Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.

History

Club origins

The origins of the side go back to a pair of football clubs founded in 1899: Frankfurter Fußball-Club Viktoria von 1899 – regarded as the "original" football side in the club's history – and Frankfurter Fußball-Club Kickers von 1899. Both clubs were founding members of the new Nordkreis-Liga in 1909. These two teams merged in May 1911 to become Frankfurter Fußball Verein (Kickers-Viktoria), an instant success, taking three league titles from 1912 to 1914 in the Nordkreis-Liga and qualifying for the Southern German championship in each of those seasons. In turn, Frankfurter FV joined the gymnastics club Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861 to form TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 in 1920.

Pre-Bundesliga history

At the time, sports in Germany was dominated by nationalistic gymnastics organizations, and under pressure from that sport's governing authority, the gymnasts and footballers went their separate ways again in 1927, as Turngemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 and Sportgemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt (FFV) von 1899.

Through the late 1920s and into the 1930s Eintracht won a handful of local and regional championships, first in the Kreisliga Nordmain, then in the Bezirksliga Main, and Bezirksliga Main-Hessen. After being eliminated from the national level playoffs after quarterfinal losses in 1930 and 1931, they won their way to the final in 1932 where they were beaten 0-2 by Bayern Munich who claimed their first ever German championship. In 1933, German football was re-organized into sixteen Gauligen under the Third Reich and the club played first division football in the Gauliga Südwest, consistently finishing in the upper half of the table and winning their division in 1938.

They picked up where they left off after World War II, playing as a solid side in the first division Oberliga Süd and capturing division titles in 1953 and 1959. Their biggest success came on the heels of that second divisional title as they went on to a 5–3 victory over local rivals Kickers Offenbach to take the German national title and followed up immediately with an outstanding run in the European Champions Cup. Eintracht lost 3–7 to Real Madrid in an exciting final widely regarded as one of the best football matches ever played.

Founding member of the Bundesliga

The side continued to play good football and earned themselves a place as one of the original sixteen teams selected to play in the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, formed in 1963. Eintracht played Bundesliga football for thirty-three seasons finishing in the top half of the table more often than not. Their best Bundesliga performances were five third-place finishes: they ended just two points back of champion VfB Stuttgart in 1991–1992.

They also narrowly avoided relegation on several occasions. In 1984, they defeated MSV Duisburg 6–1 on aggregate, and in 1989 they beat 1. FC Saarbrücken 4–1 on aggregate, in two-game playoffs. Eintracht finally slipped and were relegated to 2.Bundesliga for the 1996–97 season. At the time that they were sent down along with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, these teams were two of only four sides that had been in the Bundesliga since the league's inaugural season.

It looked as though they would be out again in 1998–1999, but they pulled through by beating defending champions Kaiserslautern 5–1, while Nuremberg unexpectedly lost at home, to give Eintracht the break they needed to stay up. The following year, in another struggle to avoid relegation, the club was "fined" two points by the DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund or German Football Association) for financial misdeeds, but pulled through with a win by a late goal over SSV Ulm on the last day of the season. The club was plagued by financial difficulties again in 2004 before once more being relegated.

Between 1997 and 2005, Eintracht has bounced between the top two divisions.

In 2010–11 Eintracht had the 16th highest attendance in Europe, ahead of such prominent clubs as Napoli, Liverpool and Atlético Madrid.

The 2010–11 season ended with the club's fourth Bundesliga relegation. After setting a new record for most points in the first half of the season the club struggled after the winter. After seven games without scoring a goal, coach Skibbe was doubted. Despite winning the next game Skibbe was sacked and Christoph Daum took over his place.^[1] The change wasn't successful however, Eintracht only achieved three draws out of the last seven games and got relegated on the 34th match day.^[2]

Success outside the Bundesliga

The club has enjoyed considerable success in competition outside the Bundesliga. Eintracht famously lost the European Cup final to Real Madrid on 18 May 1960 at Hampden Park 7–3 in front of 127,621 spectators. It is one of the most talked about European matches of all time, with Di Stéfano scoring 3 and Puskás scoring the other 4 for Real.

In 1967 they won the Intertoto Cup beating Inter Bratislava in the final.

They won the German Cup in 1974, 1975, 1981, and 1988, and took the UEFA Cup over another German team – Borussia Mönchengladbach – in 1980. More recently, Eintracht were the losing finalists in the 2006 German Cup. Their opponents in the final, Bayern Munich, Bundesliga champions that year, qualified to participate in the Champions League. As a result Eintracht received the Cup winner's place in the UEFA Cup where they advanced to the group stage.

Colours, crest and nicknames

The club crest derives from the coat of arms of Frankfurt am Main which is in turn is a reference to the one-headed imperial eagle of the 13th century.

The crest has evolved slowly over time, showing little significant change until 1980 when a stylized eagle in black and white was chosen to represent the team. In the centennial year 1999 the club board decided to re-adopt a more traditional eagle crest. Since 2006 Eintracht has a living mascot, Golden Eagle Attila from the nearby Hanau zoo who is very popular among supporters.

The official club colours of red, black, and white have their origins in the colours of the founding clubs Frankfurter FC Viktoria and Frankfurter FC Kickers, which sported red and white and black and white respectively. Red and white are the colours of the city coat of arms, and black and white the colours of Prussia. When the clubs merged, officials decided to adopt the colours of both sides. Since local rival Kickers Offenbach sport the colours red and white, Eintracht avoids playing in such a kit, preferring to play in black and red, or in black and white.

The club is nicknamed Die Adler (The Eagles), which obviously derives from their crest. A nickname still popular among supporters is SGE, taken from the club's old official name Sportgemeinde Eintracht (Frankfurt), roughly translated meaning Sports community Harmony.

The nickname Launische Diva (Moody Diva) was heard most often in the early 1990s when the club would easily defeat top teams only to surprisingly lose to lesser clubs. This nickname was also held to refer to the what was regarded as the dubious work of some club chairmen, including for example, the failure to record the transfer fee of Hungarian star player Lajos Détári on club books. The current reign of Heribert Bruchhagen appears to have left these practises to the past.

Honours

International

• UEFA Cup
  • Winners: 1980
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners: 1967
• European Cup
  • Runners-up: 1960
• Coppa delle Alpi
  • Winners : 1967
• Antalya Cup
  • Winners : 2011

National

• German Championship (pre-Bundesliga)
  • Champions: 1959
  • Runners-up: 1932
• DFB-Pokal
  • Winners: 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988
  • Runners-up: 1964, 2006
• 2nd Bundesliga
  • Winners: 1997–98
• Fuji-Cup
  • Winners: 1992
  • Runners-up: 1994

Regional

• Southern German championship
  • Champions: 1929–30, 1931–32, 1952–53, 1958–59
  • Runners-up: 1912-13+, 1913-14+, 1930–31, 1953–54, 1960–61, 1961–62
• Nordkreis-Liga
  • Champions: 1911-12+, 1912-13+, 1913-14+

(+ as Frankfurter FV)

• Kreisliga Nordmain
  • Winners: 1919-20+, 1920–21
  • Runners-up: 1921–22
• Bezirksliga Main-Hessen:
  • Winners: 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32
  • Runners-up: 1932–33
• Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen:
  • Winners: 1937–38
  • Runners-up: 1936–37
• Hesse Cup
  • Winners: 1946, 1969

Youth

• German Under 19 championship
  • Champions: 1982, 1983, 1985
  • Runners-up: 1987
• German Under 17 championship
  • Champions: 1977, 1980, 1991, 2010
  • Runners-up: 1981, 1982

League results

Recent seasons

All time

Green denotes the highest level of football in Germany; yellow the second highest.

Players

For recent transfers see List of German football transfers summer 2011.

Current squad

As of 8 October 2011.

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

World Cup Winners while signed at Frankfurt

World Cup 1954 – Germany

• Alfred Pfaff (1949–61)

World Cup 1974 – Germany

• Jürgen Grabowski (1965–80)
• Bernd Hölzenbein (1967–81)

World Cup 1990 – Germany

• Uwe Bein (1989–94)

Other World Cup Winners who played in Frankfurt

World Cup 1954 – Germany

• Toni Turek (1946–47)

World Cup 1990 – Germany

• Thomas Berthold (1982–87)
• Andreas Köpke (1994–96)
• Andreas Möller (1985–87), (1990–92), (2003–04)

Medal winners at Summer Olympics

Gold

Summer Olympics 1996 – Nigeria

• Jay-Jay Okocha (1992–96)

Bronze

Summer Olympics 1988 – Germany

• Ralf Sievers (1982–90)

