1. FFC Turbine Potsdam

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam is a women's football (soccer) club team in Potsdam, Germany. The full name is 1. Frauen-Fußball-Club Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V. (FFC meaning "Women's Football Club" in German). They are one of the most successful teams in Germany. The team plays in the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion in the Babelsberg district of Potsdam.

Before the reunification of Germany, the team was one of the predominant teams in East German women's football. The team currently plays in the German women's Bundesliga and it is the only team from the former East to win the unified title. The team also won the UEFA Women's Champions League competition in the 2004–05 season, beating the Swedish team of Djurgården/Älvsjö 5–1 overall in the final. Their biggest rivals are Western FFC Frankfurt.

History

The early years

In 1955, the Betriebssportgemeinschaft Turbine Potsdam was founded. The club was supported by the local energy supplier. The men’s football team played with mediocre success on lower levels.

On New Year’s Eve 1970, Bernd Schröder, an employee of the energy supplier, discovers a strange piece of paper on the company’s blackboard. It says that a women’s football team will be established on March 3, 1971. The identify of the person responsible for this paper was never established.

The women’s team was founded on March 3, 1971 and Bernd Schröder became the first coach. The first match was played on May 25, 1971 at Empor Tangermünde and ended with a 3–0 win for Turbine. The first district championship was played a year later and was won by Turbine.

Schröder was always looking for new players. He concentrated on former track and field athletes who were dropped by their clubs. Schröder became a senior employee in his company, so he could offer jobs and flats for the new players.

1979–1990: Championships and cheated letters

In 1979, the first unofficial women’s football championship of the GDR was held - unofficial as women’s football was far from being recognised by the Olympic Games. Turbine was the favourite but missed the final tournament. They also missed the final tournament in 1980. The final tournament in 1981 was held in Potsdam and Schröder was under pressure. He held a training camp by the Baltic Sea. However, the team struggled during the qualification. The team was unbeaten in the final tournament and won their first championship. Each player received 50 East German mark and Schröder was awarded the title "Activist of socialist work".

Turbine also won the championships of 1982 and 1983. Their success was recognized in the rest of Europe and Turbine was invited for tournaments in the Netherlands and Italy. However, Turbine didn't receive any of these invitations. The GDR forbade the team to travel into capitalist countries. The club wasn't even allowed to travel to tournaments in other communist countries in case some teams from western Europe participated. Schröder once asked a Hungarian club to alter the list of teams. They replaced teams from Austria and Yugoslavia by teams from Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.

The team went to Hungary and was accompanied by a member of the SED party. He realized that there was something wrong. Turbine played in the tournament and Schröder was banned internationally for a year. After the ban, Turbine was invited to a tournament in Poland. This time, Schröder himself altered the list of the teams. Once again the team was accompanied by an SED member who wanted to force the Polish club to send the Western European teams home. As a compromise, Turbine played a friendly match against the home team. The club was now banned from travelling outside the GDR until further notice.

In 1989, Turbine won their sixth and final GDR championship. Many players retired, and after the fall of the Berlin wall, the company who supported the club ran into financial difficulties. On January 1, 1990, the BSG Turbine Potsdam became the SSV Turbine Potsdam. A few days later, Turbine played their first match against a team from Western Germany at an indoor tournament. While many male football players from the GDR were transferred to clubs from West Germany, most of the female players remained in the East. In 1991, Turbine finished the season as third and missed the qualification for the Bundesliga.

1990–1997: Crisis and promotion

Turbine became champions of the Oberliga Nordost (second division) but failed in the promotion playoffs. Schröder stepped down from being the head coach after 21 years and became the manager. The club was suffering from financial problems and sometimes the officials were not sure if they could afford the travel to away matches. Many players also lost their jobs. Peter Raupach became the new coach, but he was not successful. Frank Lange took over for the 1993/94 season. He led his team to the championship. After a 3–2 win over Wattenscheid 09, Turbine won promotion to the Bundesliga.

The first Bundesliga match ended in disaster, after Turbine lost 0–11 at home to FC Rumeln-Kaldenhausen. The team lost more and more matches and were knocked out in the cup. In the end of 1994, Turbine had to play at VfB Rheine. Schröder told Rheine’s manager Alfred Werner that Lange would be fired if Turbine lost the match. Turbine lost the match but nothing happened at the press conference. Schröder wanted to discuss the situation in private with Lange, but the two were surrounded by journalists and players. Schröder couldn't escape and told Lange that he was fired.

