1. FC Kaiserslautern

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1. FC Kaiserslautern
Club crest
Full name1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V.
Nickname(s)Die roten Teufel (The Red Devils)
Founded2 June 1900; 123 years ago (1900-06-02)
GroundFritz-Walter-Stadion
Capacity49,850[citation needed]
OwnerFußball-Club Kaiserslautern e.V. (45%)
Saar-Pfalz-Invest GmbH (45%)
U.S. consortium (10%)[1]
  • Chien Lee
  • Pacific Media
  • Michael Kalt
  • Krishen Sud
  • Randy Frankel
Board MemberRainer Keßler (Chairman)[citation needed]
Johannes Benjamin Remy (Deputy)[citation needed]
Head coachFriedhelm Funkel
League2. Bundesliga
2022–232. Bundesliga, 9th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Current season

1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (German pronunciation: [ɛft͡seːˈkaː] ), FC Kaiserslautern (pronounced [ɛf t͡seː kaɪ̯zɐsˈlaʊ̯tɐn] ), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯tɐn] ), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in several other sports.

On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900. In 1909, the club went on to join FC Palatia (founded in 1901) and FC Bavaria (founded in 1902) to form FV 1900 Kaiserslautern. In 1929, they merged with SV Phönix to become FV Phönix-Kaiserslautern, before finally taking on their current name in 1933.

As a founding member of the Bundesliga, FCK played from 1963 to 1996 uninterrupted in the top division. It has won four German championships, two DFB-Pokals, and one DFL-Supercup, and historically is among the most successful football clubs in Germany, currently occupying eleventh place in the all-time Bundesliga table. The club's international performances include reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 1999, as well as two participations in the UEFA Cup semi-finals. Their first league title in the Bundesliga era was won in 1991. Kaiserslautern then won the German championship in the 1997–98 season as a newly promoted team, which is unique in German football. After a six-year spell in the second tier, in 2018 they were relegated to the 3. Liga for the first time. In 2022, Kaiserslautern was promoted again to the 2. Bundesliga, because they won the promotion playoff.

Since 1920, Kaiserslautern's stadium has been the Fritz-Walter-Stadion, named in 1985 after Fritz Walter, the captain of the West Germany national team who won the World Cup in 1954. Walter spent his entire career at Kaiserslautern.

History

Early years through World War II

Two of the club's predecessors, Bavaria and FC 1900 Kaiserslautern, were part of the

Gauliga Südwest, one of sixteen top flight divisions formed in the re-organization of German football under Nazi Germany.[2]

The club's performance was unremarkable[

Gauliga Westmark, and Kaiserslautern took the Westmark title, going on to play for the first time in the national final rounds. They were decisively put out[tone] 3–9 by eventual champions Schalke 04, the dominant side[according to whom?] in this era of German football.[2]

The performance of the team slipped[tone] and they finished last in their division in 1944. The following year saw the collapse of league play as Nazi Germany crumbled[tone] under the advance of Allied armies.[2]

Postwar play

Historical chart of Kaiserslautern league performance

After the war, southwestern Germany was part of the occupation zone held by the French. Teams there were organized into northern and southern divisions, and played to determine which of them would join the new Oberliga being put together.[

Fritz Walter and his brother Ottmar
– the duo scored 46 goals between them, more than any other entire team.

Logo 2010–2012

Success in the 1950s and entry to the Bundesliga

This marked the beginning of the club's dominance of the Oberliga Südwest as they went on to capture[tone] the division title eleven times over the next twelve seasons. FCK advanced to Germany's first post-war national final in 1948, but lost 1–2 to 1. FC Nürnberg.

Kaiserslautern became a presence on the national scene through the early 1950s, capturing[

The Miracle of Bern
".

Kaiserslautern's performance fell off[tone] late in the decade and into the early 1960s, the only highlight[according to whom?] being an advance to the 1961 DFB-Pokal final, where they lost 0–2 to Werder Bremen. The side recovered its form in time to again win their division on the eve of the formation in 1963 of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league. This secured them one of the 16 places in the new top flight circuit. However, the club's next honours would be some time in coming: they made failed[tone] German Cup final appearances in 1972, 1976, and 1981 and were UEFA Cup semi-finalists in 1982 (losing narrowly to eventual winners IFK Göteborg). In that time from 1974 to 1984 Ronnie Hellström as goalkeeper, among others[vague] has shaped the time.[vague] The club could finally win the domestic Cup in 1990. They followed up the next season with their first Bundesliga championship. Both times the manager was Karl-Heinz Feldkamp.

Rise and fall from the top flight

1. FCK won a second German Cup in 1996, but that victory was soured[tone] since the team had been relegated to 2. Bundesliga with a 16th-place finish just one week before the Cup final. At the time, Kaiserslautern was one of only four of the original 16 teams that had played in each Bundesliga season since the inception of the league, having never been relegated. This group also included Eintracht Frankfurt (who went down in the same season), 1. FC Köln (down in 1998), and "the Dinosaur", Hamburger SV, whose spell ended in 2018.[3]

The Red Devils came storming back[tone] with an accomplishment unique[tone] in Bundesliga history – and very rare[according to whom?] across the major European football leagues, by winning promotion from the 2. Bundesliga at the first attempt in 1997, and immediately going on to win the national championship under veteran coach Otto Rehhagel.[4][5][6] They also played in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, where they topped a group comprising PSV, Benfica and HJK Helsinki, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by compatriots Bayern Munich, who also took back the domestic title (FCK finished 5th).

The club, however, found itself[

Erik Gerets, led a run[vague
] after the winter break that moved the footballers out of last place and saved them from relegation.

The club started the 2003–04 season under the burden[tone] of a three-point penalty imposed by the German Football Association for its financial misdeeds.[vague] After a faltering[tone] start to the season, Gerets was fired[tone] and replaced by Kurt Jara. Jara was unpopular with the FCK faithful[tone] for his defensive football philosophy, but with him at the helm,[tone] the club had a safe season.[vague] Jara, however, quit the position before the season ended, citing irreconcilable differences with club management.

2005–present

In 2005, Michael Henke, who served as long-time assistant to Germany's most successful[according to whom?] coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, became coach. FCK was initially successful, but then suffered a string of[vague] reverses and crashed[tone] to the bottom of the table. Henke was fired,[tone] and FCK alumnus Wolfgang Wolf took up[tone] the trainer's role. Wolf brought in many[quantify] young, home-grown players, but, despite winning over fans and experts alike,[according to whom?] the 2005–06 season ended in failure[tone] as FCK was once again relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after a nine-year stay in the top flight. They finished the 2006–07 season in sixth place in the 2. Bundesliga, seven points out of the promotion places.

On 20 May 2007, the club announced the Norwegian manager

Lierse, as their new head coach. Rekdal took over the reins[tone] on 1 July. Due to very[vague] bad results (the club being in 16th place in the standings, with only three wins in 19 games), Rekdal was sacked and replaced by Milan Šašić in February 2008. In April 2008, the club hired Stefan Kuntz as chairman, and with new leadership at the helm,[tone] managed to[tone] save themselves from relegation to the new 3. Liga
with a win over already promoted 1. FC Köln on the final day of the 2007–08 season.

Fans celebrating the club's promotion right before the first Bundesliga home game in four years, which was held against rivals Bayern Munich.

Šašić lasted almost the entire

Hansa Rostock.[citation needed] Alois Schwartz was named interim coach, and he managed the club to a seventh-place finish on the season. The club eventually[when?] hired Marco Kurz
as head coach.

Under Kurz, the club secured promotion to the 1. Bundesliga on 25 April 2010, after four years in the second league. At the start of the 2010–11 season, newly promoted 1. FCK had a promising[according to whom?] two-straight wins, including a 2–0 victory over the previous year's Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich. However, after a 2–1 defeat at Mainz 05 and a 5–0 drubbing[tone] at eventual season champions Borussia Dortmund, the club began to struggle, and fell back to just ahead of the relegation zone. The club then had a poor start to the second half of the season – dropping into the relegation zone for several weeks – but managed to coalesce,[tone] and, eventually, earned seven victories in their last ten matches, recording only two defeats and a single draw. They ended this run with four straight victories, to finish the season at the seventh place.

