VfL Bochum

VfL Bochum is a football (soccer) club from Germany.

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VfL Bochum is a Germany football (soccer) List of football clubs in Germany based in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.

History

Founding to World War II

VfL is one of the oldest sports organizations in Germany claiming an origin date of July 26, 1848 when an article in the Märkischer Sprecher - a local newspaper - called for the creation of a gymnastics club. The Bochumer Turnverein was then formally established with the authorities on February 18, 1849. However, the origin of the VfLs football department is the predecessor side of the Fußballklub 06 formed in 1906, later known as SV Germania 06 Bochum.

Another ancestor - Spiel und Sport Bochum - was formed in 1908 and played the first football match at the Castroper Straße (Ruhrstadion) on October 8, 1911. After a merger with another local side in 1919, they took on the name TuS Bochum 1848.

Two of these clubs played in the Gauliga Westfalen, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established through the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich in 1933. TuS Bochum appeared there briefly in 1936 and 1937, while Germania Bochum played in the division from 1933 to 1938. VfL Bochum was formed when the Naziregime ordered the consolidation of TuS, Germania, and Turnverein Bochum 1848 on April 14, 1938 and began play in the 1938-39 season. After 1943 they played with yet another club as the combined wartime side Kriegsspielgemeinschaft (KSG) VfL 1848 Bochum/Preußen Bochum until the end of the conflict. Although VfL Bochum was able to field competitive sides, they had the misfortune of playing in the same division as Schalke 04 which was the dominant team of the era: Bochums best results were a number of distant second place finishes.

Postwar and entry to Bundesliga play
Following the war the football section resumed play as the independent VfL Bochum Fussballgemeinschaft 1848 and played its first season in the second division 2.Oberliga West in 1949, while Preußen Bochum went on to lower tier amateur level play. VfL captured the division title in 1953 to advance to the Oberliga West for a single season. They repeated their divisional win in 1956 and returned to the top-flight until again being relgated after the 1960-61 season.

With the formation of the Bundesliga (football), Germany's new professional league, in 1963, VfL found itself in the third tier Amateurliga Westfalen. A first place result there in 1965 raised them to the Regionalliga West (II) from where they began a steady climb up the league table to the Bundesliga in 1971. During this rise Bochum also played its way to the final of the 1968 German Cup where they dropped a 1:4 decision to 1. FC Köln.

In spite of being a perennial lower table side, Bochum developed a reputation for tenaciousness on the field in a run of twenty seasons at the top flight. VfL Bochum made a repeat appearance in the German Cup final in 1988, this time going down 0:1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Relegated after a 16th place finish in 1993, VfL Bochum has become a classic "elevator side", bouncing up and down between the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga (football). The club's best Bundesliga results have come relatively recently as 5th place finishes in 1997 and 2004, which earned them appearances in the UEFA Cup tournament. In 1997, they advanced to the third round where they were put out by Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam, and in 2004, they were eliminated early through away goals (0-0 and 1-1) by Standard CL Liège of Belgium.

Current
Today's sports club has 5,000 members with the football department accounting for over 2,200 of these. Other sections now part of the association include Athletics (track and field), badminton, basketball, dance, fencing, gymnastics, team handball, hockey, swimming (sport), table tennis, tennis, and volleyball.

Players
See also List of VfL Bochum players

As of July 3, 2009

Players out on loan

For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2009 VfL Bochum.

VfL Bochum II squad

As of July 25, 2009

Manager: Nicolas Michaty

Notable players

The following are listed on VfL Bochum's official site as their "Legendary Players", or are among the Bundesliga players with most appearances or goals.

