1. FC Magdeburg

1. FC Magdeburg is a German association football club playing in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt.

History

Football has been played in Magdeburg since the end of the 19th century. On 15 June 1896 SV Victoria 96 Magdeburg was founded, a club that had its best days before World War II, when it participated in the German championship finals on several occasions. Later the club participated in the Gauliga Mitte. After World War II, all sports clubs in the Soviet Occupation Zone were dissolved and a number of smaller clubs were created, which at first competed at a local and regional level. In 1945 players from the disbanded clubs Magdeburger SC Prussia 1899 and Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg formed Sportgruppe (SG) Sudenburg. This club and SG Lemsdorf came together as the sports club BSG Eintracht Sudenburg, which in turn merged with SAG Krupp Gruson in 1950. The next year the club was re-named BSG Stahl Magdeburg, and then in 1952, became BSG Motor Mitte Magdeburg in 1952. In 1957 the football department of Motor Mitte was moved to SC Aufbau Magdeburg, a political decision with the goal of achieving higher standards of performance. In 1965, the football department was again broken out of SC Aufbau and a football-only club was created, 1. FC Magdeburg. This was part of a general – again politically motivated – movement in East Germany towards football-only clubs with the goal of achieving higher standards. 1. FC Magdeburg is the oldest of the football clubs created in this period.

The 1960s

SC Aufbau were promoted to the first tier of East German football in 1959. At the beginning of the 1960s, the club usually played in the lower midfield of the DDR-Oberliga, but in 1964 the club had its first major success with a surprise win of the FDGB-Pokal. In the final at Dessau, Magdeburg came back from being 0–2 down to beat SC Leipzig 3–2. The cup win meant the first international appearance of a Magdeburg club, and SC Aufbau managed to hold Galatasaray to a draw – three times (the deciding match in Vienna ended 1–1, as well as the home and away legs), but went out on a coin toss. Legend reports that the coin first stuck upright in the muddy ground, and only the second toss brought about a decision.

SC Aufbau finished mid-table again in the 1964–65 season and managed to defend their cup title as the first team in East German football ever, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2–1 in the final in Berlin. However, the 1965–66 season, when SC Aufbau's footballers became 1. FC Magdeburg, ended in disaster: The club finished last in the table and was relegated to the second-tier DDR-Liga. However, in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Magdeburg managed to reach the quarter final, eventually going out against defending champions West Ham United featuring stars such as Bobby Moore and Geoffrey Hurst.

With their new manager Heinz Krügel, Magdeburg were immediately repromoted and finished third in 1968 and 1969. With their third win of the FDGB-Pokal in 1969 the club had finally established itself among the top teams of East German football.

The 1970s

During the 1970s, the DDR-Oberliga was mostly dominated by two teams, 1. FC Magdeburg and SG Dynamo Dresden. One of the figures behind the success at Magdeburg was Heinz Krügel, manager of the first team. Under his reign, Magdeburg produced 9 East German internationals between 1969 and 1974 alone, four of which were part of the East German team competing at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. The golden age of Magdeburg football began in 1972, when the club won the East German championship with the youngest squad in history. Magdeburg had a record attendance in this season, an average 22,231 spectators per game.^[1]

The following season Magdeburg finished 3rd again. The club's European campaign ended in the second round of the European Cup with a 0–2 aggregate loss against Juventus. The home leg saw an attendance of 50,000 spectators. However, Magdeburg did not finish the season without a title, as they won their fourth FDGB-Pokal title with a 3–2 against 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

The 1973–74 season is generally considered as the most successful in the history of 1. FC Magdeburg. Aside from winning their second East German championship, the club could celebrate the biggest success in club history when they won the Cup Winners' Cup against title holders AC Milan, beating them 2–0 in De Kuip in Rotterdam. Magdeburg would be the only East German football club to triumph in a European competition.

In the next season, Magdeburg defended their Oberliga title successfully and topped their record attendance once more, averaging 22,923 spectators.^[1] The European Supercup that usually pitted the Cup Winners' Cup and European Cup winners against each other was not played, supposedly because the two clubs involved could not fit it into their schedules, but a political motivation has since been suggested, as West German powerhouse FC Bayern Munich would have been the opposition. However, the two teams were drawn against each other in the first round of the European Cup, and Bayern won both matches.

