SV Werder Bremen

Werder Bremen^[1]

Full name	Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V.
Nickname(s)	Die Werderaner (The River Islanders)[2] Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites)[1]
Founded	4 February 1899 (1899-02-04)[1]
Ground	Weserstadion[1]
Ground Capacity	42,500.[3]
President	Klaus-Dieter Fischer
Coach	Robin Dutt
League	Bundesliga
2012–13	14th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (German pronunciation: [ˈvɛʁdɐ ˈbʁeːmən]), commonly known as Werder Bremen, is a German sports club located in Bremen^[1] in the northwest German federal state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The club was founded in 1899 and has grown to 40,400 members.^[1] It is best known for its association football team.

Bremen's football club has been a mainstay in the Bundesliga, the top league of the German football league system. Bremen have won the Bundesliga championship four times and the German Cup six times. Their latest championship in each came in 2004, when they won a double.^[4] Bremen have also had European success,^[5] winning the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup.^[4][5] Bremen also reached the final match of the last edition of the UEFA Cup in 2009 (it was rebranded the UEFA Europa League the following season),^[6][7][8] During the early 2000s, Bremen was one of the most successful teams in the Bundesliga, but the club has not played in a European competition since the 2010–2011 campaign.

Since 1924, Werder Bremen's stadium is the Weserstadion. Werder Bremen's manager is Robin Dutt. Werder Bremen has a rivalry with Hamburger SV, another Bundesliga club in northern Germany, known as the Nordderby (English: North derby).

History

The club was founded on 4 February 1899^[1] as Fußballverein Werder^[2] by a group of 16 vocational high school students who had won a prize of sports equipment.^[9] The students took the club's name from the seldom-used regional German word for “river peninsula," which described the riverside field on which they played their first football games.

The predecessor to Bremen, known as SV Werder, played its first ever match on 10 September 1899 against ASC 1898 Bremen coming away with a 1–0 victory. In 1900 FV Bremen was represented at the founding of the German Football Association (DFB) at Leipzig. The club then enjoyed some early success, fielding competitive sides and winning a number of local championships. FV took part in the qualification play for the national championships in playoffs held by the Norddeutscher Fussball Verband (NFV), one of the seven major regional leagues after the turn of the century, but were unable to advance. They became the first club to charge spectators a fee to attend their games and to fence in their playing field.

In April 1914, the club became a department of Allgemeiner Bremer Turnverein 1860 and was briefly known as Sportabteilung Werder des ABTV. However, the relationship was short-lived and the club went its own way again less than two months later.

Steady growth after World War I led the club to adopt other sports and, on 19 January 1920, change their name to the current Sportverein Werder Bremen. Football remained their primary interest, so much so that in 1922, they became the first German club to hire a professional coach. The team made regular appearances in year-end NFV qualification round play through the 1920s and on into the early 1930s, but did not enjoy any success.

German football was re-organized under the Third Reich in 1933 into 16 first division leagues known as Gauligen and Werder became part of the Gauliga Niedersachsen. The club scored its first real successes, capturing division titles in 1934, 1936, and 1937, and took part for the first time in national level playoff competition. The shape of the Gauligen changed through the course of World War II and in 1939, the Gauliga Niedersachsen was split into two divisions. SV played in the Gauliga Niedersachsen/Nord where they captured a fourth title in 1942. As the war overtook the country, the Gauligen became progressively more local in character. The Gauliga Niedersachsen/Nord became the Gauliga Weser-Ems and then the Gauliga Weser-Ems/Bremen over the next two years. Werder's 1944–45 season was cut short after just two matches.

Like other organizations throughout Germany, the club was disbanded on the order of the occupying Allied authorities after the war. They re-constituted themselves 10 November 1945 as Turn- und Sportverein Werder 1945 Bremen, which was changed to Sport-Club Grün-Weiß 99 Bremen on 4 February 1946. The team took up play in the Stadtliga Bremen, and after capturing a title there, participated in the northern German championship round, advancing to the quarterfinals. They were able to reclaim the name SV Werder on 25 March 1946 before taking part in the playoffs.

At the time, professionals were not permitted to play in the German game, so it was normal for football players to take on other jobs, often with the club's local patron. In the case of Werder, a number of the players worked at the nearby Brinkmann tobacco factory, and so the side took on the nickname Texas 11 after one of the company's popular cigarette brands.

Between the end of the war and the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 the club continued to do well, being recognized as one of the top two teams in northern Germany, along with Hamburger SV. In 1961, they managed their first DFB-Pokal win. Their performance was good enough to earn them a place as a charter member of the Bundesliga, and in the league's second season, Werder took the championship. They earned a second-place finish in the 1967–68, but then languished in the bottom half of the table for a dozen years. An attempt to improve their lot by signing high-priced talent earned the side the new, derisive nickname of the Millionaires and turned out to be an expensive failure. The club dropped out of the Bundesliga for the first and only time, being relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga-Nord for the 1980–81 season after a 17th place finish.

Werder Bremen recovered themselves under the direction of newly hired coach Otto Rehhagel, who led the side to a string of successes: Bundesliga runners-up in 1983, 1985 and 1986, champions in 1988; appearances in the final of the DFB-Pokal in 1989 and 1990 with a win there in 1991; followed by victory in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. In 1993, the club earned its third Bundesliga title and, in the following year, its third DFB-Pokal. Rehhagel left the club in June 1995 after this impressive run for a short-lived turn as coach of Bayern Munich. The impact of Rehhagel's departure was felt immediately, and a succession of coaches (Aad de Mos, Dixie Dörner, Wolfgang Sidka, and Felix Magath) led the club into a critical position. In May 1999, former defender and amateur coach Thomas Schaaf took over the team and stopping a slide toward relegation and leading the team to a cup victory only weeks later.

The team's performance stabilized in the following seasons as they regularly finished in the upper half of the table. In 2004, they managed to take both the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal — one of only four German sides to achieve the Double. Their performance qualified them for the 2004–05 Champions League play and they advanced to the Round of 16 before a dismal exit on a 10–2 aggregate to French side Olympique Lyonnais. Werder again qualified for the Champions League in 2005, this time through a third place Bundesliga result following a difficult injury-prone season. They once more advanced to the Round of 16, this time being put out by Italian club Juventus on away goals after a 4–4 aggregate score. A second place in the league ensured the third consecutive Champions League qualification for Werder Bremen.

In the 2006–07 season, Werder Bremen claimed the "winter champions" title, being the first place team in the Bundesliga before the winter break period, but eventually came in third behind VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04. A third place in the Champions League group stage sent Bremen to the UEFA Cup, where they lost in the semi-finals to RCD Espanyol. After the season, Werder lost their famous striker Miroslav Klose through transfer to Bayern Munich. As in the previous season, Bremen finished third in the Champions League, but this time lost in the Round of 16 to Scottish club Rangers. A vice-championship in the Bundesliga qualified Werder for their fifth consecutive Champions League attendance.

Bremen struggled in their Bundesliga campaign of 2008–09, eventually finishing tenth, their worst league performance in more than a decade. Nevertheless, Bremen made it to the UEFA Cup final (after yet another third place finish in the Group Stage of the Champions League), as well as the national cup final. After Naldo equalized an early goal by Shakhtar Donetsk, Bremen lost the Final 1–2 after extra time. In the final match of the 2008–09 season, Bremen defeated Bayer Leverkusen 1–0 to win the DFB-Pokal. In the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, Bremen made it to the final.

Supporters and Rivals

Werder Bremen has a long-standing rivalry with northern German club Hamburger SV,^[10] another major club in northern Germany,^[11] known as the Nordderby and other big clubs like Bayern Munich in particular. They have developed a recent but intense dislike of Schalke 04 after the Gelsenkirchen side lured top players (including Aílton, Mladen Krstajić, Frank Rost, Oliver Reck (goalkeeping coach), and Fabian Ernst) with lucrative contracts to join them.

There are a few Ultra-Groups in Bremen: "Wanderers-Bremen", "The Infamous Youth" and "Ultra-Team Bremen", they support the team in each match.

The official anthem of Werder Bremen is "Lebenslang Grün-Weiß" by Bremen-based band Original Deutschmacher.^[12][13][14]

Honours

National titles

Bundesliga^[1][1][4][4]

• Winners (4) – 1964–65, 1987–88, 1992–93, 2003–04
• Runners-up (7) – 1967–68, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1994–95, 2005–06, 2007–08

2. Bundesliga^[1]

• Winners (1) – 1980–81

DFB-Pokal^[1][4]

• Winners (6) – 1960–61, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2008–09
• Runners-up (4) – 1988–89, 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2009–10

DFB-Ligapokal^[1][4]

• Winners (1) – 2006
• Runners-up (2) – 1999, 2004

DFL-Supercup^[1][4]

