VfB Stuttgart II
VfB Stuttgart II is a football (soccer) club from Germany.
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Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a Germany sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. With 43,000 members (as of September 2007),
VfB is the largest sports club in the state and the fifth largest in the country. VfB Stuttgart II is best known for its Association football List of football clubs in Germany, which has participated in all but two Fußball-Bundesliga seasons. The team has won the German football champions five times in total—most recently in the 2006–07 season—and the DFB-Pokal (German cup) three times.
The football team plays its home games at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, situated in the Cannstatter Wasen sports complex. It is famous for its talented reserve team, VfB Stuttgart II, which currently plays in the 3rd Liga, two divisions below the first team, in the highest division allowed for a reserve team.
In addition to the successes of the professional, amateur and youth football teams, athletes from VfB Stuttgart II's athletics department have won numerous titles and medals. VfB Stuttgart II also has departments for fistball, hockey, table-tennis and football referee (football). These five departments only compete at amateur level. VfB Stuttgart II also maintains a social department, the
VfB-Garde.
History
Foundation to WWII
FV Stuttgart
In 1909 in association football
FV joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (Southern Germany Football Association), playing in the second tier
B-Klasse. In their second season
FV won a district final against future merger partner
Kronen-Klub Cannstatt before being defeated by
FV Zuffenhausen in the county championship that would have seen the side promoted. They eventually advanced to the senior Südkreis-Liga in 1912 in association football.
Kronen-Klub Cannstatt
Cannstatter Fußballklub was formed as a rugby club in 1890 in football (soccer) and also quickly established a football team. This club was dissolved after just a few years of play and the former membership re-organized themselves as
FC Krone Cannstatt in 1897 to compete as a football-only side. The new team joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (SFV) as a second division club and won promotion in 1904 in association football.
Cannstatt possessed their own ground, which still exists today as the home of
TSV Münster.
Following the 1912 merger of these two clubs, the combined side played at first in the
Kreisliga Württemberg and then in the
Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden, earning a number of top three finishes and claiming a title there in 1927 in association football. VfB Stuttgart II also made several appearances in the final rounds of the SFV in the late 20s and early 30s.
1933–1945
In 1933 in association football German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions called Gauligen.
Stuttgart played in the Gauliga Württemberg and enjoyed considerable success there, winning division titles in 1935 in association football, 1937 in association football, 1938 in association football, 1940 in association football, and 1943 in association football before the Gauliga system collapsed part way through the 1944–45 season. VfB Stuttgart II had an intense rivalry with
Stuttgarter Kickers throughout this period.
VfBs Gauliga titles earned VfB Stuttgart II entry to the national playoff rounds, with their best result coming in 1935 when they advanced to the final where they lost 4–6 to defending champions
Schalke 04. After a third place result at the national level in 1937,
Stuttgart was not able in subsequent appearances to advance out of the preliminary rounds.
1950s championships
After the war
VfB continued to play first division football in the Oberliga Süd (1945-63), capturing titles there in 1946 in association football, 1952 in association football, and 1954 in association football. The team also made regular appearances in the German championship rounds emerging as national champion in 1950 and 1952, and finishing as runner-up in 1953 in association football. In the 1950s, VfB Stuttgart II also twice won the DFB-Pokal (1954 and 1958 in association football). The team which won four titles in eight years was led by Robert Schlienz who had lost his left arm in a car crash. No player from Stuttgart had been selected for VfB Stuttgart II that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup though.
1963 Bundesliga
Due to international competition that led to disappointing results in the 1958 World Cup and 1962 World Cup, DFB introduced a single professional league in 1963.
Stuttgarts consistently good play throughout the 1950s earned them a place among the sixteen clubs that would make up the original Bundesliga (football). The club, as an amateur organisation and due to proverbial Swabian austerity, hesitated to spend money, and some players continued to work in an everyday job. Throughout the balance of the decade and into the mid-70s VfB Stuttgart II would generally earn mid-table results. One of the few stars of the time was Gilbert Gress from Strasbourg.
In Fußball-Bundesliga 1972-73 VfB Stuttgart II qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time and advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup 1973-74 tournament where they were eliminated by eventual winners Feyenoord Rotterdam (1–2, 2–2).