In 1976, Heinz Krügel was relieved from his duties as manager of 1. FC Magdeburg, as he had fallen into disgrace with the SED cadres. They considered him politically unreliable. His successor was Klaus Urbanczyk. Magdeburg would not win any more championships, but always finished in the top four for the rest of the 1970s. In the FGDB-Pokal, Magdeburg was more successful, winning the competition in 1978 and 1979, against Dynamo Dresden (1–0) and BFC Dynamo (1–0 a.e.t.).

The late 1970s saw Magdeburg play against a number of famous teams in the European competitions. In the 1976–77 UEFA Cup, Magdeburg went out in the quarter-finals against eventual winners Juventus, in the 1977–78 UEFA Cup Magdeburg met FC Schalke 04 and beat them 4–2 and 3–1, making Magdeburg the only team to beat Schalke 04 in a European competition at their home Parkstadion. But Magdeburg went out in the quarter-finals again, eventual winners PSV Eindhoven scored the deciding goal with just 90 seconds left on the clock.

The 1980s

Since the end of the 1970s, 1. FC Magdeburg hadn't had much success in the league anymore, aside from a third rank in 1981. This had a profound effect on attendance: While until the 1976–77 season the club had averaged 18,000 spectators or more^[1] – with attendances of up to 45,000 against Dynamo Dresden or FC Carl Zeiss Jena, the season average had now dropped to a mere 13,000 spectators.^[2] Only with their seventh FDGB-Pokal title in 1983 was the club able to get back into the limelight – and with the club came the fans. About 25,000 fans supported their team in Berlin's Stadion der Weltjugend against FC Karl-Marx-Stadt, a club record for travelling fans that still stands today. However, it soon became clear that Magdeburg had lost its position among the best clubs in East Germany, those were now BFC Dynamo, Dynamo Dresden and Lok Leipzig. Finishing on an UEFA cup rank was the only realistic goal in these days. But even in the UEFA Cup, Magdeburg usually went out in the first rounds, albeit against reputable opposition, such as AC Torino, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. The 1–5 home defeat against Barcelona (three goals by Diego Maradona) showed that the club from Magdeburg was no longer able to keep up with Europe's footballing greats. From the mid-80s, attendance shrunk to around 10,000 spectators.^[2]

Only in the 1989–90 season could 1. FC Magdeburg compete for the championship until the final day. However, the team lost the decisive match against their direct competition from Karl-Marx-Stadt and finished third in the final table.

The 1990s

Grave mistakes by the club's management led to 1. FC Magdeburg losing touch with top-flight football. After the third place in 1990, hopes were high that the team would be able to qualify for Fußball-Bundesliga or at least Second Bundesliga in the 1990–91 season. However, the club could not compensate for losing manager Joachim Streich (to Eintracht Braunschweig) and a number of players (Dirk Schuster, Wolfgang Steinbach among others) and only finished tenth. In the qualification playoffs for the Second Bundesliga the club did not win a single game and found themselves in the tier III Oberliga Nordost/Staffel Mitte. Eventually, Magdeburg are ranked eighth in All-Time DDR-Oberliga table. During the 1991–92 season Magdeburg managed to keep up with 1. FC Union Berlin, but eventually finished second, trailing the winners by thirteen points.

In the next season Magdeburg finished eighth, but winning the Saxony-Anhalt Cup meant qualification for the DFB-Pokal. Magdeburg met then Second Bundesliga club Wuppertaler SV and beat them 8–7 after penalties in a dramatic game. In the third round, holders Bayer 04 Leverkusen came to a sold out Ernst-Grube-Stadion and triumphed, Magdeburg was beaten 5–1. The 1993–94 season saw Magdeburg miss out in yet another qualification, finishing seventh because they had scored less goals than Hertha Zehlendorf. Magdeburg competed in tier IV now, finishing twelfth in Oberliga Nordost/Staffel Nord. This was the worst position the club ever finished in – and a mere 444 spectators came to see the matches on average.

In 1996–97 Magdeburg moved to Oberliga Nordost/Staffel Süd again. In this season, another Magdeburg team, Fortuna Magdeburg had been promoted to this league, leading to better attendance levels: Both derbies and the key match against FSV Hoyerswerda were watched by more than 10,000 people. FCM averaged 3,000 spectators in that season. Eventually, 1. FC Magdeburg could reaffirm their position as the number one club in the city, finishing first in the league and winning promotion to the Regionalliga Nordost. In 1997–98 Magdeburg managed to stay in the third-tier Regionalliga and win the Saxony-Anhalt Cup for the second time and in the following year, the team competed for promotion to 2nd Bundesliga for a long time, but eventually finished third, raising hopes that the team would be able to qualify for the reduced Regionalligas in the following season. However, a tenth place meant relegation to tier IV once more. Consolation could only be found in the club's reserves winning the Saxony-Anhalt Cup for a third time.

