VfR Mannheim
# VfR Mannheim

VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the national title in 1949 with a victory over Borussia Dortmund. They have played through most of its recent history as an unheralded local amateur side and were, until 2015, part of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (V).

## History

Predecessor sides FG Mannheim, Mannheimer FG Union and Viktoria Mannheim were each founding members of the German Football Association in 1900. These various Mannheim teams were members of the VSFV (Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine or Federation of South German Football Clubs) and after their merger in 1911 played as VfR through the 1910s and 1920s in the Westkreis-Liga. The club emerged as the league champions of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1922 and the Bezirksliga Rhein in 1925. They took part in the national playoffs after their Bezirksliga title and subsequent regional Süddeutschland win, but went out in an eighth final to TuRu Düsseldorf. The club finished in mid-table throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s in the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar.

### Success through the 1930s and 1940s

After the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich into sixteen top flight regional leagues, Mannheim began play in the Gauliga Baden. The club performed well in the years leading up to World War II and the throughout the conflict, taking division titles in 1935, 1938, 1939, 1943 and 1944. However they could not translate this success in league play into success in the national playoffs with their best result being an advance to the 1943 quarterfinals where they were put out 2–3 by eventual vice-champions FV Saarbrücken.

Mannheim repeated as division champions in 1944. Wartime conditions made playing football increasingly difficult in the country, so much so that the national playoffs were initially abandoned and VfR declared champions by the sport's governing authority. However, this decision was revoked after protests from other clubs and the playoff competition reinstated. Mannheim advanced only as far as the eighth final before being eliminated by 1. FC Nürnberg.

### Postwar national championship

After the war VfR Mannheim played in the first division Oberliga Süd where they earned unremarkable results until a surprising breakthrough in 1949 that saw the team transform a distant second-place finish in their division into a national championship. After thrashing Hamburger SV 5–0 in the opening round, they upset Kickers Offenbach, who had finished eleven points ahead of them in their Oberliga division that season, by a score of 2–1. VfR then earned a come from behind 3–2 overtime victory over Borussia Dortmund in front of 90,000 fans in the final. Between 1903 and 1944 German national champions were awarded the Viktoria trophy. The 1944 final between Dresdner SC and Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg was the last Viktoria match ever played as the trophy disappeared at war's end. The missing prize was replaced by the Meisterschale in 1949 and was first awarded to Mannheim despite 1. FC Nürnberg being Germany's first postwar champions in 1948. Today the Meisterschale recognizes the country's Bundesliga champions and is inscribed with the names of each national championship team since 1903. The Viktoria has since been recovered and is held by the German Football Association.

The next year they again met Dortmund in the playoffs, this time in the opening round, and once again eliminated them. However, they would themselves be put out in the next round by Preußen Dellbrück and begin a slide into anonymity.

### Descent from the top flight

Mannheim played in the second tier Regionalliga Süd formed in 1963 at the same time as Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga. After ten years near or at the bottom of the league table they fell to tier III football, the Amateurliga Nordbaden. Despite ongoing financial problems they rebuffed offers of a merger from SV Waldhof Mannheim in 1998 and again in 2003. They were denied a license that year and driven to the Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V). However, the side performed well enough to win their division the next season and promotion to Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV), where they play today. With a sixteenth place in 2007–08, they narrowly avoided relegation, being on equal points with the seventeenth team.

After suffering relegation in 2009, the club took two seasons to recover before returning to the Oberliga in 2011. In its first season back the club finished second in the league behind SSV Ulm 1846. In the 2014–15 season the club came second-last in the league and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.

## Honours

The club's honours:

League

German football championship

Champions: 1949

Southern German championship

Champions: 1925

Regional

Westkreis-Liga (I)

Champions: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914

Kreisliga Odenwald (I)

Champions: 1922

Runners-up: 1920, 1921

Bezirksliga Rhein (I)

Champions: 1925, 1926

Runners-up: 1924, 1927

Gauliga Baden (I)

Champions: 1935, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1944

Runners-up: 1934, 1937, 1940

Amateurliga Nordbaden (III)

Champions: 1973, 1976

Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V)

Champions: 2004

Runners-up: 2011

Southern German Cup

Winners: 1959

North Baden Cup (Tiers III-VII)

Winners: 1972, 1997, 2001

Runners-up: 2004

Other sports

The club has won the German championship in baseball in 1965, 1966 and 1970.

Recent managers

Recent managers of the club:

Manager

Start

Finish

Rainer Ulrich

1 January 2005

31 June 2006

Walter Pradt

1 July 2006

17 April 2007

Rainer Ulrich

18 April 2007

30 June 2007

Dieter Heimen

1 July 2007

25 October 2007

Ralf Köhnlein

26 October 2007

31 December 2007

Rafael Sánchez

1 January 2008

13 January 2009

Gernot Jüllich

13 January 2009

28 January 2011

Kenan Kocak

2 February 2011

Present

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:

Season

Division

Tier

Position

1999–2000

Regionalliga Süd

III

3rd

2000–01

Regionalliga Süd

8th

2001–02

Regionalliga Süd

9th ↓

2002–03

2003–04

Verbandsliga Baden

V

1st ↑

2004–05

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

IV

12th

2005–06

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

10th

2006–07

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

15th

2007–08

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

16th

2008–09

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

V

16th ↓

2009–10

Verbandsliga Nordbaden

VI

4th

2010–11

Verbandsliga Nordbaden

2nd ↑

2011–12

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

V

2nd

2012–13

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

3rd

2013–14

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

15th

2014–15

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

17th ↓

2015–16

Verbandsliga Baden

VI

3rd

2016–17

Verbandsliga Baden

With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.

