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VfL Bochum

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VfL Bochum

Image:VfL Bochum.png

Full name

VfL Bochum 1848 FG e.V.

Founded

1911

Ground

rewirpowerSTADION

Capacity

32,645

Chairman

Werner Altegoer

Manager

Marcel Koller

League

Bundesliga

2005-06

2. Bundesliga, 1st (promoted)





Home colours





Away colours

VfL Bochum is a German football club based in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.

[edit] History

[edit] Founding to World War II

One of the oldest sports organizations in Germany, it traces its earliest origins to the athletics club Bochumer TV formed in 1848. However, the honour of being Bochum's first football club goes to the predecessor side Fußballklub 06, later known as SV Germania 06 Bochum. Another ancestor – SuS Bochum – was formed in 1908, fielded its first football team in 1911, and after a merger with another local side in 1919, took on the name TuS Bochum 1848.

1 History
2 Current players
- 2.1 2006–2007 transfers
3 Honours
4 Notable players
5 Stadium
6 Team trivia
7 Coaches
8 External links

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 briefly in 1936 and 1937, while Germania Bochum played in the division from 1933 to 1938. VfL Bochum was formed when the Nazis ordered the consolidation of TuS, Germania, and Turnverein Bochum 1848 and began play in the 1938-39 season. After 1943 they played as the combined wartime side Kriegsspielgemeinschaft (KSG) VfL 1848 Bochum/Preußen Bochum until the end of the conflict. Although the club 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: Bochum's best results were a number of distant second place finishes.

[edit] Postwar and entry to Bundesliga play

The club re-emerged as VfL Bochum in the second division 2.Oberliga West in 1949, while Preußen Bochum went on to lower tier amateur level play. VfL captured their 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, 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) 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. The club 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, the team has become a classic "elevator side", bouncing up and down between the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga. 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.

[edit] Current

Bochum secured a return to the top flight on 17 April 2006 with a 2:0 win over Alemannia Aachen, which had already also earned promotion.

[edit] Current players

No.		Position	Player
1	Image:Flag of Denmark.svg	GK	Peter Skov-Jensen
2	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	DF	Benjamin Lense
3	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	DF	Martin Meichelbeck
4	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	DF	Marcel Maltritz
5	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Christoph Dabrowski
6	Image:Flag of Canada.svg	MF	Daniel Imhof
7	Image:Flag of Denmark.svg	FW	Tommy Bechmann
8	Image:Flag of Poland (bordered).svg	MF	Tomasz Zdebel (captain)
9	Image:Flag of Brazil.svg	FW	Fábio Júnior
10	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Dariusz Wosz
11	Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg	FW	Joris van Hout
13	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	GK	René Renno
14	Image:Flag of Croatia.svg	MF	Ivo Iličević

No.		Position	Player
15	Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg	DF	Pavel Drsek
16	Image:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg	MF	Zvjezdan Misimović
17	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	DF	Heiko Butscher
18	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Oliver Schröder
19	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Dennis Grote
20	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	FW	Benjamin Auer
21	Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg	MF	Filip Trojan
22	Image:Flag of Greece.svg	FW	Theofanis Gekas
24	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	DF	Philipp Bönig
25	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	FW	Thomas Rathgeber
26	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	GK	Alexander Bade
36	Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg	DF	David Pallas

[edit] 2006–2007 transfers

2	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	DF	Benjamin Lense (from 1. FC Nürnberg)
5	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Christoph Dabrowski (from Hannover 96)
14	Image:Flag of Croatia.svg	MF	Ivo Iličević (from SV Darmstadt 98)
18	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Oliver Schröder (from Hertha BSC Berlin)
20	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	FW	Benjamin Auer (from FSV Mainz 05)
22	Image:Flag of Greece.svg	FW	Theofanis Gekas (from Panathinaikos (on loan with 1m € buying clause))
26	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	GK	Alexander Bade (from 1. FC Köln)

Out

1	Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg	GK	Rein van Duijnhoven (?)
2	Image:Flag of Brazil.svg	DF	China (to Clube de Regatas do Flamengo)
5	Image:Flag of Denmark.svg	DF	Søren Colding (retired)
22	Image:Flag of Brazil.svg	FW	Edu (to FSV Mainz 05)
25	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	MF	Claus Costa (to Fortuna Düsseldorf)
--	Image:Flag of Germany.svg	GK	Christian Vander (to Werder Bremen, previously on loan)
--	Image:Flag of Senegal.svg	FW	Momo Diabang (to FC Augsburg, previously on loan to Kickers Offenbach)
--	Image:Flag of Iran.svg	MF	Moharram Navidkia (to Sepahan Isfahan, previously on loan)

[edit] Honours

UEFA Cup: 1997/98 (Third Round), 2004/05 (First Round)
German Cup finalists: 1968, 1988
Bundesliga UEFA Cup qualification: 1996/97 (5th), 2003/04 (5th)
2. Bundesliga champions: 1993/94, 1995/96, 2005/06

[edit] Notable players

Image:Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Zumdick, 282 Bundesliga matches, 1 goal for Bochum, 1981-1995 often crieted to be the one who pioneered the penality-taking-goalkeeper when he scored against Andreas Köpke in 1988.
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Stefan Kuntz, 120 Bundesliga matches, 47 goals for Bochum, 1983-1986 and 1998-1999. Bundesliga top scorer for Bochum in 1985/86. Well known through a reference in the video of the popular English football anthem Three Lions.
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Uwe Wegmann, 244 Bundesliga/2. Bundesliga matches, 74 goals for Bochum, 1985-1987 and 1989-1995.
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Dariusz Wosz, 209 Bundesliga matches, 25 goals for Bochum, 1991-1998 and 2001 to date.
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Eric Wynalda, 29 matches, 4 goals for Bochum, 1994-1996, top scorer of the United States men's national soccer team.
Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Yıldıray Baştürk, 74 Bundesliga matches, 6 goals for Bochum, 1997-2001, now with Hertha BSC Berlin, Turkish international.
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Paul Freier, 81 Bundesliga matches, 9 goals for Bochum, 1997-2004, now with Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Image:Flag of Iran.svg Mehdi Mahdavikia, 12 matches and 3 goals for Bochum, from 1998-1999, now plays for Hamburger SV.
Image:Flag of Spain.svg Thomas Christiansen, 76 Bundesliga matches, 39 goals for Bochum, 2001-2003, now with Hannover 96. With Giovane Elber (then-Bayern Munich) jointly Bundesliga top scorer for Bochum in 2002/03.
Image:Flag of Iran.svg Vahid Hashemian, 87 bundesliga matches, 34 goals for Bochum, from 2001-2004, now plays for Hannover 96.

[edit] Stadium

rewirpowerSTADION (formerly known as "Ruhrstadion") 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 32,645, including standing room for 16,756.

[edit] 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 the club's unofficial anthem sung by VfL fans prior to every home match.