1975–2000 era of president MV
VfB Stuttgart was in crisis in the mid 1970s, having missed new trends like sponsorship. Attempts to catch up with new levels of professionalism by spending money failed. Towards the end of the Fußball-Bundesliga 1974-75 season, with VfB Stuttgart II in imminent danger of being relegated to 2. Fußball-Bundesliga, local politician Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder was elected as new president. Yet, a tie in the final game meant that VfB would be ranked 16th and lose its Bundesliga status. The first season in second league, considered the worst in its history, ended with VfB being ranked 11th, having even lost a home game against local rival SSV Reutlingen in front of only 1200 spectators.
With new coach Jürgen Sundermann and new talents like Karlheinz Förster and Hansi Müller, VfB Stuttgart II around Ottmar Hitzfeld scored hundred goals in Fußball-Bundesliga 1976-77 and thus returned to top flight play after just two seasons.
The young team was popular for offensive and high-scoring play, but suffered from lack of experience. At the end of Fußball-Bundesliga 1977-78, the VfB was ranked 4th, but the average attendance of over 53,000 set the league record until the 1990s. They made another UEFA Cup semi-final appearance in UEFA Cup 1979-80 and delivered a number of top four finishes on their way to their first Bundesliga title – VfB Stuttgart II's third national title – in Fußball-Bundesliga 1983-84, now under coach Helmut Benthaus.
In 1986, VfB lost the German Cup final 2–5 to Bayern Munich. In the 1989 UEFA Cup Final, they fell to SSC Napoli (1–2, 3–3) where Diego Maradona was playing at the time.
In Fußball-Bundesliga 1991-92, VfB Stuttgart II clinched its fourth title, in one of the closest races in Bundesliga history, finishing ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference. Internationally, they had been eliminated from UEFA Cup play that season (1991–92) after losing their second round match to Spanish side CA Osasuna (2–3). As national champions, VfB Stuttgart II qualified to play in the UEFA Champions League in UEFA Champions League 1992-93, but was eliminated in the first round by Leeds United A.F.C. after a tie-breaking third match in Barcelona which was required due to coach Christoph Daum having substituted a fourth non-German player in game two.
VfB did not qualify for any European competition again until 1997, by way of their third German Cup win, with coach Joachim Löw. They enjoyed a measure of success on their return, advancing to the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final in Stockholm, where they lost to Chelsea F.C. in what was the penultimate year of the competition. Only one player of the magic triangle, captain Krassimir Balakov, remained after Giovane Elber and Fredi Bobic left. Löw's contract was not renewed, he was replaced by Winfried Schäfer who in turn was sacked after one season.
However, Stuttgarts performance fell off after this as VfB Stuttgart II earned just mid-table results over the next two seasons despite spending money on the transfer market and for veterans like Balakov.
2000–2007 The post-MV-era return to success
Due to high debts and the lack of results, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder finally resigned from VfB in 2000 to take over offices at DFB, UEFA and FIFA. New president Manfred Haas had to renegotiate expensive contracts with players that seldom appeared on the field anyway. As in 1976, when MV had taken over, VfB Stuttgart II had to be rebuilt by relying on talents from the youth teams. The VfB has one of Germany's most successful programs in the :de:Deutsche Jugendmeisterschaft (Fußball).
Coach Ralf Rangnick had started a restructuring of VfB Stuttgart II that won the UI Cup, but the resulting extra strain of the UEFA cup participation ended in barely escaping from relegation in 2001 by clinching 15th spot. Rangnick was replaced by Felix Magath.
With players like Andreas Hinkel, Kevin Kurányi, Timo Hildebrand or Alexander Hleb earning themselves the nickname the young and wild, VfB Stuttgart II soon re-bounded and finished as Bundesliga runners-up in the Fußball-Bundesliga 2002-03 season.
Champions League 2003–04
Thus, VfB qualified for their second UEFA Champions League appearance and, beating Manchester United F.C. and Rangers F.C. once and Panathinaikos FC twice, they advanced out of group play to the first knock out round where they were eliminated by their old nemesis Chelsea F.C. (0–1 and 0–0) (see also UEFA Champions League 2003-04).
They continued to play as one of the top teams in the country, earning fourth and fifth place Bundesliga finishes, and again taking part in the UEFA Cup, but without great success. In addition, coach Magath and several players left for stronger clubs: Kevin Kurányi for Schalke 04, Philipp Lahm for Bayern Munich and Aliaksandr Hleb for Arsenal F.C..
Halfway through the disappointing Fußball-Bundesliga 2005-06 season, Giovanni Trapattoni was sacked and replaced by Armin Veh. The new coach was designated as a stop-gap due to having resigned from FC Hansa Rostock in 2003 to focus on his family and having no football job since 2004 except coaching his home team FC Augsburg for a season. Supported by new manager Horst Heldt, Veh could establish himself and his concept of focusing on promising inexpensive players rather than established stars. Team captain Zvonimir Soldo retired, and other veterans left VfB Stuttgart II that slipped to ninth place and did not qualify for European competition for the first time in four years.
Bundesliga champions 2006–07
Despite early-season losses and ensuing criticism in Fußball-Bundesliga 2006-07, including a 3–0 loss at home to Nuremberg, Veh managed to turn the collection of new players like Mexicans Pável Pardo, and Ricardo Osorio, and Brazilian Antônio da Silva and fresh local talents, including Mario Gómez, Serdar Tasci and Sami Khedira, into a strong contender that led the league on 12 November 2006 for the first time in two years. Stuttgart established themselves among the top five and delivered a strong challenge for the Bundesliga title by winning their final eight games. In the penultimate week on 12 May 2007, Stuttgart beat VfL Bochum 3–2 away from home, took the Bundesliga lead from FC Schalke 04 and secured a spot in the UEFA Champions League 2007-08. After trailing 0–1 in the final match of the season against Energie Cottbus, Stuttgart came back to win 2–1 and claim their first Bundesliga title in 15 years. The victory celebrations in Stuttgart (250,000 people) even topped those of Germany's third place win over Portugal in the 2006 World Cup.
In addition, VfB had their first ever chance to win the double as they also reached the final of the German Cup for the first time since their victory there ten years ago. Their opponents in the cup final in Berlin were 1. FC Nuremberg, a team that had beaten them twice by 3 goals in regular season, 3–0 and 4–1, but last had won the cup in 1962. With the game level at 1–1 in the first half, Stuttgart's scorer Cacau was sent off. Nuremberg gained a 2–1 lead early in the second half, but the ten men of VfB managed to fight back and equalize. In the second half of extra time, with both teams suffering from exhaustion and the humid conditions, Nuremberg scored the winning goal. Stuttgart will have a cup winner in its ranks anyway for the 2007–08 season as Nuremberg's captain Raphael Schäfer replaces goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand who had decided in winter to leave and will play for Valencia next season.
Champions League 2007–08
The 2007–08 UEFA Champions League draw on August 30, 2007 paired the German champions with La Liga giants FC Barcelona, Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais and Scottish Premier League Old Firm side Rangers F.C.. Like in the 2003–04 Champions League season, Stuttgart's 2007–08 European campaign started with a match at Glasgow's Ibrox Park against Rangers. It ended in a 2–1 defeat. The second match at home against Barcelona was lost, too, 0–2, as well as the 3rd match, against Lyon at home, with the visitors coming out 2–0 winners from 2nd half strikes.
In the league they only managed to become 6th, with Mario Gómez scoring 19 goals.
Stadium
The home ground of VfB Stuttgart is the Mercedes-Benz Arena which was originally built in 1933 in association football. It lies close to the River Neckar on Bad Cannstatt's Mercedes-Straße near the new Mercedes-Benz Museum and Mercedes-Benz factory. After being renovated several times, the stadium can hold a maximum capacity of 55,896 spectators (50,000 for international matches). Unlike most other Bundesliga stadiums, the former Neckarstadion retains the traditional athletic track around the playing field despite intentions to convert it into a football-only stadium. As for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosting five preliminary round matches, a First Knockout Round match (England national football team vs. Ecuador national football team) and the third place play-off (Germany national football team vs. Portugal national football team). From the 2008–09 season, the stadium will be renamed the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, starting with a pre-season friendly against Arsenal F.C. on July 30, 2008.
Honours
National
- German football champions:
- - Winners (5): 1950, 1952, Fußball-Bundesliga 1983–84, Fußball-Bundesliga 1991–92, Fußball-Bundesliga 2006–07
- - Runners-up (4): 1935, 1953, Fußball-Bundesliga 1978–79, Fußball-Bundesliga 2002–03
- DFB-Pokal:
- - Winners (3): DFB-Pokal 1953–54, DFB-Pokal 1957–58, DFB-Pokal 1996–97
- - Runners-up (2): DFB-Pokal 1985–86, DFB-Pokal 2006–07
- German Super Cup:
- - Winners (1): 1992
- Premiere Ligapokal:
- - Runners-up (3): 1997, 1998, 2005
Regional
- Oberliga Süd (1945-63):
- - Winners (3): 1945-46, 1951-52, 1953-54
- - Runners-up (3): 1949-50, 1952-53, 1955-56
- 2nd Bundesliga Süd (1974-81):
- - Winners (1): 1977
- Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden:
- - Winners (2): 1926-27, 1929-30
- - Runners-up (1): 1925-26
- Gauliga Württemberg:
- - Winners (4): 1934-35, 1936-37, 1937-38, 1942-43
- - Runners-up (4): 1938-39, 1939-40, 1940-41, 1941-42
International
- UEFA Cup:
- - Runners-up (1): UEFA Cup 1988-89
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
- - Runners-up (1): UEFA_Cup_Winners'_Cup_1997–98
- UEFA Intertoto Cup:
- - Winners (3): UEFA Intertoto Cup 2000, UEFA Intertoto Cup 2002, UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008
Youth
- German Under 19 championship (football)
- - Champions: 1973, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2003, 2005
- - Runners-up: 1972, 1977, 1982, 1999, 2002
- German Under 17 championship (football)
- - Champions: 1986, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009
- - Runners-up: 1988, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2003
- Under 19 Bundesliga (football)
- - Champions: 2005, 2008
Trivia
- The merger that created VfB was held in the Concordia hotel in Bad Cannstatt, a district of the city of Stuttgart.
- VfB are nicknamed "the Reds" for their team colours, featuring a red chest ring on white jerseys. Local rivals Stuttgarter Kickers, wearing blue and white, are "the Blues".
Club management
- Dieter Hundt, chairman, entrepreneur
- Erwin Staudt, CEO & president since 26 June 2003
- Horst Heldt, general manager, former Bundesliga player (since 1990, for VfB 2003-2005)
Players
Players out on loan
As of July 2009For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2009.
Managers/coaches
Prominent and important Coaches
- Georg Wurzer
- Branko Zebec
- Otto Barić
- Helmut Benthaus
- Arie Haan
- Christoph Daum
- Joachim Löw (currently the coach of Germany national football team)
- Felix Magath
- Matthias Sammer
- Giovanni Trapattoni
- Armin Veh
Bundesliga Position
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2008-09 - 3rd place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2007/08 - 6th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2006/07 - 1st (German champions)
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2005/06 - 9th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2004/05 - 5th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2003/04 - 4th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2002/03 - 2nd place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2001/02 - 8th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 2000/01 - 15th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1999/2000 - 8th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1998/99 - 11th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1997/98 - 4th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1996/97 - 4th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1995/96 - 10th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1994/95 - 12th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1993/94 - 7th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1992/93 - 7th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1991/92 - 1st (German champions)
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1990/91 - 6th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1989/90 - 6th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1988/89 - 5th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1987/88 - 4th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1986/87 - 12th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1985/86 - 5th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1984/85 - 10th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1983/84 - 1st (German champions)
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1982/83 - 3rd place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1981/82 - 9th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1980/81 - 3rd place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1979/80 - 3rd place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1978/79 - 2nd place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1977/78 - 4th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1976/77 - 2. Bundesliga, 1st place (promoted to the 1. Bundesliga)
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1975/76 - 2. Bundesliga, 11th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1974/75 - 16th place (relegated to the 2. Bundesliga)
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1973/74 - 9th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1972/73 - 6th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1971/72 - 8th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1970/71 - 12th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1969/70 - 7th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1968/69 - 5th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1967/68 - 8th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1966/67 - 12th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1965/66 - 11th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1964/65 - 12th place
- Fußball-Bundesliga 1963/64 - 5th place
Related pages
Bayern München II, FC Hessen Kassel, FC Ingolstadt, FSV Frankfurt, FSV Oggersheim, Karlsruher SC II, SC Pfullendorf, Sportfreunde Siegen, SSV Jahn Regensburg, SSV Reutlingen, Stuttgart Kickers, SV Elversberg, SV Sandhausen, TSV München 1860 II, Unterhaching, VfB Stuttgart II, VfR Aalen, Wacker Burghausen