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{{Infobox Football club | clubname = 1. FC Köln |
image = ] |
fullname = 1. FC Köln |
nickname = Die Geißböcke
(''The Billy Goats'') |
founded =
13 February[ |
ground = [RheinEnergieStadion,[Cologne |
capacity = 50,374 |
chairman = {{flagicon|Germany--> [Wolfgang Overath |
manager = {{flagicon|Germany--> [Christoph Daum |
league = [2nd Bundesliga (football) |
season = [Second Fußball-Bundesliga 2006/07 |
position = [2nd Bundesliga (football), 9th |
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=|
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-->
1. FC Köln is a Germany
football (soccer) List of football clubs in Germany in Cologne,
North Rhine-Westphalia formed in
1948 out of the merger of
Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and
SpVgg Sülz 07.
History
Predecessor sides
Kölner BC was formed on June 6, 1901 by a group of young men who were unhappy as part of the gymnastics club
FC Borussia Köln and far more interested in football.
BC was a competitive side in the Zehnerliga West in the years before World War I who took the Westdeutscher championship in 1912 and advanced to the preliminary rounds of the national finals. Their next best result was a losing appearance in the
1920 league final, where they dropped a 1:3 decision to
Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Spielvereinigung 1907 Köln-Sülz was established in
1907 as
Sülzer Sportverein and on January 1, 1919 merged with
Fußball Club 1908 Hertha Sülz to form
SpVgg. They captured the Westdeutscher title in 1928 and they too went out in the early rounds of the national finals in their turn on that stage. They went on to play as a top flight club in the Gauliga Mittelrhein, one of sixteen premier level divisions established in 1933 in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. The side earned generally good results through the 30s – including a divisional championship in
1939 – but then faltered in the early 40s. After the 1941 season the Gauliga Mittlerhein was split into two new divisions: the Gauliga Köln-Aachen and the Gauliga Moselland, which included clubs from occupied
Luxembourg.
Sülz struggled until they were united with
VfL Köln 1899 for the
1943-1944 season to form the combined wartime side
Kriegspielgemeinschaft VfL 99/Sülz 07 which promptly won the Gauliga Köln-Aachen title by a single point over
SG Düren 99 in a close race. The club did not play the next campaign as war overtook the region.
A successful new club
After the union of these two predecessor sides,
1. FC Köln began play in the tough Oberliga West in the 1949-50 season and by
1954 had won their first divisional championship. That same year they lost a 1:0 German Cup final to VfB Stuttgart.
Die Geißböcke won their second divisional championship in 1960 and this time parlayed that title into an appearance in the national final against
Hamburger SV, where they went down to a 2:3 defeat. They went on to finish first in the Oberliga West in each of the next three seasons and again played their way to the national final in 1962 and 1963. They won the '62 match 4:0 over
Nuremberg, but dropped the following year's contest 1:3 to
Borussia Dortmund. By virtue of their appearance in the 1963 final they were selected as one of the original sixteen teams to play in the
Bundesliga (football), Germany's new professional football league.
Köln continued their winning ways by becoming the first ever Bundesliga champion in the league's inaugural
1963-1964 season.
In the early years of the Bundesliga,
1. FC Köln (simply called 'FC' by its fans) was the most successful club in West Germany in terms of total points won. However, beginning in the early
1990s the club's performance fell off and in
1998 they were relegated for the first time. In recent years, the side has been an "elevator club", moving between the first and second divisions. They returned to the Bundesliga at the end of the
2004-2005 season as
2nd Bundesliga (football) champions after having been relegated the season before. There was little optimism about their return to the top flight as they were picked by German football magazine
Kicker as one of the clubs most likely to be sent down.
This prediction came true when
Köln lost to
Hamburger SV 0:1 in the third to last match of the season. The club finished the season in second last place and was relegated after conceding a league-worst 71 goals. The team's most prolific goalscorer was
Lukas Podolski with a total of 12 goals, who transferred to
FC Bayern Munich after the end of the season. He also appeared with the national side in the 2006 World Cup competition.
In late 2006, former coach
Christoph Daum was convinced to once again take the helm of the 2. Bundesliga club and many fans are hopeful that he will lead them back to the Bundesliga.