Since 2000

Magdeburg had a very successful season in 2000–01. Not only did the club win their league in superior style, scoring more than 120 goals, but they also reached the quarter final of the DFB-Pokal. 1. FC Magdeburg beat Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln, holders FC Bayern Munich and Karlsruher SC, eventually going out against Schalke 04. Additionally the club won their fourth Saxony-Anhalt-Cup. In the promotion play-offs, Magdeburg beat their old rivals BFC Dynamo 5–2 on aggregate, but financially the club was in deep trouble. In order to be allowed to play, they had to raise 5 million DM in a matter of days. A two-day donation drive initiated by the fans brought 1 million Marks, the remaining sum was loaned to the club by two banks.

Magdeburg managed to remain in the league, finishing twelfth, and averaging 4,500 spectators, but in June 2002 the club had to go into receivership. This led to the club's relegation to tier IV, and almost all players left the club and 1. FC Magdeburg had to manage the next season with players from their youth department and their reserves. This young team finished tenth in the Oberliga Nordost-Süd and won the Saxony-Anhalt-Cup for a fifth time. Despite this negative development, average attendance stayed at the same level.

After the club had almost gone bust, its board restructured it and began to work at a slow, but steady reconstruction. In 2004, the city of Magdeburg resolved to build a new stadium, which meant that 1. FC Magdeburg had to move to the much smaller Heinrich Germer Stadium. The patient rebuilding of the squad paid off eventually, when the club was re-promoted to Regionalliga Nord in 2006. Additionally, Magdeburg won the Saxony-Anhalt-Cup for a sixth time.

The 2006–07 Regionalliga Nord season saw Magdeburg with the simple goal of non-relegation and setting the foundation for qualifying for the new 3rd Liga in the 2007–08 season. In December 2006 Magdeburg moved to their new stadium, dramatically increasing attendance. With their fans as support, Magdeburg started a run of great results after the winter break that opened up the opportunity to win promotion to the Second Bundesliga immediately, a feat only two other teams (FC Gütersloh and Carl Zeiss Jena) had achieved before. But despite having a five-point lead on the third-placed team three matchdays before the end of the season, Magdeburg eventually finished in a disappointing third place. In the Saxony-Anhalt-Cup the reserves won the club's seventh title. In the following season the club missed out on qualification for the newly created league. After a terrible first half of the campaign with as little as 24 points from 21 matches, the board sacked manager Dirk Heyne and replaced him with Paul Linz. This proved to be a successful measure as the club moved to a qualifying spot with only two games to go. But a home defeat to Rot-Weiß Essen eventually destroyed all hopes of qualification and Magdeburg finished eleventh behind Eintracht Braunschweig on goal difference. Attendance remained high throughout the season, averaging 11,800 spectators.^[3] For the first season in the new tier-IV Regionalliga Nord, the Magdeburg board gave out immediate repromotion as the team's goal. As only one player had a valid contract for the new league, the club was forced to bring in a large number of new players. Especially in the midfield virtually none of the previous season's squad was retained. With just the top spot bringing promotion, the task for manager Linz was exceptionally difficult. But in spite of the challenge of forming a team from scratch, the majority of managers in the league declared Magdeburg the top candidate for promotion.^[4] Following a drop to fourth place in March, the club sacked manager Paul Linz and hired former player Steffen Baumgart as his successor. Baumgart signed a contract until June 2009.^[5] Despite a mediocre record in the league, Baumgart' contact was extended another year until June 2010. Promotion was still the target for Baumgart's team, but after the winterbreak the distance to the promotion spot had increased so much that the board decided to let Baumgart go.^[6] Carsten Müller was appointed as an interim manager with the goal of at least winning the Landespokal, but even that failed. For the following season, Magdeburg appointed Ruud Kaiser as manager, tasked with building a team capable of winning the league within two years. However, after a string of bad results brought the side dangerously close to relegation, Kaiser was let go and succeeded by Wolfgang Sandhowe.^[7]

Current season

Sandhowe was retained as manager for the 2011–12 season. Due to the reform of the Regionalliga, no team would be relegated at the end of the season, but when Magdeburg were only 16th with just one win in ten games, Sandhowe was let go on 25 October 2011, with assistant manager Ronny Thielemann taking over ^[8]