The following season, 2011–12, the club finished in the bottom 18th place, and after two seasons in the top flight, were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. They remained in that division until 2018, being relegated to the third tier for the first time in club history.

In March 2022, a U.S. consortium consisting of Paul Conway, Chien Lee, Michael Kalt, Krishen Sud and Randy Frankel bought 10% of the club.[1]

On 24 May 2022, four years after their first relegation into Germany's third division, Kaiserslautern were promoted back to the 2. Bundesliga.[7]

Reserve team

The club's reserve team, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, played as 1. FC Kaiserslautern Amateure until 2005. It made a first appearance in the tier three Amateurliga Südwest in 1957. It won a league championship in 1960 and 1968 but was not entitled to promotion to professional level. In 1978, when the Oberliga Südwest was introduced the team qualified for this new league which it would belong to, with the exception of the 1982–83 season, until 1992. It won promotion back to the Oberliga in 1994 and became a yo-yo team between this league and the Regionalliga above, a league newly introduced in 1994. The team was relegated from the latter in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2007 but each time won promotion back to the league. Between 2012 and 2017, the club played in the Regionalliga Südwest.

The team has also won the Southwestern Cup on three occasions, in 1979, 1997 and 2008. Through this competition, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II qualified for the DFB-Pokal on three occasions, reaching the second round twice and being drawn against their own first team in 1997–98 where they lost 5–0.

Kits

Years Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1984–85 Adidas Karlsberg
1985–87 Erima
1987–89 Trigema
1989–91 OKI
1991–94 Uhlsport
1994–96 Adidas
1996–98 Crunchips
1998–99 Deutsche Vermögensberatung
1999–03 Nike
2003–09 Kappa
2009–10 Do You Football
2010–11 Allgäuer Latschenkiefer
2011–14 Uhlsport
2014–15 paysafecard
2015–16 Maxda
2016–18 Top12.de
2018–20 Layenberger
2020–
Nike
Allgäuer Latschenkiefer

Recent seasons

As of 28 May 2023[8]
Season Division Rank P W D L GF GA GD Pts DFB-Pokal UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Europa League
UEFA Champions League
2018–19 3. Liga 9 38 13 12 13 49 51 −2 51 1R
2019–20 3. Liga 10 38 14 13 11 59 54 +5 55 3R
2020–21 3. Liga 14 38 8 19 11 47 52 −5 43 1R
2021–22 3. Liga 3 36 18 9 9 56 27 +29 63 1R
2022-23 2. Bundesliga 9 34 11 12 11 47 48 −1 45 1R
Key

P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup =

European Cup Winners' Cup; EL = UEFA Europa League; CL = UEFA Champions League
.
 – = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; 3R = 3rd round; 1/8 = Round of sixteen; QF = Quarter-finals; SF = Semi-finals.

Honours

Stadium

Fritz Walter Stadion

FCK plays its home fixtures in the

Fritz Walter Stadion
first built in 1920. In 1985 the stadium and the adjacent street were named for the player who brought the club to prominence after World War II. The facility is built on the Betzenberg, literally "Mount Betze", a steep sandstone hill.

The stadium has a capacity of 49,850 and was a venue at the 2006 World Cup, hosting four preliminary round and one group of 16-round matches. The facility underwent a major refurbishment for the tournament with addition of new grandstands and a roof.

Club culture

The "Westkurve" in April 2011

Kaiserslautern's Fritz-Walter-Stadion has long been a feared away venue[by whom?] given the rabid ferocity[tone] of Kaiserslautern fans: the most faithful[according to whom?] of these supporters are located in the stadium's "Westkurve" (Westside, literally "West Curve", since the stands used to be shaped in a semicircle behind the goals). Most famously, Bayern Munich once lost a match here in a charged atmosphere by a score of 7–4 after leading 4–1 at the 58th minute.[9]

The club has friendly ties to

Waldhof Mannheim and Bayern Munich. They also have lesser[according to whom?] local rivalries with Eintracht Frankfurt and, more recently,[when?] with Mainz 05 and Karlsruher SC
.

