| Full name | 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V. | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Der Club (The Club) Die Legende (The Legend) Der Altmeister (The Past Master) Der Ruhmreiche (The Glorious) |
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| Founded | 4 May 1900 | |||
| Ground | Frankenstadion, Nuremberg (Capacity: 48,548) |
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| Chairman | Martin Bader | |||
| Manager | Dieter Hecking | |||
| League | Fußball-Bundesliga | |||
| 2010–11 | Bundesliga, 6th | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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1. FC Nuremberg (German: 1. FC Nürnberg) is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria. It was founded on 4 May 1900 by a group of eighteen young men who had gathered at the local pub called the "Burenhütte" to assemble a side committed to playing football rather than rugby, one of the other new "English" games becoming popular at the time. Today's club offers its members boxing, handball, hockey, rollerblading and ice skating, swimming, skiing, and tennis. After a difficult 2009–10 campaign, they avoided relegation from the first division Bundesliga by beating the third place 2. Bundesliga finisher FC Augsburg in a play-off at the end of the season.
1. FCN have been relegated from the Bundesliga on seven occasions – more times than any other German club.[1]
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By 1909 the team was playing well enough to lay claim to the South German championship. After World War I, Nuremberg would gradually turn their success into dominance of the country's football. In the period from July 1918 to February 1922 the team would go unbeaten in 104 official matches. As early as 1919 they came to be referred to simply as "Der Club" in recognition of their skill and of their style on and off the field, and would go on to become one of the nation's most widely recognized and popular teams.
Nuremberg faced SpVgg Fürth in the first national championship held after the end of World War I and beat the defending champions 2:0. That would be the first of five titles Der Club would capture over the course of eight years. In each of those wins they would shutout their opponents.
The 1922 final was contested by Nuremberg and Hamburger SV but never reached a conclusion on the pitch. The match was called on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at 2–2. The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called at 1–1 when Nuremberg was reduced to just seven players and the referee ruled incorrectly they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB (Deutscher Fußball Bund or German Football Association) awarded the win to Hamburg, under the condition that they renounce the title in the name of "good sportsmanship" – which they grudgingly did. Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.
1. FCN's dominance was already being to fade when they captured their final trophy of the era in 1927 as the game began to evolve into a more quickly paced contest which did not suit their slower, more deliberate approach. While they continued to field strong sides, other clubs rose to the forefront of German football. In 1934, they lost in the final to FC Schalke 04 a club that would go on to become the strongest side in the era of football under the Third Reich. Nuremberg would capture national titles just before and after World War II in 1936 and 1948 in the first post-war national final, and would also take the Tschammerpokal, the forerunner of today's German Cup, in 1935 and 1939.
The post-war period began with the Club being integrated in the Oberliga Süd, one of the five top divisions in West-Germany at the time. Nuremberg managed to win this league six times until 1963, winning the national championship in 1948. In 1961, 1. FCN captured their eighth national title and appeared in a losing effort in the following year's final. Some consolation was to be had in the team capturing its second German Cup in 1962. Their strong play made them an obvious choice to be amongst the sixteen teams selected to the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, formed in 1963. Der Club played as a mid-table side through the league's early years until putting on a dominating performance in 1968 in which they sat atop the league table from the fifth week of play on to the end of the season on their way to their first Bundesliga title. They went on to become the first club to be relegated from the Bundesliga as the reigning champions.[1] This was a result of Max Merkel's decision to remove his championship winning team of veterans, believing that they were too old, in favour of a dozen newcomers.
It would take the club nine years to recover and return from an exile in the second tier, first the Regionalliga Süd, then the 2nd Bundesliga Süd, that included several failed efforts in the promotion rounds. 1. FCN returned to the Bundesliga for a year in 1978, but played to a 17th place finish and were relegated again. They immediately played their way back to the top flight, but since then their Bundesliga performances have been stumbling ones, characterized by finishes well down the league table and occasional relegation for a season or two. Their best recent result was a fifth place finish in 1988.
The early 1980s also saw the rise of a longstanding and intense friendship between the fans of Nuremberg and those of former arch rival FC Schalke 04. Fans accompany each others on their respective away games, and the two season matches between the teams are generally a very laid-back and hospitable affair for all fans involved.
In the mid-90's Nuremberg had financial problems that led to their being penalized 6 points in the 1995–96 season while playing in the 2. Bundesliga. The club was relegated to the third division as a consequence. Improved management saw the club clawing back and return to the top flight eventually.