Former player Sabine Seidel coached the team for the rest of the season. and Turbine got three Russian players in the winter break. The team struggled to avoid relegation and finished sixth in the northern group. Lothar Müller became the new coach. He was from Western Berlin and now Turbine became an option for players from Western Berlin. Strengthened by players from Tennis Borussia Berlin, the defense was much better but the team again finished in sixth.

The 1996/97 season was the last season where the Bundesliga was played in two groups. To qualify for the single-tier Bundesliga it was necessary to finish the season among the first four teams. Turbine finished fifth after a rollercoaster season but managed to qualify after a playoff. The team reached the cup semifinal for the first time, but lost 2–3 against Eintracht Rheine. The club presented Eckart Düwiger as their new coach for the new season. Düwiger was Turbine’s first full-time coach.

1997–2005: The long way to the top

Turbine acquired the German international Ariane Hingst from Hertha Zehlendorf. Her integration into the team was not easy as Hingst kept a certain distance to her teammates. She did not want to go into the "east" of Germany. The situation changed when the club’s main sponsor went bankrupt and the club couldn't pay Düwiger’s salary. He resigned and Bernd Schröder became the head coach again. Striker Conny Pohlers returned from TuS Niederkirchen during the season and Turbine finished the 1997/98 season in sixth place.

On March 12, 1999, the women’s section of the SSV Turbine Potsdam decided to establish a separate club. The 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam was founded on April 1, 1999. The team finished the season on fourth place. The season saw a legendary 4–4 draw at 1. FFC Frankfurt. Frankfurt led 4–0 at half time before Potsdam came back to draw the game. This was the beginning of the rivalry between the two clubs. Turbine reached the cup semi final for the second time. However, the FCR Duisburg won 2–0.

The last season in the 20th century was finished on fourth place again. For the first time, Turbine had a positive record and was unbeaten at home. Ariane Hingst became the team captain and remained on this position until her departure in 2007. Schröder took a certain risk with this decision as he wanted Hingst to take more responsibility. This decision would pay off in the following years. In the same year, the first ever German Juniors Championship was held. Turbine’s girl’s team won this title with a 7–1 win over Bayern Munich. Viola Odebrecht became a regular starter in the first team next season.

In 2001, Turbine finished in second place. For the third time, the team reached the cup semi final but failed in the penalty shootout against FFC Flaesheim-Hillen. The team remained in second place in the 2001/02 season. They acquired goalkeeper Nadine Angerer before the season. Conny Pohlers became Turbine’s first league top scorer with 27 goals. However, even their fourth cup semi-final was not successful. This time, the team lost 2–3 against the Hamburger SV. They acquired striker Petra Wimbersky from Munich, young international Navina Omilade from Brauweiler and the highly talented Anja Mittag from Aue.

The season started with a shock first cup round exit to second division side Hamburger SV. The Bundesliga season was much better. On the last day of the season, title holder Frankfurt went to Potsdam’s Karl Liebknecht Stadion for the final showdown. Frankfurt were two points clear at the top so Potsdam had to win the match to clinch the title. This “Endspiel” went into the record books of German women’s football,with an attendance of 7,900, the league’s record. The match was also shown live on TV. In the 89th minute, Petra Wimbersky scored a goal and the crowds began to celebrate. However, she was offside according to the lineswomen and Frankfurt became champions.

Four Turbine players travelled along with the German national team to the 2003 World Cup in the USA. Nadine Angerer, Ariane Hingst, Viola Odebrecht and Conny Pohlers went on to become world champions. In the third round of the German cup, Potsdam faced the Hamburger SV again. Hamburg led 1–0 until the dying minutes of the game until Viola Odebrecht equalised with a desperate shot. Jennifer Zietz scored the game winner in overtime. Turbine reached the final for the first time where they faced their arch rivals 1. FFC Frankfurt. Turbine dominated the match, won 3–0 and clinched their first German cup. During the winter break, Turbine won the Indoor Championship. This was their first post-reunification trophy.

In the league, Turbine went from victory to victory. After a 3–1 win over Duisburg, Turbine had a one point lead over Frankfurt before the last match. Turbine went to Frankfurt for the deciding match. A crowd of 4,800 saw Turbine’s 7–2 win. Potsdam finally won their first post-reunification championship. The title qualified the team for the UEFA Women's Cup.