↑ Promoted

↓ Relegated

References

↑ Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kassel: Agon-Sportverlag. ISBN 9783897841475.↑ Grüne, Hardy (1996). Vom Kronprinzen bis zur Bundesliga. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-928562-85-1↑ VfR Mannheim .:. Trainer von A-Z (in German) weltfussball.de, accessed: 4 September 2011↑ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables↑ Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Archived 7 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues

External links

Official website (in German)

Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)

VfR Mannheim at Weltfussball.de

vteVfR MannheimInformation

Club

Managers

Players

Matches

Matches

1949 German football championship Final

vteOberliga Baden-Württemberg (V) 2023–24 clubs

TSG Backnang

FSV 08 Bissingen

FC Denzlingen

TSV Essingen

1. FC Normannia Gmünd

1. Göppinger SV

SG Sonnenhof Großaspach

FSV Hollenbach

FC Holzhausen

VfR Mannheim

ATSV Mutschelbach

FC Nöttingen

SV Oberachern

Offenburger FV

1. CfR Pforzheim

FV Ravensburg

SSV Reutlingen

FC 08 Villingen

List of clubs in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg

vte2. BundesligaSeasons

1974–75

1975–76

1976–77

1977–78

1978–79

1979–80

1980–81

1981–82

1982–83

1983–84

1984–85

1985–86

1986–87

1987–88

1988–89

1989–90

1990–91

1991–92

1992–93

1993–94

1994–95

1995–96

1996–97

1997–98

1998–99

1999–2000

2000–01

2001–02

2002–03

2003–04

2004–05

2005–06

2006–07

2007–08

2008–09

2009–10

2010–11

2011–12

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

2015–16

2016–17

2017–18

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

2021–22

2022–23

2023–24

2023–24 clubs

Eintracht Braunschweig

Fortuna Düsseldorf

SV Elversberg

Greuther Fürth

Hamburger SV

Hannover 96

Hertha BSC

1. FC Kaiserslautern

Karlsruher SC

Holstein Kiel

1. FC Magdeburg

1. FC Nürnberg

SC Paderborn

VfL Osnabrück

Hansa Rostock

Schalke 04

FC St. Pauli

Wehen Wiesbaden

Former clubs2. Bundesliga (1981–present)

Alemannia Aachen

VfR Aalen

Rot Weiss Ahlen

Viktoria Aschaffenburg

Erzgebirge Aue

FC Augsburg

SV Babelsberg 03

SpVgg Bayreuth

Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin

Tennis Borussia Berlin

Union Berlin

Arminia Bielefeld

VfL Bochum

Stahl Brandenburg

Werder Bremen

Wacker Burghausen

VfR Bürstadt

SC Charlottenburg

Chemnitzer FC

Energie Cottbus

Darmstadt 98

Dynamo Dresden

MSV Duisburg

Rot-Weiß Erfurt

Rot-Weiss Essen

Eintracht Frankfurt

FSV Frankfurt

Freiburger FC

SC Freiburg

FC Gütersloh

Hallescher FC

TSV Havelse

1. FC Heidenheim

1899 Hoffenheim

FC Homburg

FC Ingolstadt

Carl Zeiss Jena

Hessen Kassel

TuS Koblenz

1. FC Köln

Fortuna Köln

RB Leipzig

VfB Leipzig

VfB Lübeck

1. FSV Mainz 05

Waldhof Mannheim

SV Meppen

Borussia Mönchengladbach

TSV 1860 Munich

Preußen Münster

Kickers Offenbach

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen

VfB Oldenburg

Jahn Regensburg

FC Remscheid

SSV Reutlingen

Hansa Rostock

1. FC Saarbrücken

FSV Salmrohr

SV Sandhausen

TuS Schloß Neuhaus

1. FC Schweinfurt 05

Sportfreunde Siegen

Union Solingen

VfB Stuttgart

Stuttgarter Kickers

Eintracht Trier

KFC Uerdingen 05

SSV Ulm 1846

SpVgg Unterhaching

Wattenscheid 09

VfL Wolfsburg

Wormatia Worms

Wuppertaler SV

Würzburger Kickers

FSV Zwickau

2. Bundesliga Nord (1974–1981)

HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst

Wacker 04 Berlin

1. FC Bocholt

Bonner SC

OSC Bremerhaven

Borussia Dortmund

SpVgg Erkenschwick

Schwarz-Weiß Essen

1. SC Göttingen 05

DJK Gütersloh

Arminia Hannover

OSV Hannover

SC Herford

Westfalia Herne

Viktoria Köln

Bayer Leverkusen

Rot-Weiß Lüdenscheid

1. FC Mülheim

Spandauer SV

DSC Wanne-Eickel

Olympia Wilhelmshaven

2. Bundesliga Süd (1974–1981)

Eintracht Bad Kreuznach

KSV Baunatal

VfB Eppingen

FC Hanau 93

VfR Heilbronn

Bayern Hof

ESV Ingolstadt

MTV Ingolstadt

VfR Mannheim

Borussia Neunkirchen

FK Pirmasens

BSV 07 Schwenningen

Röchling Völklingen

Würzburger FV

Clubs

Introduction

Promotion to 2. Bundesliga

Promotion to Bundesliga

Top scorers :