• Winners (4) – 1988, 1993, 1994, 2009 (unofficial)^[15]
• Runners-up (1) – 1991

European titles

UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup^[6][7]

• Runners-up (1) 2008–09

UEFA Super Cup

• Runners-up (1) 1992

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup^[4][5]

• Winners (1) – 1991–92

UEFA Intertoto Cup^[1]

• Winners (1) – 1998

International titles

International Soccer League

• Runners-up (1) – 1964

Other titles

Kirin Cup

• Winners (2) – 1982, 1986

Youth titles

German Under 19 championship

• Champions: 1999

Under 19 Bundesliga North/Northeast

• Champions: 2007, 2009

Players

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2011 and List of German football transfers winter 2011–12.

Current squad

Correct as of 31 January 2014^[16]
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 Sebastian Mielitz 2 DF Santiago García (on loan from U.S. Città di Palermo) 3 DF Luca Caldirola 4 DF Mateo Pavlović 5 DF Assani Lukimya 6 MF Cédric Makiadi 7 MF Ludovic Obraniak 8 DF Clemens Fritz (captain) 9 FW Franco Di Santo 10 MF Mehmet Ekici 11 MF Eljero Elia 13 DF Lukas Schmitz 14 MF Aaron Hunt (vice-captain) 15 DF Sebastian Prödl 16 MF Zlatko Junuzović 17 MF Aleksandar Ignjovski

No. Position Player 18 MF Felix Kroos 19 DF Torben Rehfeldt 20 GK Raphael Wolf 22 MF Melvyn Lorenzen 23 DF Theodor Gebre Selassie 24 FW Nils Petersen 26 FW Davie Selke 28 MF Levent Ayçiçek 29 DF Cimo Röcker 30 GK Richard Strebinger 31 MF Predrag Stevanović 32 MF Özkan Yıldırım 33 FW Martin Kobylański 34 MF Aleksandar Stevanović 38 MF Julian Von Haacke 44 MF Philipp Bargfrede

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 FW Niclas Füllkrug (on loan at Greuther Fürth until 30 June 2014) FW Johannes Wurtz (on loan at SC Paderborn 07 until 30 June 2014)

Retired number(s)

12 – Club Supporters (the 12th Man)

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Coach	Robin Dutt
Assistant First Team Coach	Damir Burić
Goalkeeper Trainer	Marco Langner
Club Doctor	Dr. Götz Dimanski
Physio	Holger Berger
Assistant Physio	Florian Lauerer
Reserve Team Manager	Victor Skripnik
Youth Team Manager	Thomas Wolter

Sponsorship

Companies that Werder Bremen currently has sponsorship deals with include:^[17]

• Wiesenhof - Main Sponsor
• Nike – Official Kit Suppliers
• Targobank – Official sponsors, formerly "Citibank"
• Volkswagen – Official sponsors
• Coca-Cola – Official sponsors
• InBev – Official sponsors
• Tipico – Official sponsors
• SigG Solar – Official sponsors
• Ramada – Official sponsors
• Kraft Foods – Official sponsors
• Ewe Tel – Official sponsors
• CeWe Color – Official sponsors
• Haake Beck, Hasseröder – Official sponsors^[18]

Former sponsors

Year	Kit Manufacturer[19]	Sponsor	Branch
1971–1974	unknown	City of Bremen
1976–1978		Norda	Tinned Fish
1978–1981		Pentax	Photocameras
1981–1984	Puma	Olympia	Writing Machines
1984–1986		Trigema	Sportswear
1986–1992		Portas	Kitchens and Doors Renovation
1992–1997		dbv-Winterthur	Insurance
1997–2000		o.tel.o	Telecommunications
2000–2001	Kappa	QSC	Telecommunications
2001–2002		no shirt sponsor
2002–2004		Young Spirit	Shoes
2004–2006		KiK	Textil Discount
2006–2007		bwin	Sport betting
2007–2009*		Citibank/ Targobank	Financial Services
2009–2012	Nike
since 2012		Wiesenhof	Poultry farming and processing

• in the 2008–09 Bundesliga season, during the transition of the German branch of Citibank to Targobank, following its takeover by Credit Mutuel, Werder Bremen sported on the shirts the transitional message "So Geht Bank Heute" (That's How Banking is done today).

Werder Bremen II

Werder Bremen's reserve team currently plays in the Regionalliga Nord but also has been a regular fixture at third level football in Germany. It plays its home matches at Weserstadion, Platz 11, adjacent to the first team's ground, and it is coached by Thomas Wolter,^[20] a former Werder player.

