Kickers Offenbach

Kickers Offenbach is a football (soccer) club from Germany.

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Kickers Offenbach is a Germany football (soccer) List of football clubs in Germany in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. Kickers Offenbach was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs including Melitia, Teutonia, Viktoria, Germania and Neptun. From 1921 to 1925 they were united with VfB 1900 Offenbach as VfR Kickers Offenbach until resuming their status the separate side Offenbacher FC Kickers.

History

Kickers Offenbach became one of the founding members of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909, where it played until the outbreak of the war. In post-First World War Germany, Kickers played in the Kreisliga Südmain (I), winning this league in 1920, 1922 and 1923.

Kickers Offenbach played as a mid-table side in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen through the late 1920s and early 1930s. German football was re-organized in 1933 under the Third Reich into sixteen first division Gauligen. Kickers joined the Gauliga Südwest, where Kickers Offenbach immediately captured the title and entered the national playoffs for the first time. They fared poorly there, but did manage to raise their overall level of play in the following seasons, going on to win five consecutive divisional championships from 1940 to 1944.

In the early 1940s the Gauliga Südwest had been split into the Gauliga Westmark and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, where Kickers played. Their best post-season result came in 1942 when Kickers Offenbach was able to advance as far as the semi-finals in the national championship rounds before they were decisively put out 0:6 by Schalke 04, who were on their way to their sixth championship as the era's most dominant side. By 1944, Allied armies were rolling through Germany and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau did not play the 1944-45 season.

Post war football

After World War II, Offenbach continued their emergence as a strong side in the Oberliga Süd (1945-63) (I). In 1949, they advanced again to the national semi-finals and again were put out by the eventual champions, this time VfR Mannheim. The next year they made an appearance in the final, losing 1:2 to VfB Stuttgart.

Kickers returned to the final in 1959 where they dropped a 3:5 decision to Eintracht Frankfurt. Throughout the post-war period and into the years leading up to the formation of Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga (football), in 1963, Kickers Offenbach consistently finished in the upper half of their league table, coming second in the overall table of the Oberliga Süd. In spite of this, Kickers Offenbach were not one of the sixteen teams chosen for the inaugural season of the new top flight league, with selection going instead to rival Frankfurt.

Entry to the Bundesliga and scandal

Kickers Offenbach found itself in the new Regionalliga Süd (1963-74) (II) and play in the Bundesliga would have to wait until 1968. The team was immediately relegated, but returned to the upper league for play in 1970-71. In addition to their return to the Bundesliga, Kickers Offenbach would win its one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2:1 DFB Pokal victory over 1. FC Köln.

However, the end of the 1971 season would find Kickers Offenbach at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal. Kickers Offenbach president, Horst Canellas, went to the DFB (Deutsche Fussball Bund or German Football Association) after being approached by a player from another team looking for a cash bonus for that club's effort in beating one of Offenbachs rivals in the fight against relegation. Receiving no help from league officials, Canellas began gathering evidence of how widespread the payoffs were. In the end more than fifty players from seven clubs, two coaches, and six game officials were found guilty of trying to influence the outcome of games through bribes, but Canellas was unable to save his club from relegation. Kickers Offenbach central to the scandal – Arminia Bielefeld – would not be punished until the following season, too late to save Offenbach.

The scandal had a strongly negative effect on the young league and contributed to plummeting attendance figures. One outcome of the whole affair was the further evolution of German football; salarly restrictions were removed and the 2. Bundesliga also became a professional league. For the players it meant that having one's club sent down no longer also meant losing one's status as a paid professional.

Decline and recovery
Kickers would spend the next seven years in the second division before making a return to the Bundesliga for just a single season in 1983-84. In 1985, financial problems led to Kickers Offenbach being penalized points and driven into the third division Amateur Oberliga Hessen. They recovered themselves only to be denied a license in 1989 and be sent back down again. By the mid-1990s they slipped as far as Oberliga Hessen (IV), but remained competitive. They appeared in the final of the national amateur championship in 1994 where they lost 0:1 to Preußen Münster. After a failed attempt to advance in 1998, Offenbach returned to play in the 2. Bundesliga in 1999 and were immediately sent down after a 17th place result there. In each of these seasons Kickers Offenbach took part in the nation amateur championship winning the title in 1999.

Kickers Offenbach next appeared in second division play in 2005. After two lower table finishes, Kickers were relegated to 3. Liga on the final day of the 2007-08 season following a 0:3 defeat to fellow strugglers VfL Osnabrück. Despite their mixed fortunes Kickers Offenbach remain a fan favorite and are well supported.

Recent seasons

Coaches

Source: Book "Kickers Offenbach - die ersten hundert jahre" ("Kickers Offenbach - the first hundred years")

Famous players

- Uwe Bein
- Rudi Völler
- Walter Bechtold
- Oliver Reck
- Jimmy Hartwig
- Li Bing (footballer)

Honours

League

- German football championship
- - Runners-up: 1950, 1959
- Kreisliga Südmain
- - Winners: 1920, 1922, 1923
- Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen
- - Winners: 1934, 1940, 1941
- Gauliga Hessen-Nassau
- - Winners: 1942, 1943, 1944
- Oberliga Süd (1945-63)
- - Winners: 1949, 1955
- - Runners-up: 1957, 1959, 1960
- Regionalliga Süd (1963-74) (II)
- - Winners: 1967, 1970, 1972
- - Runners-up: 1966, 1968
- 2nd Bundesliga Süd (1974-81) (II)
- - Runners-up: 1981
- Regionalliga Süd (III)
- - Winners: 2005
- - Runners-up: 1998, 1999
- Oberliga Hessen (III-IV)
- - Winners: 1986, 1987, 1993
- - Runners-up: 1994, 1997

- All competitions are tier-one unless otherwise stated

Cup

- German Cup
- - Winners: 1970
- Hesse Cup
- - Winners: 1949, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009

Reserve team

- Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd (IV-V)
- - Winners: 1984, 1999, 2008

Youth

- German Under 19 championship (football)
- - Runners-up: 1973
- German Under 17 championship (football)
- - Runners-up: 1985