1. FSV Mainz 05

Mainz 05

Full name	1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e.V.
Nickname(s)	Die Nullfünfer (the O-Fives)
Founded	27 March 1905
Ground	Stadion am Bruchweg (Capacity: 20,300)
President	Harald Strutz
Manager	Christian Heidel
Coach	Thomas Tuchel
League	Bundesliga
2009–10	Bundesliga, 9th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

1. FSV Mainz 05, is a German football club based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate.

History

Early years

A failed attempt to start a football team in the city in 1903 was followed up two years later by the successful creation of 1. Mainzer Fussballclub Hassia 1905. After a number of years of play in the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (South German Football League), the club merged with FC Hermannia 07 – the former football side of Mainzer TV 1817 – to form 1. Mainzer Fussballverein Hassia 05, which dropped "Hassia" from its name in August 1912. Another merger after World War I, in 1919, with Sportverein 1908 Mainz, resulted in the formation of 1. Mainzer Fußball- und Sportverein 05. Die Nullfünfer were a solid club that earned several regional league championships in the period between the wars and qualified for the opening round of the national championships in 1921, after winning the Kreisliga Hessen.

Play under the Third Reich

In the late 20s and early 30s the club earned decent results in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen – Gruppe Hessen, including first place finishes in 1932 and 1933. This merited the team a place in the Gauliga Südwest, one of sixteen new first division leagues formed in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich . Unfortunately, they only managed a single season at that level before being relegated. In 1938, they were forced into a merger with Reichsbahn SV Mainz and played as Reichsbahn SV Mainz 05 until the end of World War II.

Long march to the Bundesliga

After the war the team again joined the upper ranks of league play in Germany's Oberliga Südwest, but were never better than a mid-table side. They played in the top flight until the founding of the new professional league, the Bundesliga, in 1963 and would go on to play as a second division side for most of the next four decades. They withdrew for a time – from the late 70's into the late 80's – to the Amateur Oberliga Südwest (III), as the result of a series of financial problems. Mainz earned honours as the German amateur champions in 1982.

The club returned to professional play with promotion to the 2.Bundesliga for a single season in 1988 with Bodo Hertlein as president before finally returning for an extended run in 1990. Initially, they were perennial relegation candidates, struggling hard each season to avoid being sent down. However, under unorthodox trainer Wolfgang Frank, Mainz became one of the first clubs in German soccer to adopt a flat four zone defense, as opposed to the then-popular man-to-man defense using a libero.

Mainz failed in three attempts to make it to the top flight in 1997, 2002, and 2003 with close fourth place finishes just out of the promotion zone. The last failed attempt stung as they were denied promotion in the 93rd minute of the last game. A year earlier, they became the best non-promoted team of all time in the Second Bundesliga with 64 points. But their persistence paid dividends with an ascent into the Bundesliga in 2004 under the leadership of coach Jürgen Klopp. The team played three seasons in the top flight. Mainz secured back to the top flight after beating 4–0 Oberhausen in May 24, 2009.

Mainz also earned a spot in the UEFA Cup in their debut Bundesliga season as Germany's nominee in the "Fair Play" draw which acknowledges positive play, respect for one's opponent, respect for the referee, the behaviour of the crowd and of team officials, as well as cautions and dismissals. Three "Fair Play" sides earned admission into the first round of UEFA Cup play. Due to the Bruchweg stadium's limited capacity, the home games in UEFA cup were played in Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena.

Recent seasons

Stadium

FSV Mainz 05 at Stadion am Bruchweg in 2004

Die Nullfünfer play in Stadion am Bruchweg, built in 1928 and modified several times over the years to hold a crowd of over 20,300 spectators. Averaging crowds of about 15,000 while in the 2.Bundesliga, the team's recent and hard won success has them regularly filling their venue.

The club is currently building a new stadium, which will hold over 33,000 spectators. It will be called the Coface Arena and will be ready at some time during the 2010–11 campaign.

Club culture

Mainz is known for being one of the three foremost carnival cities in Germany, the others being Düsseldorf and Cologne. After every Mainzer goal scored at a home game, the Narrhallamarsch, a famous German carnival tune, is played.

Honours

• German amateur champions: 1982
• UEFA Fair Play selection: 2005
• Kreisliga Hessen (I) champions: 1921
• Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar (I) champions: 1927
• Bezirksliga Main-Hessen (Hessen group) (I) champions: 1932, 1933
• Regionalliga Südwest (II) champions: 1973
• Oberliga Südwest (III) champions: 1981, 1988, 1990, 2003⁺, 2008⁺
• Amateurliga Südwest (III) champions: 1978
• DFB-Pokal semifinalists: 2009
• South West Cup winners: 1980, 1982, 1986, 2001⁺, 2002⁺, 2003⁺, 2004⁺, 2005⁺
• German under 19 champions: 2009

• ⁺ Reserve team.

Notable players

• Manuel Friedrich
• Jürgen Klopp
• Dimo Wache – honorary team captain
• Mohamed Zidan
• Andriy Voronin
• Elkin Soto
• Abderrahim Ouakili
• Félix Borja
• Conor Casey
• Leon Andreasen
• Cha Du-Ri
• Serjik Teymourian

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Martin Pieckenhagen 2 DF Bo Svensson 3 DF Malik Fathi (on loan from Spartak Moscow) 4 DF Nikolce Noveski (captain) 5 DF Eugen Gopko 6 MF Marco Caligiuri 7 MF Eugen Polanski 8 DF Radoslav Zabavník 9 FW Sami Allagui 10 MF Jan Šimák 11 FW Morten Rasmussen (on loan from Celtic) 13 MF Marcel Risse (on loan from Bayer Leverkusen) 14 FW André Schürrle 15 DF Jan Kirchhoff

No. Position Player 16 MF Florian Heller 17 FW Haruna Babangida 18 MF Lewis Holtby (on loan from Schalke) 19 MF Elkin Soto 21 MF Miroslav Karhan 22 DF Christian Fuchs (on loan from VfL Bochum) 24 DF Zsolt Lőw 25 MF Andreas Ivanschitz (on loan from Panathinaikos) 26 DF Niko Bungert 28 FW Ádám Szalai 29 GK Christian Wetklo 33 GK Heinz Müller 35 FW Petar Slišković

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 11 MF Filip Trojan (at MSV Duisburg until 30 June 2011) 34 DF Stefan Bell (at TSV 1860 München until 30 June 2011) 36 FW Dragan Georgiev (at SC Paderborn 07 until 30 June 2011)

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2010 and List of German football transfers winter 2009-10.

1. FSV Mainz 05 II squad

Manager: Martin Schmidt

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Pierre Kleinheider GK Sebastian Vogl DF Fabian Götze DF Steven Kröner DF Viktor Riske DF Marco Rose DF Yannick Tewelde MF Konstantin Fring MF Christian Grimm MF Jared Jeffrey

No. Position Player MF Andreas Ludwig MF Thomas Meißner MF Manuel Schneider MF Mario Vrančić MF Johnathan Zinnram FW Adriano Grimaldi FW Robin Mertinitz FW Kevin Walthier FW Preston Zimmerman

External links

• Official team site
• Online Archive of Mainz 05
• Abseits Guide to German Soccer
• Mainz 05 statistics
• Mainz Online Fanzine (in German)

References