Honours
- German champions: 1962, 1964, 1978
- German vice-champions: 1960, 1963, 1965, 1973, 1982, 1989, 1990
- German Cup winners: 1968, 1977, 1978, 1983
- German Cup finalists: 1954, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1980, 1991
- UEFA Cup finalists: 1986
Stadium
The team plays its homematches in the
RheinEnergie Stadion, with a capacity of a little over 50,000. The name comes from a contract with the local power supplier RheinEnergy AG that will run out in 2009. However, most fans still call the stadium "Müngersdorfer Stadion", according to the former stadium and the suburb Müngersdorf, where it its located.
Team trivia
- Perhaps the club's most infamous result was in a match played in the quarter-finals of the 1965 UEFA Champions League, where they met England's Liverpool F.C. After two 0:0 draws, a third game was played which was also a stalemate, this time 2:2. As the kicks from the penalty mark had not yet been introduced as the means of deciding a tie, 1. FC Köln went out of the competition on the toss of a coin.
- Like many of Germany's other professional football clubs, 1. FC Köln is part of a larger sports club that also incorporates departments playing other sports, in this case handball, table tennis and gymnastics.
- 1. FC Köln holds the doubtful distinction of the worst goal drought in Bundesliga history. In 2002, the supporters had to wait 1034 excruciating minutes (equivalent to eleven games and a half) until Thomas Cichon found the back of the net again .
- The Köln's main rivals are Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Fortuna Düsseldorf – all clubs from the same general region, near the river Rhine. Fans have friendships with FC St. Pauli and Liverpool F.C..
Players
Current squad
-->
Players out on loan
{||valign="top"|
Notable players
{||valign="top"|
|width="50"| |valign="top"|
|}
Selected Former managers
Notable chairmen
External links
- Official team page
- The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
- FC Koln statistics
- FC Koln fansite
References
- Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)
- eufo.de European football club profiles and current team rosters
{{Infobox Football club | clubname = 1. FC Köln |
image = ] |
fullname = 1. FC Köln |
nickname = Die Geißböcke
(''The Billy Goats'') |
founded = 13 February[ |
ground = [RheinEnergieStadion,[Cologne |
capacity = 50,374 |
chairman = {{flagicon|Germany--> [Wolfgang Overath |
manager = {{flagicon|Germany--> [Christoph Daum |
league = [2nd Bundesliga (football) |
season = [Second Fußball-Bundesliga 2006/07 |
position = [2nd Bundesliga (football), 9th |
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=|
leftarm1=D70000|body1=D70000|rightarm1=D70000|shorts1=D70000|socks1=D70000|
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=|
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF|
-->
1. FC Köln is a
Germany football (soccer) List of football clubs in Germany in
Cologne,
North Rhine-Westphalia formed in
1948 out of the merger of
Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and
SpVgg Sülz 07.
History
Predecessor sides
Kölner BC was formed on June 6, 1901 by a group of young men who were unhappy as part of the gymnastics club
FC Borussia Köln and far more interested in football.
BC was a competitive side in the Zehnerliga West in the years before World War I who took the Westdeutscher championship in 1912 and advanced to the preliminary rounds of the national finals. Their next best result was a losing appearance in the
1920 league final, where they dropped a 1:3 decision to
Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Spielvereinigung 1907 Köln-Sülz was established in
1907 as
Sülzer Sportverein and on January 1,
1919 merged with
Fußball Club 1908 Hertha Sülz to form
SpVgg. They captured the Westdeutscher title in 1928 and they too went out in the early rounds of the national finals in their turn on that stage. They went on to play as a top flight club in the Gauliga Mittelrhein, one of sixteen premier level divisions established in
1933 in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. The side earned generally good results through the 30s – including a divisional championship in
1939 – but then faltered in the early 40s. After the 1941 season the Gauliga Mittlerhein was split into two new divisions: the Gauliga Köln-Aachen and the Gauliga Moselland, which included clubs from occupied Luxembourg.
