Hertha BSC

Hertha BSC

Club logo 1999–2012
Full name Hertha Berliner Sport-Club von 1892 e.V.
Nickname(s) Die Alte Dame (The Old Lady)
Die Blau-Weißen (The Blue-Whites)
Founded 25 July 1892 (1892-07-25)
Ground Olympic Stadium, Berlin
Ground Capacity 74,475
Director of Sport Michael Preetz
President Werner Gegenbauer
Head coach Pál Dárdai
League Bundesliga
2014–15 15th
Website Club home page

Hertha Berliner Sport-Club von 1892, commonly known as Hertha BSC or Hertha Berlin (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛʁtaː beː ʔɛs t͡seː]), is a German association football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC was founded in 1892. A founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900. Hertha BSC play in the Bundesliga, the top-tier division of German football, after finishing at the top of the 2. Bundesliga table at the end of the 2012–13 season. Hertha BSC have won the German championship in 1930 and 1931. Since 1963, Hertha BSC's stadium is the Olympiastadion.

History

Early years

The club was formed in 1892 as BFC Hertha 92, taking its name from a steamship with a blue and white smokestack.[1] One of the four young men who founded the club had taken a day trip on this ship with his father. The name Hertha is a variation on Nerthus referring to fertility goddess from Germanic mythology.

The ship that gave name to the club.

Hertha performed consistently well on the field, including a win in the first Berlin championship final in 1905.[1] In May 1910, Hertha won a friendly match against Southend United F.C., which was considered significant at the time as England was where the game originated and English clubs dominated the sport.[1] However, their on-field success was not matched financially and in 1920 the staunchly working-class[2] Hertha merged with the well-heeled club Berliner Sport-Club to form Hertha Berliner Sport-Club.[1] The new team continued to enjoy considerable success in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg, while also enduring a substantial measure of frustration. The team played its way to the German championship final in six consecutive seasons from 1926 to 1931, but were only able to come away with the title in 1930 and 1931[1] with BSC leaving to become an independent club again after the combined side's first championship. Even so, Hertha emerged as the Germany's second most successful team during the inter-war years.

Play under the Third Reich

German football was re-organized under the Third Reich in 1933 into sixteen top-flight divisions, which saw Hertha playing in the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg. The club continued to enjoy success within their division, regularly finishing in the upper half of the table and capturing the divisional title in 1935, 1937, and 1944. However, they faded from prominence, unable to advance out of the early rounds of the national championship rounds. Politically, the club was overhauled under Hitler, with Hans Pfeifer, a Nazi party member being installed as president.[1][3]

Postwar play

After World War II, occupying Allied authorities banned most organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs. Hertha was re-formed late in 1945 as SG Gesundbrunnen and resumed play in the Oberliga Berlin – Gruppe C. The thirty-six teams of the first season of the postwar Oberliga Berlin were reduced to just a dozen the next year and the club found itself out of first division football and playing in the Amateurliga Berlin. By the end of 1949, they had re-claimed their identity as Hertha BSC Berlin and earned a return to the top-flight.

Tensions between the western Allies and the Soviets occupying various sectors of the city, and the developing Cold War, led to chaotic conditions for football in the capital. Hertha was banned from playing against East German teams in the 1949–50 season after taking on several players and a coach who had fled the Dresden club SG Friedrichstadt for West Berlin.[1] A number of sides from the eastern half of the city were forced from the Oberliga Berlin to the newly established DDR-Liga beginning with the 1950–51 season.

Through the 50's an intense rivalry developed with Tennis Borussia Berlin. A proposal for a merger between the two clubs in 1958 was resoundingly rejected, with only three of the 266 members voting in favour.[1]

Being a major Berlin side, Hertha had fans in the whole of Berlin, but following the division of the city, supporters in East Berlin found if both difficult and dangerous to follow their beloved team. In interviews with the long time supporter Helmut Klopfleisch, he describes his difficulties as a supporter in East Berlin. Klopfleisch came from the district of Pankow and attending his first home match as a young boy in 1954 he became an instant supporter.[4] He continued to attend home matches at the stadium, but with the construction of the Berlin wall in 1961, this became impossible. Despite this, he did not give up. By this time, Hertha played at the Stadion am Gesundbrunnen, nicknamed Die Plumpe. The stadium was located close enough to the Berlin wall for the sounds from the stadium to be heard over the wall. Thus, Klopfleisch and other supporter gathered behind the wall to listen to the home matches. When the crowd at the stadium cheered, Klopfleisch and the others cheered as well.[4][5][6][7] Klopfleisch later came under suspicion by Stasi, the East German secret police. He was arrested and interrogated at numerous occasions.[6] He also had his passport confiscated and eventually lost his job as an electrician.[6][8]

Entry to the Bundesliga

At the time of the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, Hertha was Berlin's reigning champion and so became an inaugural member of the new professional national league.[9] In spite of finishing clear of the relegation zone, the team was demoted after the 1964–65 season following attempts to bribe players to play in the city under what had become decidedly unpleasant circumstances after the erection of the Berlin Wall.[9] This caused something of a crisis for the Bundesliga which wanted, for political reasons, to continue to have a team in its ranks representing the former capital. Through various machinations this led to the promotion of SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin, which then delivered the worst-ever performance in Bundesliga history. Hertha managed a return to the premier German league in 1968–69 and developed a solid following, making it Berlin's favorite side.[10]

However, Hertha was again soon touched by scandal through its involvement with several other clubs in the Bundesliga match fixing scandal of 1971. In the course of an investigation of Hertha's role, it was also revealed that the club was 6 million DM in debt. Financial disaster was averted through the sale of the team's former home ground.[10]

In spite of this, the team continued to enjoy a fair measure of success on the field through the 70's with a second place Bundesliga finish behind Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1974–75,[10] a semi-final appearance in the 1979 UEFA Cup,[10] and two appearances in the final of the German Cup (1977 and 1979).[10] The following season saw the fortunes of the team take a turn for the worse as they were relegated to 2. Bundesliga[11] where they would spend thirteen of the next seventeen seasons.

Plans in 1982 for a merger with Tennis Borussia Berlin, SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin and SCC Berlin to form a side derisively referred to as FC Utopia never came to fruition.[11] Hertha slipped as low as the third tier Amateur Oberliga Berlin where they spent two seasons (1986–87 and 1987–88).[11] Two turns in the Bundesliga (1982–83[11] and 1990–91) saw the team immediately relegated after poor performances. Hertha's amateur side enjoyed a greater measure of success, advancing all the way to the final of the German Cup in 1993 where their run ended in a close 0–1 defeat at the hands of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.[12]

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hertha became a popular side in East Berlin as well. Two days after the wall came down, 11,000 East Berliners attended Hertha's match against SG Wattenscheid.[12] A fan friendship with 1. FC Union Berlin developed, and a friendly match between the two attracted over 50,000 spectators.[12]

Financial woes once more burdened the club in 1994 as it found itself 10 million DM in debt.[12] The crisis was again resolved through the sale of real estate holdings in addition to the signing of a new sponsor and management team.[13] By 1997 Hertha found its way back to the Bundesliga[13] where they generally managed to finish in the upper third of the slate. When Hertha was promoted in 1997, it ended Berlin's six-year-long drought without a Bundesliga side which had made the Bundesliga the only top league in Europe without representation from its country's biggest city and capital.

Recent history

Two years in a row, Hertha's opening Bundesliga fixture was against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Most recently, bright spots for the side have been a continuous string of appearances in international play in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League beginning in the 1999 season, and the signing of players such as Sebastian Deisler and Brazilian international Marcelinho, named the Bundesliga's player of the year in May 2005. Hertha has also invested heavily in its own youth football academy, which has produced several players with Bundesliga potential.

The Ostkurve at the Olympiastadion.

The team was almost relegated in the 2003–04 season, but rebounded and finished fourth the following season, but missed out on the Champions League after they were held to a draw on the final day by Hannover 96, which saw Werder Bremen overtake them for the spot on the final day. As a thank-you gesture, Werder sent the Hannover squad ninety-six bottles of champagne. In 2005–06 the Herthaner finished sixth, qualified for the UEFA Cup by defeating FK Moskva in the Intertoto Cup but were eliminated in the first round of the UEFA Cup by Odense BK. In 2006–07 Hertha finished 10th after sacking manager Falko Götz on 11 April. Hertha started the 2007–08 season with a new manager, Lucien Favre who had won the Swiss Championship in 2006 and 2007 with FC Zürich. They finished 10th again, but started in the first qualification round of the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play Ranking, making it as far as the group stage in the tournament. After a successful campaign in 2008–09 season, finishing in fourth place and remaining in the title race up until the second to last matchday, they had a very poor season in 2009–10 season and finished at the very bottom of the Bundesliga.

After spending the 2010–2011 season in the 2. Bundesliga, Hertha BSC secured their return to the Bundesliga for the 2011–12 season by winning 1–0 at MSV Duisburg, with three matchdays left to go in the season. However, Hertha finished 16th in the 2011–12 Bundesliga and lost in a controversial relegation playoff tournament to Fortuna Dusseldorf.

In 2012–13, Hertha achieved promotion from the second division as champions for the second time in three seasons. On the opening day of the 2013–14 season, Hertha beat Eintracht Frankfurt 6–1 at the Olympiastadion to top the Bundesliga table at the end of matchday 1.

At the half way point of the 2015–16 Bundesliga Season Hertha Berlin lies in 3rd place, their highest position at the winter break since the 2008–2009 season.[14]

Stadium

The Olympiastadion

Since 1963, Hertha BSC has played its matches in Berlin's Olympiastadion, originally built for the 1936 Summer Olympics.

The stadium has a permanent capacity of 74,475 seats,[15] making it the largest stadium in Germany in terms of seating capacity and the second largest stadium in Germany, behind the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, in terms of total capacity. For certain football matches, such as those against FC Bayern München, the capacity can be temporarily expanded. This is made by the addition of mobile grandstand over the Marathon Arch. The extended capacity reached 76,197 seats in 2014.[16][17]

The stadium underwent major renovations twice, in 1974 and from 2000 to 2004. In both cases, the renovations were for the upcoming World Cup. In the 1974 upgrades, the stadium received a partial roof. It underwent a thorough modernisation for the 2006 World Cup. In addition, the colour of the track was changed to blue to match Hertha's club colours. In addition to Hertha's home games, Olympiastadion serves as one of the home grounds for the German national football team, and it hosts concerts, track and field competitions, and the annual German Cup final. It was also the site for six matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup including the tournament final.

From 1904, Hertha's home ground was the Plumpe in the city's Gesundbrunnen district . A stadium was built there in 1923 with a capacity of 35,000 (3,600 seats). The club left the stadium when it joined the Bundesliga in 1963. Hertha returned to the site during the Regionalliga years from 1965 to 1968. The sale of the site in 1971 helped the club avoid bankruptcy.

Due to a lack of spectator interest, Hertha played their 2nd Bundesliga and Amateurliga matches from 1986 to 1989 in Poststadion. The opening fixtures of the 1992–93 season, as well as Intertoto Cup, and UEFA Cup qualifying matches were played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark.

Players

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2015 and List of German football transfers winter 2014–15.

Current squad

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

No. Position Player
1 Germany GK Thomas Kraft
2 Slovakia DF Peter Pekarík (vice-captain)
3 Norway MF Per Ciljan Skjelbred
5 Germany MF Niklas Stark
6 Czech Republic MF Vladimír Darida
8 Ivory Coast FW Salomon Kalou
9 Germany MF Alexander Baumjohann
11 Tunisia FW Sami Allagui
12 Brazil MF Ronny
13 Germany MF Jens Hegeler
14 Switzerland MF Valentin Stocker
15 Germany DF Sebastian Langkamp
16 Germany FW Julian Schieber
No. Position Player
17 Germany MF Tolga Ciğerci
18 Germany MF Sinan Kurt
19 Bosnia and Herzegovina FW Vedad Ibišević
20 Germany MF Mitchell Weiser
21 Germany DF Marvin Plattenhardt
22 Norway GK Rune Jarstein
23 Germany DF Johannes van den Bergh
24 Japan MF Genki Haraguchi
25 United States DF John Brooks
27 Netherlands MF Roy Beerens
28 Switzerland DF Fabian Lustenberger (captain)
34 Germany DF Maximilian Mittelstädt

Players out on loan

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

No. Position Player
Germany GK Sascha Burchert (at Vålerenga Fotball)[18]
Germany GK Marius Gersbeck (at Chemnitzer FC)[19]
No. Position Player
Japan MF Hajime Hosogai (at Bursaspor)[20]

Hertha BSC II

Main article: Hertha BSC II

Player records

Michael Preetz is Hertha's top goalscorer
Pál Dárdai is Hertha's most capped player

As 9 March 2010

"Squad of the Century"

For the club's 111th birthday, Hertha fans elected the "Squad of the Century".[21]

Pos Player Period
GK Gábor Király * 1997–2004
DF Arne Friedrich 2002–10
DF Ludwig Müller 1972–75
DF Uwe Kliemann 1974–80
DF Eyjólfur Sverrisson 1995–2003
MF Kjetil Rekdal 1997–2000
MF Hanne Sobek 1924–45
MF Erich Beer 1971–79
MF Marcelinho * 2001–06
FW Axel Kruse 1989–91
1996–98
FW Michael Preetz 1996–2003
Substitutes
GK Norbert Nigbur 1976–79
DF Hans Weiner 1972–79
1982–86
DF Otto Rehhagel 1962–66
MF Lorenz Horr 1969–77
FW Karl-Heinz Granitza 1976–79

* Player is still active.