Honours

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1
  • Winners 1974
• DDR-Oberliga: 3
  • Champions 1972, 1974, 1975
• FDGB-Pokal: 7 (Record, shared with SG Dynamo Dresden)
  • Winners 1964, 1965, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1983
• Saxony-Anhalt Cup: 8 (Record)
  • Winners 1993, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009
  • Runners-up 1994, 2008

Managers

Players

Current squad

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

• Jürgen Sparwasser, 57 DDR caps (1969–77), well-known for his goal against West Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup
• Martin Hoffmann, 66 DDR caps
• Jürgen Pommerenke, 57 DDR caps
• Joachim Streich, 98 DDR caps. Holds both the records for most appearances and most goals scored in the national team.
• Wolfgang Steinbach, 28 DDR caps
• Dirk Stahmann, 46 DDR caps
• Uwe Rösler, 6 DDR caps

See also List of 1. FC Magdeburg players

Magdeburg in European competitions

Youth teams

1. FC Magdeburg's U19 team is coached by Olympic gold medalist Martin Hoffmann. For the 2010–11 season the team competes in the U19 Bundesliga, the top flight league it had competed in during the 2007–08 season. Talents from the club's youth teams make the step up to the men's team on a regular basis. Altogether, more than 200 players of all ages compete in the youth teams. All but the U19 and U17 teams play in their respective top flights. In 1999, the Magdeburg U19 team became the first team from former East Germany to win a national title in unified Germany, winning the U19 DFB-Pokal. 27 coaches take care of the youth teams,^[9] the club has established a youth academy and offers room and board for a number of youth players. Cooperation agreements with the Sportgymnasium Magdeburg (a high school with an intense focus on sports) and a number of medical institutions in Magdeburg have been signed^[10] to aid with promoting talent from the youth teams. Another part of the youth setup is the U23 team, seen as a transition stage between youth and men's teams. As of 2009–10, the U23 competes in the sixth-tier NOFV-Oberliga Süd.

Youth team honors

• East German U19 Championship: 5
  • Winners 1963, 1964, 1965, 1970, 1989^[11]
• East German U17 Championship: 3
  • Winners 1966, 1968, 1980^[11]
• East German U15 Championship: 6
  • Winners 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1978
• East German U19 Cup: 2
  • Winners 1970, 1984^[11]
• U19 DFB-Pokal: 1
  • Winners 1999^[12]
• U17 NOFV Cup: 1
  • Winners 2005

Stadium

For over 40 years, 1. FC Magdeburg's home stadium was the Ernst-Grube-Stadion. In 2005, the stadium which had decayed rapidly after German reunification was demolished to make way for a new, football-only stadium. In December 2006 the new Stadion Magdeburg was opened, it is fully covered and offers room for 27,250 spectators. As is usual in Germany, there is standing room for 4,500 people that can be converted to seats to make the stadium a 25,000 capacity all-seater for international matches.^[13] In July 2009, local ISP and cable TV company MDCC announced they had signed a five-year^[14] sponsorship agreement with the stadium operator under which the stadium would be known as MDCC-Arena.^[15]

Fans

While the average attendance has had its ups and downs in recent years, 1. FC Magdeburg traditionally had a large number of supporters. At an average away match, the club will bring several hundred fans, but for important matches or derbies, this number can increase into thousands. 5,000 fans accompanied their club to the away match against Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2007–08 season. A similar number traveled to the match against VfL Wolfsburg II.^[16] However, the away fan record for 1. FC Magdeburg dates back to 1983, when some 25,000 fans traveled to Berlin to see the FDGB-Pokal final against FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in the Stadion der Weltjugend.

Since the new stadium has been opened, the fans can be found in different sections. Some are in section 2, a standing area in a corner, while the ultras have their home in section 4. They refer to themselves as Block U, a reference to the initial plan of designating the various sections of the new stadium with letters instead of numbers. Block U unites a number of different ultra and fan groups. Currently, 49 fan clubs have registered with 1. FC Magdeburg.^[17]

Magdeburg have fan rivalries with Hallescher FC and SG Dynamo Dresden. The rivalry with Hallescher FC centers around the question of being no. 1 in Saxony-Anhalt, while the Dresden rivalry can be traced back to the 1970s, when both clubs formed the elite of East German football. There is a friendly relation to Eintracht Braunschweig, accepted by a large part of Magdeburg supporters. Some, however, merely respect the friendship, while remaining generally critical.

Footnotes

External links

• Official team site
• Supporters Club – FanRat e.V.
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer