VfL Osnabrück

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VfL Osnabrück

Full name

Verein für Leibesübungen
von 1899 e.V. Osnabrück

Nickname(s)

The Violets

Founded

1899

Ground

Osnatel-Arena (formerly Bremer Brücke)
(Capacity 18,415)

Chairman

Dr. Dirk Rasch

Head Coach

Claus-Dieter Wollitz

League

2. Bundesliga

2007-08

2. Bundesliga, 12th





Home colours





Away colours

2. Bundesliga

VfL Osnabrück is a German football club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony.

1 History
2 Honours
3 Players
- 3.1 Current squad
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Foundation to WW2

The club has its origins in April 1899 as a loose association of football enthusiasts calling themselves FC Osnabrück. The club was formally incorporated on March 8, 1925, but a group of the footballers left to form a second side called SC Rapid – styled after the famous side from Vienna – the same year. Rapid came back to the fold thirteen years later in 1938 and the re-unified club adopted the light-purple colours of the returning football players.

After the re-structuring of German football leagues under the Third Reich, Osnabrück played in the Gauliga Niedersachsen and captured the division title in 1938 and 1939. That earned them a place in the national championship playoffs, but they went out in the early rounds on both occasions.

[edit] Post-War era

After World War II the club returned to play as 1. FSV Osnabrueck but resumed their old name in 1946. The team played in the Oberliga Nord and delivered credible performances that left them standing fourth in the league's all-time table behind well-known sides Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, and FC St. Pauli.

[edit] 1960s & 70s

The Bundesliga was formed in 1963 as Germany's new top flight professional league. The Violets did not qualify for play there and were seeded into second division Regionalliga Nord. They had opportunities to advance through the promotion rounds in five consecutive years beginning in 1969, but could never break through. For most of the next 30 years the club remained a tier II fixture, playing just two of those seasons in the Amateur Oberliga Nord (III), but also once narrowly escaping relegation when FC St. Pauli was sent down instead when they were refused a license over their financial situation. A highlight of the period was a 5:4 victory over Bayern Munich in a 1978 German Cup match-up.

[edit] 1980s to present

In 1994 the club slipped into the Regionalliga Nord (III) where they have played since, with the exception of a couple of seasons spent in tier II. In 2007, the club clinched promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga on the final day of the season.

[edit] Honours

Oberliga Nord champions: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1985, 1999, 2000
Oberliga Nord vice-champions: 1972, 1973, 1995, 2003
Gauliga Niedersachsen champions: 1939, 1940
German amateur champions: 1995

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

As of February 20, 2008:

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Frederik Gößling
2	DF	Marko Tredup
3	MF	Jan Schanda
5	MF	Pierre de Wit (on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
6	DF	Oliver Beer
7	MF	Bilal Aziz
8	MF	Joe Enochs
9	FW	Thomas Reichenberger (captain)
10	MF	Alexander Nouri
11	DF	Andreas Schäfer
12	MF	Matthias Heidrich
14	DF	Daniel Flottmann
15	MF	Mathias Surmann
16	MF	Hendrik Großöhmichen

No.	Position	Player
17	MF	Paul Thomik
19	DF	Assimiou Touré (on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
20	FW	Nico Frommer
21	DF	Marcel Schuon
22	GK	Tino Berbig
24	DF	Uwe Ehlers
27	FW	Rouwen Hennings (on loan from Hamburger SV)
28	MF	Henning Grieneisen
29	FW	Gaetano Manno
30	DF	Thomas Cichon
40	DF	Dominique Ndjeng
?	FW	Viktor Braininger
?	GK	Yannick Hüls