See also: :Category:VfL Bochum players

Germany
- Hans-Joachim Abel
- Holger Aden
- Dieter Bast
- Frank Benatelli
- Mirko Dickhaut
- Thomas Ernst
- Frank Fahrenhorst
- Harry Fechner
- Hermann Gerland
- Dirk Helmig
- Michael Hubner (footballer)
- Mathias Jack
- Josef Kaczor
- Hans-Jürgen Köper
- Peter Közle
- Martin Kree
- Stefan Kuntz
- Michael Lameck

- Uwe Leifeld
- Kai Michalke
- Josef Nehl
- Walter Oswald
- Peter Peschel
- Thomas Reis
- Dirk Riechmann
- Hilko Ristau
- Michael Rzehaczek
- Christian Schreier
- Frank Schulz
- Thomas Stickroth
- Franz-Josef Tenhagen
- Hans Walitza
- Uwe Wegmann
- Andreas Wessels
- Lothar Woelk
- Ralf Zumdick

Iceland
- Thordur Gudjonsson

Netherlands
- Rob Reekers

Poland
- Tomasz Wałdoch

Honours

UEFA Cup: UEFA Cup 1997-98 (Third Round), UEFA Cup 2004-05 (First Round)
German Cup finalists: DFB Cup 1967-68, DFB Cup 1987-88
Fußball-Bundesliga UEFA Cup qualification: Fußball-Bundesliga 1996/97 (5th), Fußball-Bundesliga 2003/04 (5th)
Bundesliga top scorers: Fußball-Bundesliga 1985/86 (Stefan Kuntz, 22 goals), Fußball-Bundesliga 2002/03 (Thomas Christiansen, 21 goals (w/Giovane Elber)), Fußball-Bundesliga 2006/07 (Theofanis Gekas, 20 goals)
Promoted to Fußball-Bundesliga: Fußball-Bundesliga 1970/71 (1st Regionalliga West, 1st promotion group 1), Second Fußball-Bundesliga 1993/94 (1st), Second Fußball-Bundesliga 1995/96 (1st), Second Fußball-Bundesliga 1999/2000 (2nd), Second Fußball-Bundesliga 2001/02 (3rd), Second Fußball-Bundesliga 2005/06 (1st)
2. Fußball-Bundesliga champions: Second Fußball-Bundesliga 1993/94, Second Fußball-Bundesliga 1995/96, Second Fußball-Bundesliga 2005/06
2. Fußball-Bundesliga top goal scorer: Second Fußball-Bundesliga 1993/94 (Uwe Wegmann 22 goals)

Youth

- German Under 19 championship (football)
- - Champions: 1969
- - Runners-up: 2004, 2005
- German Under 17 championship (football)
- - Champions: 1985
- Under 19 Bundesliga (football)
- - Champions: 2004, 2005

League results

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from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964 shift:(0,-4) text:2
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from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift:(0,-4) text:4
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from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969 shift:(0,-4) text:2
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from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:9
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from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:12
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from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:14

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from:01/07/1945 till:01/07/1949 color:3rd shift:(0,13) text: "Landesliga Westfalen"
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from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1955 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Oberliga West (1947-63)"
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from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1971 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "Regionalliga West (1963-74)"
from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1993 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "2. Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "2. Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1999 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "2. Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "2. Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2005 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "2. Fußball-Bundesliga"
from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2009 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "Fußball-Bundesliga"

Stadium

Ruhrstadion (also known as "rewirpowerSTADION" under a sponsorship deal) was one of the first modern football-only stadiums in Germany. It was built in the 1970s on the traditional ground of TuS Bochum 08 at the Castroper Straße north of the city centre.

The fully-roofed venue's capacity is 31,328, including standing room for 15,639.

Team trivia

- One of the most prominent supporters of VfL Bochum is popular German musician and actor Herbert Grönemeyer, who wrote the song "Bochum" which soon became VfL Bochum's unofficial anthem sung by VfL fans prior to every home match.
- In 1955, VfL Bochum became the first German football club to travel to Israel to play a friendship match.
- VfL Bochum does not assign the number 12 to any player in order to honour its fans as 12th Man (football).

Coaches

1.FC Köln, Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, Energie Cottbus, FC Schalke 04, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, SV Werder Bremen, TSG Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg