1. FC Schweinfurt 05

1. FC Schweinfurt 05

Full name	1. Fussball-Club Schweinfurt 1905, Verein für Leibesübungen e.V.
Nickname(s)	Die Schnüdel Die Grün-Weißen
Founded	5 May 1905
Ground	Willy-Sachs-Stadion
Ground Capacity	16,500[1] (860 seated)
Chairman	Markus Wolf
Manager	Gerd Klaus
League	Regionalliga Bayern (IV)
2016–17	8th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

1. Fussball-Club Schweinfurt 1905, Verein für Leibesübungen e.V., called 1. FC Schweinfurt 05, Schweinfurt 05, or simply FC 05, is a German association football club established in Schweinfurt (Bavaria) in 1905. It has sections for netball, fistball, field hockey, badminton, gymnastics, rugby, American football, futsal, and athletics.

The club is well-known nationally due to successful years in top and second tier football leagues from the 1930s to the 1970s. During the late 1930s, Schweinfurt's midfielders Albin Kitzinger and Andreas Kupfer formed the core of the Germany national football team and represented their country at the 1938 FIFA World Cup and within the FIFA selection Europe XI.^[2][3]

The FC 05 first team, which in the 2017–18 season competes in the tier-four Regionalliga Bayern, is organized within 1. FC Schweinfurt 1905 Fußball GmbH since 2016.^[4] The club plays its home games at the Willy-Sachs-Stadion in Schweinfurt.^[5]

History

Early years: 1905–1931

1. FC Schweinfurt 05 team in 1905

The football club was founded on 5 May 1905 and played in the local leagues until beginning of the First World War. At that time the home games were held at Hutrasen, the later venue of local competitor VfR 07 Schweinfurt. In 1919, Schweinfurt 05 became member of the tier-one Kreisliga Nordbayern, but relegated after its first season. The team attempted a merger with Turngemeinde Schweinfurt von 1848, which lasted from 1921 to 1923, before the two groups parted ways again and the football division became 1. Fussball-Club Schweinfurt 1905, Verein für Leibesübungen e.V.^[4]

While FC 05 did not reap the expected benefits from the brief union, it improved dramatically after re-establishing itself as an independent club. Membership grew significantly and a number of new sports departments were formed within the organization. The football team yielded its first fruits in 1927 by winning the Unterfranken Cup.^[6]

Years of excellence: 1931–1963

Schweinfurt 05 finally gained first class status again with its entry into the Bezirksliga Bayern in 1931. The club had a couple of successful seasons in the Gauliga era, winning the Gauliga Bayern in 1939 and 1942 and qualifying for the German football championship round. Schweinfurt made a semi-final appearance in the German Cup 1936, when it lost 2–3 to FC Schalke 04, the closest it ever came to winning a national title. Again in 1936, the club moved into its newly constructed stadium, the Willy-Sachs-Stadion, a donation by local industrialist and patron Willy Sachs.^[7]

At that time, FC 05 midfielders Albin Kitzinger and Andreas 'Ander' Kupfer became renowned in international football as they formed one of the best half back duos in Europe. Kitzinger and Kupfer were an essential part of the famous Germany national team who defeated Denmark 8–0 in Breslau (Poland) on 16 May 1937.^[8] One year later they competed at the 1938 FIFA World Cup and were both called up to play for the selection Europe XI in the game against England at Highbury in London.

After World War II, Schweinfurt 05 was integrated into the first tier Oberliga Süd. The club played in the Oberliga for the duration of the league's existence until the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional league, was founded in 1963. In 1950 Andreas Kupfer became the first captain of the West Germany national football team during his very final 44th appearance.

Second tier years: 1963–1976

As it did not qualify for the newly established Bundesliga in 1963, Schweinfurt 05 found itself playing in the second tier Regionalliga Süd. In 1966 the club became Southern German champion and made it to the Bundesliga advancement games, but was unable to ascend to the top tier.

With the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga in 1974, Schweinfurt was founding member of the southern division despite only finishing 15th in the last Regionalliga year. In its first 1974–75 2nd Bundesliga season, the team earned an excellent third place and barely missed the advancement games to ascend to Bundesliga.

Yo-yo years: 1976–2012

After the 1975 season FC 05 began to falter: poor results and financial problems saw the club descend first to the Bayernliga (III) and then, for the first time in 1983, to the Landesliga Bayern-Nord (IV). Schweinfurt 05 became an elevator club ascending and descending between tiers III and IV, with just a pair of brief 2nd Bundesliga appearances in 1990–91 and in 2001–02. In the 1989–90 season the team made it into the last sixteen of the German Cup, but lost to Eintracht Braunschweig in the third round.

Disasters happened in 2004 when FC Schweinfurt 05 was forced to leave the Regionalliga Süd (III) because of financial reasons, and in 2005 when the club went bankrupt. The results in the Bayernliga (IV) were annulled and the team was relegated to the fifth tier Landesliga.

A re-structured club has since enjoyed some success, working its way back into Bayernliga (IV) in 2008. FC 05 was relegated again to the Landesliga in 2009, but returned to the Bayerliga immediately the following year. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club managed to qualify for the promotion round to the new Regionalliga Bayern (IV) and advanced to the second round. In this round the club missed out on promotion to FC Augsburg II after a 0–3 loss at home in extra time, first having drawn the away leg nil all.^[9]

Recent years: 2012–today

In the 2012–13 season the club took the championship in the northern division of the Bayernliga and thereby earned direct promotion to the tier-four Regionalliga Bayern. The team struggled against relegation all season, in the end finishing with a relegation play-off rank courtesy of a controversial final game of the season. Schweinfurt turned a 1–3 deficit into a 4–3 win with three goals in the last four minutes of the game,^[10] and successfully defended its league place in the following relegation round.

Within the following two Regionalliga years Schweinfurt 05 again had to fight against relegation. In the 2016–17 season, the team eventually finished 8th and succeeded in winning the Bavarian Cup.^[11]

The FC 05 first team was spun off into 1. FC Schweinfurt 1905 Fußball GmbH in 2016. By means of the reorganization, the club wants to establish more professional structures that help to pave the way back to higher leagues.^[4]

Seasons

First team

The season-by-season performance of the club from 1931 until today:^[12][13]

• The 1944-45 Gauliga Bayern season operated in five regional divisions. The Lower Franconia (German: Unterfranken) division was made up from four clubs: 1. FC Schweinfurt 05, VfR 07 Schweinfurt, FV 04 Würzburg, and Würzburger Kickers. It is unknown whether any of the season's games were played.

• With the introduction of the Bezirksoberligas in 1988 as the new fifth tier, below the Landesligas, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the establishment of the Regionalliga Bayern as the new fourth tier in Bavaria in 2012 the Bayernliga was split into a northern and a southern division, the number of Landesligas expanded from three to five and the Bezirksoberligas were abolished. All leagues from the Bezirksligas onward were elevated one tier.

Reserve team (U-23)

The recent season-by-season performance of the U-23 reserve team:

Honours

^‡ Northern division

^‡‡ Reserve team

Stadium

Willy-Sachs-Stadion (2017)

In its first years, 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 played the home games at Hutrasen, south of river Main.^[14] After the First World War, the club had to move to a court in close proximity, located at Ludwigsbrücke in Schweinfurt. With promotion to Gauliga Bayern in 1933, however, the existing venue proved to be more and more inadequate.

The club's necessity finally motivated local industrialist Willy Sachs to the donation of a football stadium to the City of Schweinfurt, where the club's patron designated a privileged right of use for FC Schweinfurt 05. The Willy-Sachs-Stadion,^[5] built by German architect Paul Bonatz, was opened on 23 July 1936 in the presence of leading politicians of the Third Reich.^[7] The stadium saw its first game three days later with a 2–2 draw between Schweinfurt 05 and 1935 German champion FC Schalke 04.^[6] Attandance record was 22,500 at a friendly between Schweinfurt 05 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1954.^[15]

Today, Willy-Sachs-Stadion has a capacity of 16,500,^[16] where the grandstand hosts 860 covered seats. Besides the football field, the stadium offers track and field facilities, and is equipped with a classical Marathon gate. Premises at the stadium include changing rooms for players, coaches, and referees. Speaker cabins and a press area are available in the grandstand.

The stadium has been renovated and equipped with floodlights in 2001 in order to meet the requirements for 2nd Bundesliga. In addition, an electronic scoreboard was contributed by Schweinfurt's large industry. Wavebreakers have been installed on the standing rooms in 2014 to safeguard the full capacity.

Players

Current squad

As of 10 August 2017^[17][18][19]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Alexander Eiban 2 DF Herbert Paul 3 DF Andreas Bauer 4 DF Kevin Bär 5 GK Marco Janz (captain) 6 MF Christopher Kracun 7 MF Marco Fritscher 8 MF Michael Schlicht 9 FW Nicolas Görtler 10 MF Lukas Kling (vice-captain) 11 MF Christopher Lehmann 12 GK David Paulus 14 MF Max Hillenbrand

No. Position Player 15 MF Kevin Fery 16 MF Vincent Waigand 17 DF Matthias Strohmaier 19 MF Steffen Krautschneider 20 MF Nikola Jelišić 21 DF Dominik Weiß 22 FW Florian Pieper 23 DF Philip Messingschlager 24 DF Patrick Wolf 27 FW Adam Jabiri 30 MF Marius Willsch 32 DF Lukas Billick

Notable past players

• Albin Kitzinger (MF)
• Andreas Kupfer (MF)
• Robert Bernard (MF)
• Günter Bernard (GK)
• Lothar Emmerich (FW)
• Michael Glowatzky (FW)
• Sebastian Kneißl (MF)

International caps

Germany national football team:

• Albin Kitzinger: 44
• Andreas Kupfer: 44
• Günter Bernard: 2 (3 additional caps for SV Werder Bremen)

Europe XI:

• Albin Kitzinger: 1
• Andreas Kupfer: 1

Managers

Managers of the club from 1929 until today:^[20][21]

References

External links

• Official club site
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
• 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 profile at Weltfussball.de
• Football in Franconia at anpfiff.info
• Football in Bavaria at FuPa.net
• Football results at kicker.de

Coordinates: 50°3′4.6″N 10°12′10.9″E / 50.051278°N 10.203028°E / 50.051278; 10.203028