Coaches

Current staff

Name Position
Hungary Pal Dardai Head coach
Germany Rainer Widmayer Assistant coach
Hungary Zsolt Petry Goalkeeping coach
Germany Henrik Kuchno Fitness coach

Coaches since 1963

As of 19 April 2013
No. Coach From To Matches W
DLWin %Trophies Won
1Germany Jupp Schneider1 July 19639 March 1965 55 16 14 25 29.09 None
2Germany Gerhard Schulte9 March 196530 June 1966 38 32 3 3 84.21 1965–66 Regionalliga Berlin
3Germany Helmut Kronsbein1 July 196613 March 1974 223 92 53 78 41.26 None
4Germany Hans "Gustav" Eder17 March 197430 June 1974 9 3 1 5 33.33 None
5Germany Dettmar Cramer1 July 19749 July 1974 0 0 0 0 !— None
6Germany Hans "Gustav" Eder10 July 197416 July 1974 0 0 0 0 !— None
7Germany Georg Kessler17 July 197430 June 1977 118 54 26 38 45.76 None
8Germany Kuno Klötzer1 July 197727 October 1979 94 38 25 31 40.43 None
9Germany Hans "Gustav" Eder28 October 197926 December 1979 7 1 3 3 14.29 None
10Germany Helmut Kronsbein27 December 197930 June 1980 19 8 3 8 42.11 None
11Germany Uwe Klimaschewski1 July 19808 December 1981 62 41 5 16 66.13 None
12Germany Georg Gawliczek9 December 198110 December 1983 59 20 15 24 33.90 None
13Germany Martin Luppen11 December 198325 May 1984 43 16 12 15 37.21 None
14Germany Hans "Gustav" Eder26 May 198430 June 1984 0 0 0 0 !— None
15Germany Uwe Kliemann1 July 198411 November 1985 61 16 23 22 26.23 None
16Germany Hans "Gustav" Eder11 November 198531 December 1985 1 0 1 0 00.00 None
17Germany Rudi Gutendorf1 January 198618 April 1986 13 2 5 6 15.38 None
18Germany Jürgen Sundermann19 April 19868 October 1988 18 4 5 9 22.22 None
19Germany Werner Fuchs13 October 198813 November 1990 79 33 22 24 41.77 1989–90 2. Bundesliga
20Hungary Pál Csernai13 November 199012 March 1991 6 1 3 2 16.67 None
21Germany Peter Neururer13 March 199128 May 1991 12 0 2 10 00.00 None
22Germany Karsten Heine28 May 199130 June 1991 3 1 0 2 33.33 None
23Germany Bernd Stange1 July 199120 August 1992 41 14 12 15 34.15 None
24Germany Günter Sebert21 August 199220 October 1993 55 24 19 12 43.64 None
25Germany Karsten Heine20 October 199323 October 1993 1 0 0 1 00.00 None
26Germany Uwe Reinders24 October 199323 March 1994 11 2 4 5 18.18 None
27Germany Karsten Heine23 March 199431 December 1995 70 23 23 24 32.86 None
28Germany Jürgen Röber1 January 19966 February 2002 227 112 57 58 49.34 2001 DFB-Ligapokal
29Germany Falko Götz (interim)6 February 200230 June 2002 13 9 1 3 69.23 None
30Netherlands Huub Stevens1 July 20024 December 2003 64 25 17 22 39.06 2002 DFB-Ligapokal
31Germany Andreas Thom (interim)4 December 200317 December 2003 3 0 2 1 00.00 None
32Germany Hans Meyer1 January 200430 June 2004 17 7 5 5 41.18 None
33Germany Falko Götz1 July 200410 April 2007 121 47 40 34 38.84 None
34Germany Karsten Heine (interim)10 April 200730 June 2007 6 3 0 3 50.00 None
35Switzerland Lucien Favre1 July 200728 September 2009 94 40 20 34 42.55 None
36Germany Karsten Heine (interim)29 September 20093 October 2009 1 0 0 1 00.00 None
37Germany Friedhelm Funkel3 October 200930 June 2010 33 7 10 16 21.21 None
38Germany Markus Babbel1 July 201018 December 2011 55 30 13 12 54.55 2010–11 2. Bundesliga
39Germany Rainer Widmayer (interim)18 December 201121 December 2011 1 1 0 0 100.000 None
40Germany Michael Skibbe22 December 201112 February 2012 5 0 0 5 00.00 None
41Germany René Tretschok (interim)14 February 201219 February 2012 1 0 0 1 00.00 None
42Germany Otto Rehhagel19 February 201230 June 2012 14 3 3 8 21.43 None
43Netherlands Jos Luhukay1 July 2012[22][23]5 February 2015 71 34 18 19 47.89 2012–13 2. Bundesliga
44Hungary Pál Dárdai 5 February 2015 0 0 0 0 !— None

Honours

League

Cup

Note 1: Reserve Team

International

Youth

Statistics

Women's football

Missing out on a trend of promoting women's football,[25] Hertha became one of a decreasing number of major German football clubs left outside the top of women's football. Several steps had been taken to develop women's football, but most of them ended up inconclusive. The change came in 2009, when the club announced that it was to launch a cooperation in women's football with 1. FC Lübars, a football club from the Berlin borough Reinickendorf and with decades of history in women's football.[26]

From one side, the partnership meant that Hertha was to provide Lübars with various forms of support, including financial support,[26] expertise in licensing and sponsor acquisition, equipment and training instruction – investing approximately 1 million Euros in the project.[27] From the other side, the partnership meant that Lübars was to compete in the colours of Hertha,[25] thus earning the nickname "Die Hertha-Frauen" ("The Hertha-women"). In the long run, the club plans for the team of 1. FC Lübars to be integrated with Hertha BSC.[26][27] 1. FC Lübars now competes in the 2. Bundesliga of women's football.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Hertha-History 1892–1963". Hertha BSC official website. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Hesse-Lictenberger, Ulrich (2003), Tor! The Story of German Football, WSG Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9540134-5-5
  3. ↑ HA HO HE Hertha BSC; München: Copress-Verlag, 1971
  4. 1 2 "Blau-weisse liebe hinter der Mauer". bundesliga.de (in German). Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Kuper, Simon (7 November 2009). "Still injury time for a fan on the wrong side of Berlin's wall". Financial Times (London: The Financial Times Ltd). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Ehrmann, Johannes (30 September 2010). "Der Fan hinter der Mauer". Der Tagesspiegel (in German) (Berlin: Verlag Der Tagesspiegel GmbH). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Helmut Klopfleisch - ein Fan der Einheit". herthabsc.de (in German). Hertha BSC GmbH & Co. KGaA. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Joyce, Paul (January 2012). "Border control". wsc.co.uk. When Saturday Comes Limited. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  9. 1 2 "1963–1965: Hertha startet in die Bundesliga" [1963–68: Hertha starts in the Bundesliga] (in German). Hertha BSC official website. Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "1968–1979: Rückkehr ins Fußballoberhaus, Bundesligaskandal und erfolgreiche 70er" [1968–1979: Return to Top Flight Football, Bundesliga Scandal, and Successful 70s] (in German). Hertha BSC official website. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "1980–1989: Berg- und Talfahrt" [1980–89: Roller Coaster Ride] (in German). Hertha BSC official website. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "1989–1994: Hertha überwindet die "Mauer" zur 1. Liga und steigt sofort wieder ab" [1989–94: Hertha Overcomes the "Wall" to the First League and is Immediately Relegated Again] (in German). Hertha BSC official website. Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  13. 1 2 "1994–1997: Weichenstellung mit neuen Partnern" [1994–97: Setting the Tracks with new Partners] (in German). Hertha BSC official website. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  14. ↑ http://www.bundesliga.com/en/stats/table/
  15. ↑ "Facts and Figures: Olympiastadion Berlin". Olympiastadion-berlin.de. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "76.197 Zuschauer gegen Bayern München". herthabsc.de. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Berliner Olympiastadion erhält 405 zusätzliche Sitze". Berliner Morgenpost. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "SASCHA BURCHERT WECHSELT NACH NORWEGEN" (in German). Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Gersbeck verlängert und wechselt nach Chemnitz" (in German). Retrieved 13 January 2016. line feed character in |accessdate= at position 11 (help); Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  20. ↑ "Bye bye: Hajime Hosogai in die Türkei" (in German). Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Jahn, Michael (2006). Nur nach Hause geh'n wir nicht (in German). Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt. ISBN 3-89533-535-5.
  22. ↑ Bremer, Uwe (17 May 2012). "Hertha setzt jetzt auf den "kleinen Diktator" Luhukay". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  23. ↑ "Hertha Berlin and Augsburg announce new coaches". Deutsche Welle. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  24. ↑ The UEFA Intertoto Cup: Past Winners. Listed are all 11 teams that won the Intertoto Cup, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
  25. 1 2 http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/hertha-bsc/neues-maedchenteam-hertha-heiratet/1435070.html
  26. 1 2 3 http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/07/frauenfussball-hertha-bsc-berlin-fc-luebars-kooperation
  27. 1 2 http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/1-mio-euro-fuer-neues-frauen-team-7511210.bild.html

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