SV Darmstadt 98

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SV Darmstadt 98

Full name

SV Darmstadt 98

Nickname(s)

Die Lilien (The Lilies)

Founded

May 22, 1898

Ground

Böllenfalltor Stadion

Capacity

20,000

Manager

Gerhard Kleppinger

League

Regionalliga Süd

2005-06

Regionalliga Süd, 5th





Home colours





Away colours

SV Darmstadt 98 is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on May 22, 1898 as FC Olympia and in 1919 merged with Darmstädter SC 1905 under their current name.

In the late 20s and early 30s the club played in the Bezirksliga Main/Hessen, Gruppe Hesse, but struggled to stay in top flight competition. In 1933, German football was reorganized under the Third Reich into sixteen premier divisions known as Gauligen. Darmstadt was not able to break into upper league play until 1941 when they joined the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, Gruppe 2. Their stay was short-lived and they were relegated after their second season of play at that level. By 1944-45 the division had collapsed in the face of the advance of Allied armies into Germany.

98 enjoyed a long run as a second division team through the 50s and then again from the time of the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 on into the 70s. However, they were never better than a lower to mid-table side until they managed a breakthrough in 1973 with a Regionalliga Sud championship and participation in the promotion rounds for the Bundesliga where they finished a distant second to Rot-Weiß Essen.

A scrappy side with limited resources, Darmstadt eventually managed a couple of seasons of play in the Bundesliga (1978-79 and 1981-82). They escaped relegation to the Amateur Oberliga Hessen (III) in 1991 when Essen was refused a 2.Bundesliga license for financial reasons, but by 1997, had themselves become victims of financial mismanagement, slipping to III and IV division play.

Recent successes include the capture of a Hessen Cup in 2001 and three consecutive Possmann-Hessen Cup wins from 2000 to 2002. Darmstadt advanced as far as the third round in the 2001 German Cup. In 2004 the club claimed the Oberliga Hessen championship and were promoted to the Regionalliga Süd (III)

The sports club also offers its ~1,200 members table tennis, basketball, athletics, hiking, judo, and cheerleading.