Sülz struggled until they were united with
VfL Köln 1899 for the
1943-
1944 season to form the combined wartime side
Kriegspielgemeinschaft VfL 99/Sülz 07 which promptly won the Gauliga Köln-Aachen title by a single point over
SG Düren 99 in a close race. The club did not play the next campaign as war overtook the region.
A successful new club
After the union of these two predecessor sides,
1. FC Köln began play in the tough Oberliga West in the 1949-50 season and by
1954 had won their first divisional championship. That same year they lost a 1:0 German Cup final to
VfB Stuttgart.
Die Geißböcke won their second divisional championship in
1960 and this time parlayed that title into an appearance in the national final against
Hamburger SV, where they went down to a 2:3 defeat. They went on to finish first in the Oberliga West in each of the next three seasons and again played their way to the national final in 1962 and
1963. They won the '62 match 4:0 over
Nuremberg, but dropped the following year's contest 1:3 to
Borussia Dortmund. By virtue of their appearance in the 1963 final they were selected as one of the original sixteen teams to play in the Bundesliga (football), Germany's new professional football league.
Köln continued their winning ways by becoming the first ever Bundesliga champion in the league's inaugural 1963-1964 season.
In the early years of the Bundesliga,
1. FC Köln (simply called 'FC' by its fans) was the most successful club in West Germany in terms of total points won. However, beginning in the early 1990s the club's performance fell off and in 1998 they were relegated for the first time. In recent years, the side has been an "elevator club", moving between the first and second divisions. They returned to the Bundesliga at the end of the
2004-
2005 season as
2nd Bundesliga (football) champions after having been relegated the season before. There was little optimism about their return to the top flight as they were picked by German football magazine
Kicker as one of the clubs most likely to be sent down.
This prediction came true when
Köln lost to
Hamburger SV 0:1 in the third to last match of the season. The club finished the season in second last place and was relegated after conceding a league-worst 71 goals. The team's most prolific goalscorer was Lukas Podolski with a total of 12 goals, who transferred to
FC Bayern Munich after the end of the season. He also appeared with the national side in the 2006 World Cup competition.
In late 2006, former coach
Christoph Daum was convinced to once again take the helm of the 2. Bundesliga club and many fans are hopeful that he will lead them back to the Bundesliga.
Honours
- German champions: 1962, 1964, 1978
- German vice-champions: 1960, 1963, 1965, 1973, 1982, 1989, 1990
- German Cup winners: 1968, 1977, 1978, 1983
- German Cup finalists: 1954, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1980, 1991
- UEFA Cup finalists: 1986
Stadium
The team plays its homematches in the RheinEnergie Stadion, with a capacity of a little over 50,000. The name comes from a contract with the local power supplier RheinEnergy AG that will run out in 2009. However, most fans still call the stadium "Müngersdorfer Stadion", according to the former stadium and the suburb Müngersdorf, where it its located.
Team trivia
- Perhaps the club's most infamous result was in a match played in the quarter-finals of the 1965 UEFA Champions League, where they met England's Liverpool F.C. After two 0:0 draws, a third game was played which was also a stalemate, this time 2:2. As the kicks from the penalty mark had not yet been introduced as the means of deciding a tie, 1. FC Köln went out of the competition on the toss of a coin.
- Like many of Germany's other professional football clubs, 1. FC Köln is part of a larger sports club that also incorporates departments playing other sports, in this case handball, table tennis and gymnastics.
- 1. FC Köln holds the doubtful distinction of the worst goal drought in Bundesliga history. In 2002, the supporters had to wait 1034 excruciating minutes (equivalent to eleven games and a half) until Thomas Cichon found the back of the net again .
- The Köln's main rivals are Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Fortuna Düsseldorf – all clubs from the same general region, near the river Rhine. Fans have friendships with FC St. Pauli and Liverpool F.C..
Players
Current squad
-->
Players out on loan
{||valign="top"|
Notable players
{||valign="top"|
|width="50"| |valign="top"|
|}
Selected Former managers
- Christoph Daum
- Rinus Michels
- Morten Olsen
- Huub Stevens
- Hennes Weisweiler
- Gyula Lóránt
Notable chairmen
External links
- Official team page
- The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
- FC Koln statistics
- FC Koln fansite
References
- Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)
- eufo.de European football club profiles and current team rosters