Turbine was unbeaten in Europe and reached the final where they faced Djurgårdens IF/Älvsjö from Sweden. The first match in Stockholm saw a 2–0 win for Turbine. In the second leg, early goals by Conny Pohlers and Petra Wimbersky secured a 3–1 win and Turbine’s biggest triumph to date. The match in Potsdam was attended by 8,700, the largest crowd ever at a Turbine home match. Turbine could also defend the German cup and Indoor Championship, both with wins over Frankfurt. However, the 2004/05 Bundesliga season wasn’t a success and Turbine finished in third place.

2005–2008 : Rebuilding

Frankfurt led the Bundesliga for a long time during the 2005/06 season. Then they lost 2–1 at Freiburg and Potsdam came from behind to take the lead. Turbine then won 6–2 at Frankfurt (with four goals scored by Conny Pohlers) and a comfortable 2–0 win over Duisburg. After a 3–1 at Hamburg, Turbine clinched their second post-reunification championship. Conny Pohlers scored 36 goals and was the league’s top scorer for the second time. In the cup final, Potsdam won 2–0 against Frankfurt thanks to two late goals by Isabel Kerschowski and Petra Wimbersky. However, Frankfurt won the UEFA Women's cup by two wins over Potsdam.

After the season closed, Wimbersky left the club to Frankfurt. Young Finnish international Essi Sainio was the only prominent new player in Turbine’s line-up. After a poor start into the season and an early cup exit to Duisburg, Turbine was far from defending their title. In March 2007, Ariane Hingst announced her departure to Djurgårdens. This was followed by the announcements of Conny Pohlers and Navina Omilade that they were leaving the club after the season. Coach Bernd Schröder had to face significant criticism by the fans. However, Schröder put his departing players on the reserve bench and put some young players such as 18 year old defender Babett Peter or the 16 year old striker Bianca Schmidt into the starting line-up. This decision would pay off: Turbine were unbeaten in their last 13 matches and clinched the third place.

At the beginning of 2008, Turbine signed the Norway international Leni Larsen Kaurin, the only Norwegian woman footballer playing in Germany. In summer 2008 Viola Odebrecht returned to Turbine. At the end of the 2008/09 season, Turbine won a bit surprised the hard and close contest to the championship against Bayern Munich and Duisburg.

2008–today : Rise to European top

Turbine won the German Bundesliga in three consecutive year from 2009 to 2011, won the Champions League in 2010 and reached the 2011 final. In this time the also finished runners-up in the German cup 2009 and 2011. They are again participating in the 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League knock-out stage.

Colours and badge

The club colours are blue and white. The team plays their home games in an all-blue kit while they use an all-white kit on away matches. Sometimes the players wear a combination of the home and away kit. The third kit is all-red.

The outer side of the badge is a dark blue circle with the club name written on the top and the bottom. There are three stars each on the left and the right side. The stars don't have a certain meaning. The left part of the inner side shows an eagle. It is taken from the badge of state of Brandenburg. The upper right part shows a football. The lower right side shows the letters “TP” which stand for “Turbine Potsdam”.

Stadium

The club plays their home games at Karl Liebknecht Stadion in Potsdam-Babelsberg. They share this ground with the men’s Regionalliga side SV Babelsberg 03. The stadium has a capacity of 9,254 places. The main stand has 1,482 mostly covered seats

Supporters

The club has two fan clubs. The Turbine-Adler (Turbine Eagles) were founded on December 4, 2004. The other fan club Turbine-Fans BaWü is a regional organization by fans from the state of Baden-Württemberg.

The Turbine fans are known for their support on away matches. No other Bundesliga club is accompanied by more fans on the road.

Current squad

As of 15 September 2011, according to official website.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable former players

• Nadine Angerer
• Fatmire Bajramaj
• Britta Carlson
• Cristiane
• Sonja Fuss
• Ariane Hingst
• Navina Omilade
• Conny Pohlers
• Petra Wimbersky

Honours

• UEFA Women's Cup/UEFA Women's Champions League:
  • Winners (2): 2005, 2010
  • Runners-up (2): 2006, 2011

• Fußball-Bundesliga (women):
  • Winners (5): 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011
  • Runners-up (3): 2001, 2002, 2003

• Champions of the German Democratic Republic:
  • Winners (6): 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989
  • Runners-up (2): 1984, 1988

• Women's German Cup:
  • Winners (3): 2004, 2005, 2006
  • Runners-up (2): 2009, 2011

• German Indoor Cup:
  • Winners (3): 2004, 2005, 2009

• German Juniors Champions:
• Winners (7): 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009

References

• Klasen, Birgit und Heiko (2005). Elf Freundinnen. Die Turbinen aus Potsdam. Das Neue Berlin. ISBN 3-360-01262-3. 

External links

• Official website