in 1948, where a series of solid performances led to a divisional championship in 1952. The pinnacle of the club's success came with a 2:1 win over Alemannia Aachen in the 1953 German Cup final, followed by a national championship in 1955 when it beat Kaiserslautern 4:3. The following season, Rot-Weiss became the first German side to qualify for the Champions League.

Their performance tailed off after this and RWE became just another mid-table side before they were relegated in 1961. The club then played most of the 60's as a second division side, but did manage its first appearance in the Bundesliga in 1966-67. It returned to the Bundesliga for two seasons in 1969-70, and again, for four seasons beginning in 1973-74. Since then Rot-Weiss has been a solid second or third tier club, with just one season spent in the Oberliga Nordrhein (IV) in 1998-99.

The club has been plagued by financial problems that saw it denied a license in 1984, 1991, and 1994, leading to demotion from the 2.Bundesliga each time as a result. Bright spots during this period included winning the German amateur championship in 1992 and an appearance in the 1994 German Cup final, which they lost 1:3 to Werder Bremen.

[edit] Current

RWE returned to the Regionalliga Nord (III) in 1999, and advanced still further to the 2.Bundesliga the next season. They stumbled to a 17th place finish and were relegated in 2005, but have since returned to the second division for 2006-07 on the strength of a first place Regionalliga result last season.

[edit] Stadium

Rot-Weiss plays in the Georg-Melches-Stadion (capacity 22,500), named for a former club president. Originally the Phönixstraße, the venue is also known as the Hafenstraße for its location. The club enjoys solid fan support, with an average attendance of better than 10,000 per game.

[edit] Team trivia

In 1956, the team's home field became the first stadium in West Germany to have floodlights.

In November 2005 Pelé became an honorary club member (membership number 23101940).

[edit] Current squad

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Karim Zaza
2	DF	Thomas Kläsener
3	DF	Martin Hýsky
4	MF	Danijel Štefulj
5	DF	Stefan Lorenz
6	DF	Victor Hugo Lorenzon
7	MF	Holger Wehlage
8	FW	Macchambes Younga-Mouhani
9	FW	Alexander Löbe
11	MF	Ferhat Kiskanc
13	MF	Stijn Haeldermans
14	DF	Florian Thorwart
15	FW	Arie van Lent

No.	Position	Player
17	MF	Paulo Sérgio
19	FW	Danko Boskovic
20	GK	André Maczkowiak
21	MF	Michael Lorenz
22	DF	Pascal Bieler
23	MF	Denis Epstein (on loan from 1. FC Köln)
24	DF	Michael Bemben
27	MF	Baris Özbek
28	MF	Moritz Stoppelkamp
29	FW	Serkan Calik
30	GK	Daniel Masuch
33	DF	Ronny Nikol
35	DF	Hilko Ristau
40	GK	Dirk Langerbein