Current club staff

Club Presidents

Managers/Head Coaches

Records

• Home victory, Bundesliga: 9–1 v Rot-Weiss Essen, 5 October 1974
• Away victory, Bundesliga: 8–1 v Rot-Weiss Essen, 7 May 1977
• Home loss, Bundesliga: 0–7 v Karlsruher SC, 19 September 1964
• Away loss, Bundesliga: 0–7 v 1. FC Köln, 29 October 1983
• Highest home attendance: 81,000 v FK Pirmasens, 23 May 1959
• Highest away attendance: 127,621 v Real Madrid, Hampden Park, Glasgow, 18 May 1960
• Highest average attendance, season: 48,324, 2007–2008
• Most appearances, all competitions total: 720, Karl-Heinz “Charly” Körbel 1972–1991
• Most appearances, Bundesliga: 602, Karl-Heinz “Charly” Körbel 1972–1991
• Most goals scored, total: 201, Bernd Hölzenbein 1967–1981
• Most goals scored, Bundesliga: 160, Bernd Hölzenbein 1967–1981
• Most goals scored, season, Bundesliga: 26, Bernd Hölzenbein, 1976/77
• Jürgen Friedl, (born 23 February 1959) was the youngest player ever to take to the field in a Bundesliga match at age 17 years, 26 days on 6 August 1975 before being overhauled by Nuri Şahin of Dortmund.
• Richard Kress, (born 6 March 1925) is the oldest Bundesliga rookie, making his debut at 38 years, 171 days on the opening day of league play on 24 August 1963. He scored his first Bundesliga goal at 38 years, 248 days.
• Eintracht holds the record for most consecutive away games without a win: 32 games from 20 August 1985 to 25 August 1987. The club also holds the mark for early dismissal of its coach: twenty men have met this fate in Frankfurt.

Recent top scorers

Stadium information

• Name: Commerzbank-Arena
• Location: Frankfurt am Main
• Capacity: 51,500 (42,200 seated)
• Inauguration: 21 May 1925
• Pitch Size: 105 x 68 metres
• Record Attendance: 81,000; Eintracht Frankfurt vs. FK Pirmasens, 23 May 1959
• Address: Commerzbank-Arena, Mörfelder Landstrasse 362, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Nickname: Waldstadion

The ground was inaugurated as Waldstadion (Forest Stadium) in 1925 with the German championship final match between FSV Frankfurt vs. Nuremberg. The facility was renovated for the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. For Bundesliga fixtures the maximum capacity is 51,500 as on the East Stand next to the visitor's terrace some spaces are held free for security purposes.

Though the media usually refer to the ground by the official name,Commerzbank-Arena, the Eintracht faithful stick with the name Waldstadion.

Sponsoring^[3]

Reserves team

Eintracht Frankfurt U23 is the reserve team of Eintracht Frankfurt. The team plays as U23 (Under 23) to emphasize the character of the team as a link between youth academy and pro team. The team plays in the regular league system in the 4th tier, the Regionalliga Süd.

Frankfurt derby

The 2011–12 season sees Eintracht play local rival FSV Frankfurt in a league match for the first time in almost 50 years. The last league game between the two had been played on 27 January 1962, then in the Oberliga Süd. For the first of the two matches, FSV's home game on 21 August 2011, the decision was made to move to Eintracht's stadium as FSV's Volksbankstadion only holds less than 11,000 spectators and in excess of 40,000 spectators are expected for the game.^[4]

See also

• Football in Germany
• Average attendances of European football clubs
• European Cup 1959-60
• 1960 European Cup Final
• UEFA Cup 1979-80
• 1980 UEFA Cup Final
• List of Eintracht Frankfurt players
• Im Herzen von Europa
• Eintracht Frankfurt records
• Eintracht Frankfurt in Europe
• Eintracht Frankfurt U23
• Ultras Frankfurt
• Eintracht Frankfurt Rugby

Other sections within the club

The sports club Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. is made up of sixteen sections:

The most famous athlete of Eintracht Frankfurt is Betty Heidler, the hammer thrower world champion of 2007. Other Eintracht athletes include the 2008 Olympians Andrea Bunjes, Ariane Friedrich, Kamghe Gaba and Kathrin Klaas.

The clubs rugby union section twice reached the final of the German rugby union championship, in 1940 and 1965.^[5]

Within the football section, the sports club directly manages only the youth system and the reserve team. The professional footballers are managed as a separate limited corporation, Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball-AG, which is a subsidiary of the parent club.

References

External links

• Official club website (German)+(English)
• Abseits Guide to German Soccer (English)
• First official fansite (German)
• Official stadium website (German)+(English)
• Eintracht Frankfurt statistics (English)
• Rugby section (German)