However, in 1999, FCN suffered what was arguably the worst meltdown in Bundesliga history. Going into the last game of the season, they were in 12th place, three points and five goals ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt who were sitting in 16th place and seemingly headed to relegation. Nuremberg was closing out the season with what looked to be an easy home game against SC Freiburg who were also facing relegation. Frankfurt was up against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, last season's champions who were in a fight for a UEFA Champions League spot. Therefore FCN had already begun soliciting season tickets for next Bundesliga season in a letter to current season ticket holders within celebrating successfully avoiding relegation.
The stage was set for an improbable outcome. Nuremberg lost 1–2 with Frank Baumann missing a chance to score in the last minute. Every other FCN rival won, including Frankfurt, who whipped FCK 5–1 with three late tallies – this put them ahead on goals scored and sent FCN crashing to 16th place and into a shock relegation.[2] FCN was not relegated because they had fewer points than Frankfurt, nor because of a lower goal differential, but on the third tie-breaker – fewer goals scored.
1. FCN rebounded and played in the Bundesliga but still found themselves flirting with relegation from season to season. However, they had comfortably avoided relegation in the 2005–06 season finishing 8th in the Bundesliga. After several years of consolidation, Nuremberg seemed back as a force to reckon with in Bundesliga football. Manager Martin Bader's professional and sometimes even spectacular work till spring 2007 (the signing of former Ajax Amsterdam captain and Czech international Tomáš Galásek, for example, was greeted with enthusiasm), as well head coach Hans Meyer's tactically modern understanding of football, helped Nuremberg to its most successful time in almost 40 years. In May 2007 the cut for the UEFA Cup was sure and after the triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal the Club was in the final of that tournament for the first time since 1982. On 26 May the Club won this final against VfB Stuttgart in overtime 3–2, winning the DFB.Pokal again 45 years after the last victory. However in the first round of 2007–08 the team could convince no more in Bundesliga. As the team had ended up second in UEFA_Cup_2007–08#Group_A in front of later champion Zenit St. Petersburg after defeating Rapid Bucureşti in UEFA_Cup_2007–08#First_round head coach Hans Meyer was allowed to restructure the team, e.g. buying Jan Koller. In the consequence of no improvement Meyer was replaced by Thomas von Heesen after two legs in second round. The latter one didn't do much better and so FCN was relegated after finishing 16th after losing a 2–0 home match against FC Schalke 04 on the final day. After not meeting the expectations of dominating the 2. Bundesliga von Heesen resigned in August and was replaced by his assistant coach Michael Oenning. After a slow start Oenning was able to guide Nuremberg to a 3rd place finish and a playoff with 16th place Energie Cottbus. Nuremberg won the playoff 5–0 on aggregate and plays in the 1st Bundesliga since 2009.
The supporters of "Der Club" are known to be loyal, used to suffer due to a lot of disappointments, pessimistic but also proud of their team, their tradition and titles won in the past. This can be fixed on more than 40.000 visitors instead of bad standings and the years in the 2. Bundesliga and the former Regionalliga. Furthermore the supporters are very self ironic and have a grim sense of humour which is reflected in the sentence "Der Club is a Depp" (The Club is an idiot). This saying comes from the Franconian Reporter Günther Koch after "Der Club" relegated in 1994 as, once again, one of the best teams in the league.
The SpVgg Greuther Fürth is by far the 1. FCN's biggest and longest standing local rival, going back to the early days of German football when, at times, those two clubs dominated the national championship. This derby is furthermore the oldest one in the history of German footbal and with the legendary number of 253 official matches the most played derby in Germany. The best example for the deep aversion between the two clubs is a story out of the year 1921. When the German national team in a match against the Netherlands in Amsterdam consisted only of players from Nuremberg and Fürth. The players of the both teams travelled, it's true, in the same train, but the hatred among each other made the players from Nuremberg travel in the first waggon and the players from Fürth in the last waggon. In the middle of the train sat Georg B. Blascke, the manager: Sad and lonely. In the match scored a player from Fürth the 1:0. But only the players from Fürth gratulated him. The players from Nuremberg turned their backs on him. Another nice story of this time is the story of Hans Sutor, a former player from the SpVgg Fürth, who was forced to leave the team because of his marriage with a woman from Nuremberg. After this he played for the 1. FC Nuremberg and won three national championships.[3] Both clubs played together in the 2nd Bundesliga in 2008–09.
On Bavarian scale, the games against FC Bayern Munich are the biggest events of the year, the two clubs being the most successful sides in the state.
The 1. FC Nuremberg II (or 1. FC Nuremberg Amateure) qualified for the Regionalliga Süd on the strength of a third place in the Oberliga Bayern (IV) in 2007–08. The team had been playing in the Oberliga since 1998, finishing runners-up three times in those years. When not playing in the Oberliga, the team used to belong to the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte.
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[4][5]
| Season | Division | Tier | Position |
| 1995–96 | 2nd Bundesliga | II | 17th ↓ |
| 1996–97 | Regionalliga Süd | III | 1st ↑ |
| 1997–98 | 2nd Bundesliga | II | 3rd ↑ |
| 1998–99 | Fußball-Bundesliga | I | 16th ↓ |
| 1999–00 | 2nd Bundesliga | II | 4th |
| 2000–01 | 2nd Bundesliga | 1st ↑ | |
| 2001–02 | Fußball-Bundesliga | I | 15th |
| 2002–03 | Fußball-Bundesliga | 17th ↓ | |
| 2003–04 | 2nd Bundesliga | II | 1st ↑ |
| 2004–05 | Fußball-Bundesliga | I | 14th |
| 2005–06 | Fußball-Bundesliga | 8th | |
| 2006–07 | Fußball-Bundesliga | 6th | |
| 2007–08 | Fußball-Bundesliga | 16th ↓ | |
| 2008–09 | 2nd Bundesliga | II | 3rd ↑ |
| 2009–10 | Fußball-Bundesliga | I | 16th |
| 2010–11 | Fußball-Bundesliga | 6th | |
| 2011–12 | Fußball-Bundesliga |
Der Club boasted the title of Deutscher Rekordmeister as holder of the most championships for over sixty years (although occasionally having to share the honour with Schalke) before being overtaken by Bayern Munich in 1987.
Germany honours its Bundesliga champions by allowing them to display the gold stars of the "Verdiente Meistervereine" – one star for three titles, two stars for five, and three stars for ten. However, currently only titles earned since 1963 in the Bundesliga are officially recognized. Despite winning the national title nine times, Nuremberg – the country's second most successful side – is not entitled to sport any championship stars.
"Der Club" plays in the communally owned Frankenstadion (known as the Städtisches Stadion until 1990). It has been the club's home since 1963,[6] and currently has a capacity of 48,553 spectators following the stadium's most recent expansion during the winter break of the 2009–10 season.[7] The club previously played its matches at the Zabo (an abbreviation of Zerzabelshof, the district in which the ground was located).
The stadium was built in 1928 and was known as Stadion der Hitler-Jugend from 1933 to 1945. Originally having a capacity of 40,000 spectators, it was expanded in 1965 to hold 65,000 and subsequently hosted the 1967 final between FC Bayern Munich and Rangers, won 1:0 by the German side. The facility was refurbished for the 1974 World Cup and another recently completed renovation allowed it to seat 45,000 for four preliminary round matches and one Round of 16 contest of the FIFA World Cup 2006.
The Frankenstadion since 2006 bears the commercial name "EasyCredit Stadium" under an arrangement with a local bank. The majority of the fans was in favour of renaming it after club legend Max Morlock, but they have to wait at least six years for that to happen, as this is the period of the contractual arrangement – but by then it might well be named after another product.
For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2011 and List of German football transfers winter 2011–12.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Team manager | Boban Pribanovic |
| Head coach | Dieter Hecking |
| Co-trainer | Armin Reutershahn Dirk Bremser |
| Goalkeeping coach | Adam Matysek |
| Fitness coach | Andreas Beck |
| Youth coach | Dieter Nüssing Rainer Zietsch |
| Chief scout | Christian Möckel |
| Physiotherapist | Günter Jonczyk Sven Brechetsbauer Sascha Rurainski |
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KÖPKE
REUTER
WOLF
WENAUER
BRUNNER
HINTERMAIER
MINTAL
DORFNER
MORLOCK
CIRIC
ECKSTEIN
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| Greatest ever 1. FC Nuremberg team |
In the summer of 2010, as part of the club's celebration of its 110th anniversary, Nuremberg fans voted for the best players in the club's history. The players who received the most votes in each position were named in the club's greatest ever team.[9]
Reserves: Hans Kalb, Stefan Kießling, Horst Leupold, Dieter Nüssing, Marc Oechler, Luitpold Popp, Raphael Schäfer, Heinz Strehl, Heinrich Stuhlfauth, Horst Weyerich, Sergio Zárate
Outstanding coaches of the earlier years were Izidor "Dori" Kürschner (1921, 1922), Fred Spiksley (1913, 1920s), former player Alfred Schaffer (1930s), Dr. Karl Michalke (1930s), Alwin "Alv" Riemke (1940s–1950s) and former player Hans "Bumbes" Schmidt (1940s, 1950s), who notably did not win a single of his four German Championship titles as coach with Nuremberg, but three of them with the long standing main rivals FC Schalke 04. He was also four times champion as player, thereof three times with the Club, and once with the earlier arch rival SpVgg Fürth.
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