Notable players

• A list of notable Werder Bremen players can be found here. For a list of all past and present players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles, see Category:SV Werder Bremen players.

Managers since 1963

Werder has had 19 managers since the beginning of the Bundesliga era in 1963. Otto Rehhagel served the longest term, being in office for fourteen years. Hans Tilkowski, Willi Multhaup, Rudi Assauer, and Otto Rehhagel served two terms each while Fritz Langner served three.

Head Coach	Years Coached	Notes
Willi Multhaup	July 1, 1963–June 30, 1965
Günther Brocker	July 1, 1965–Sept 4, 1967
Fritz Langner	Sept 9, 1967–June 30, 1969
Richard Ackerschott	Oct 12, 1968–June 69	Replacement for Fritz Langner in games 11, 12, 13, and 34
Fritz Rebell	July 1, 1969–March 16, 1970
Hans Tilkowski	March 17, 1970–June 30, 1970
Robert Gebhardt	July 1, 1970–Sept 28, 1971
Willi Multhaup	Sept 28, 1971–Oct 24, 1971
Sepp Piontek	Oct 1971–June 30, 1975
Fritz Langner	May 8, 1972–June 30, 1972	Replacement for Sepp Piontek in games 31 and 32
Herbert Burdenski	July 1, 1975–Feb 28, 1976
Otto Rehhagel	Feb 29, 1976–June 30, 1976
Hans Tilkowski	July 1, 1976–Dec 19, 1977
Rudi Assauer	Dec 1977–June 78	In cooperation with Fred Schulz
Fred Schulz	Jan 2, 1978–June 30, 1978	In cooperation with Rudi Assauer
Wolfgang Weber	July 1, 1978–Jan 28, 1980
Rudi Assauer	Jan 29, 1980–Feb 20, 1980	In cooperation with Fritz Langner
Fritz Langner	Feb 21, 1980–June 30, 1980	In cooperation with Rudi Assauer
Kuno Klötzer	July 1, 1980–April 1, 1981
Otto Rehhagel	April 2, 1981–June 30, 1995
Aad de Mos	July 1, 1995–Jan 9, 1996
Hans-Jürgen Dörner	Jan 14, 1996–Aug 20, 1997
Wolfgang Sidka	Aug 21, 1997–Oct 20, 1998
Felix Magath	Oct 22, 1998–May 8, 1999
Thomas Schaaf	May 9, 1999–May 15, 2013
Wolfgang Rolff	May 15, 2013–May 25, 2013	Schaaf's former assistant coach was interim coach for the game 34 of the season 2012/2013.
Robin Dutt	June 1, 2013–present

SV Werder Bremen in Europe

Competition	P	W	D	L	Source
UEFA Champions League	66	27	14	25	[21]
UEFA Europa League	99	46	24	29
UEFA Super Cup	2	0	1	1
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	21	11	3	7
UEFA Intertoto Cup	18	14	4	4

Recent finishes and attendance

Season	Position	Avg. attendance
1999–00	9th	29,834
2000–01	7th	30,341
2001–02	6th	30,094
2002–03	6th	32,869
2003–04	1st	37,666
2004–05	3rd	39,579
2005–06	2nd	36,928
2006–07	3rd	39,715
2007–08	2nd	40,267
2008–09	10th	40,375
2009–10	3rd	36,015
2010–11	13th	35,867
2011–12	9th	40,851

SV Werder Bremen in Forbes Magazine

Year	Ranking	Team value	Revenue	Income	Debt/Value ratio	Sources
2004	Not Ranked					[22]
2005	Not Ranked					[23]
2006	Not Ranked					[24]
2007	Not Ranked					[25]
2008	18	$262 Million	$131 Million	$11 Million	0%	[26]
2009	18	$292 Million	$177 Million	$24 Million	12%	[27]
2010	16	$274 Million	$161 Million	$24 Million	-6%	[9]
2011	17	$279 Million	$147 Million	Not Stated	2%	[28]
2012	Not Ranked					[29]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Werder Bremen.

• Official website (German & English)
• Werder Bremen statistics
• Werder Bremen formations at football-lineups

v t e SV Werder Bremen Information Club Players Managers Matches Stadium Women team Reserve team Nordderby Matches 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup Final 1992 European Super Cup 1991 DFB-Supercup 1994 DFB-Supercup 2009 UEFA Cup Final 2009 DFB-Pokal Final 2010 DFB-Pokal Final Seasons 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

v t e Bundesliga clubs 2013–14 clubs FC Augsburg Bayer Leverkusen Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Borussia Mönchengladbach Eintracht Braunschweig Eintracht Frankfurt SC Freiburg Hamburger SV Hannover 96 Hertha BSC 1899 Hoffenheim Mainz 05 1. FC Nürnberg Schalke 04 VfB Stuttgart Werder Bremen VfL Wolfsburg Former clubs 1860 Munich Alemannia Aachen Arminia Bielefeld Bayer 05 Uerdingen/KFC Uerdingen 05 Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin VfL Bochum Borussia Neunkirchen Darmstadt 98 Dynamo Dresden Energie Cottbus Fortuna Düsseldorf Fortuna Köln SpVgg Greuther Fürth Hansa Rostock FC 08 Homburg 1. FC Kaiserslautern Karlsruher SC Kickers Offenbach 1. FC Köln VfB Leipzig Meidericher SV/MSV Duisburg Preußen Münster Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1. FC Saarbrücken FC St. Pauli Stuttgarter Kickers Tasmania Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin SSV Ulm SpVgg Unterhaching Waldhof Mannheim Wattenscheid 09 Wuppertaler SV

v t e 2. Bundesliga (women) 2010–11 clubs North Cloppenburg Gütersloh Hamburg II Holstein Kiel Lokomotive Leipzig Lübars Magdeburg Oldesloe Tennis Borussia Berlin Turbine Potsdam II Victoria Gersten Werder Bremen South 1. FFC Frankfurt II Bayern Munich II Cologne Crailsheim FCR Duisburg II Freiburg Hoffenheim Löchgau Niederkirchen Recklinghausen Sand Sindelfingen

v t e Under 19 Bundesliga North/Northeast 2013–14 clubs Hertha BSC 1. FC Union Berlin SV Werder Bremen Dynamo Dresden FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt Hamburger SV Hannover 96 FC Carl Zeiss Jena Holstein Kiel VfB Lübeck VfL Osnabrück F.C. Hansa Rostock FC St. Pauli VfL Wolfsburg

v t e Under 17 Bundesliga North/Northeast 2013–14 clubs Hertha BSC Berlin 1. FC Union Berlin Eintracht Braunschweig Werder Bremen Energie Cottbus Dynamo Dresden Hamburger SV Hannover 96 FC Carl Zeiss Jena Holstein Kiel RB Leipzig VfL Osnabrück FC St. Pauli VfL Wolfsburg

v t e UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winners Winners 1960–61: Fiorentina 1961–62: Atlético Madrid 1962–63: Tottenham Hotspur 1963–64: Sporting CP 1964–65: West Ham United 1965–66: Borussia Dortmund 1966–67: Bayern Munich 1967–68: Milan 1968–69: Slovan Bratislava 1969–70: Manchester City 1970–71: Chelsea 1971–72: Rangers 1972–73: Milan 1973–74: Magdeburg 1974–75: Dynamo Kyiv 1975–76: Anderlecht 1976–77: Hamburg 1977–78: Anderlecht 1978–79: Barcelona 1979–80: Valencia 1980–81: Dinamo Tbilisi 1981–82: Barcelona 1982–83: Aberdeen 1983–84: Juventus 1984–85: Everton 1985–86: Dynamo Kyiv 1986–87: Ajax 1987–88: Mechelen 1988–89: Barcelona 1989–90: Sampdoria 1990–91: Manchester United 1991–92: Werder Bremen 1992–93: Parma 1993–94: Arsenal 1994–95: Real Zaragoza 1995–96: Paris Saint-Germain 1996–97: Barcelona 1997–98: Chelsea 1998–99: Lazio

v t e UEFA Intertoto Cup winners 1995–2005 1995: Bordeaux Strasbourg 1996: Karlsruher Silkeborg Guingamp 1997: Auxerre Bastia Lyon 1998: Bologna Valencia Werder 1999: Juventus West Ham United Montpellier 2000: Celta Stuttgart Udinese 2001: Paris Saint-Germain Troyes Aston Villa 2002: Málaga Stuttgart Fulham 2003: Villarreal Perugia Schalke 04 2004: Villarreal Lille Schalke 04 2005: Hamburg Marseille Lens 2006–2008 2006: Newcastle United 2007: Hamburg 2008: Braga