Players

Current squad

As of 29 January 2024[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Germany GER Boris Tomiak
4 MF Nigeria NGA Afeez Aremu
5 DF Germany GER Kevin Kraus
6 DF Mali MLI Almamy Touré
7 MF Germany GER Marlon Ritter
8 MF Germany GER Jean Zimmer (captain)
9 FW Germany GER Ragnar Ache
10 MF Germany GER Philipp Klement
11 MF Germany GER Kenny Prince Redondo
14 DF Croatia CRO Nikola Soldo (on loan from Köln)
15 DF Poland POL Tymoteusz Puchacz (on loan from Union Berlin)
16 MF Germany GER Julian Niehues
17 FW Germany GER Aaron Opoku
18 GK Germany GER Julian Krahl
19 FW Germany GER Daniel Hanslik
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Germany GER Tobias Raschl
21 MF Germany GER Hendrick Zuck (vice-captain)
23 DF Germany GER Philipp Hercher
24 FW Germany GER Ba-Muaka Simakala (on loan from Holstein Kiel)
25 FW Switzerland SUI Filip Stojilković (on loan from Darmstadt 98)
26 MF Czech Republic CZE Filip Kaloč (on loan from Baník Ostrava)
27 DF Germany GER Frank Ronstadt
29 FW Germany GER Richmond Tachie
30 GK Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Avdo Spahić
31 FW Germany GER Ben Zolinski
32 GK Germany GER Robin Himmelmann
33 DF Switzerland SUI Jan Elvedi
35 GK Germany GER Niklas Heeger
39 MF Germany GER Aaron Basenach
40 FW Nigeria NGA Dickson Abiama

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Germany GER Neal Gibs (at SGV Freiberg until 30 June 2024)
FW Germany GER Lex-Tyger Lobinger (at VfL Osnabrück until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Germany GER Angelos Stavridis (at Hessen Kassel until 30 June 2024)

Former players

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Head Coach Germany Friedhelm Funkel
Assistant Coach Germany Matthias Lust
Goalkeeper Coach Germany Andreas Clauß
Rehab Coach Germany Fabian Kobel
Athletic Coach Germany Oliver Schäfer
Team Doctor Germany Harald Dinges
Team Doctor Germany Pablo Gauna
Team Doctor Germany Claudia Thaler
Physiotherapist Germany Frank Sänger
Physiotherapist Germany Norman Schild
Physiotherapist Germany Ricardo Bernardy
Kit Man Germany Peter Miethe
Team Manager Germany Florian Dick

Other sports

1. FC Kaiserslautern also has sports departments in athletics, basketball, boxing, handball, headis, hockey, running, and triathlon.[11]

Basketball

The basketball department was founded in 1952.[12] The seniors team played in the second German Basketball league from 2002 until 2007.[citation needed] In the 2014–15 season, both the male and female senior teams play in the fourth division.

Boxing

The boxing department exists since the times of FV Kaiserslautern. Most prominent athletes are Silver medalist of the 1964 Summer Olympics Emil Schulz, Bronze medalist of the 1988 Summer Olympics Reiner Gies and, before his professional career, later European heavyweight champion Karl Mildenberger.

Former departments

Wheelchair basketball

The wheelchair basketball team FCK Rolling Devils was founded in 2009 as a part of the club's basketball department and turned into a separate department in 2013.[13] Since 2014, the Rolling Devils play in the 1st German Wheelchair Basketball Federal League.[14] In July 2015, the outsourcing of Rolling Devils into an independent club with 1.FC Kaiserslautern as name sponsor took place and the FCK department was suspended at the annual meeting of 1.FC Kaiserslautern in December 2015.

References

  1. ^ a b Hellier, David; Nicola, Stefan (30 March 2022). "U.S. Investors Buy Stake in German Football Club Kaiserslautern". bloombergquint.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897–1988, author: Ludolf Hyll
  3. ^ Fahey, Ciaran (12 May 2018). "Hamburger SV relegated from Bundesliga for first time amid chaotic scenes". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  4. ^ Scott Murray (21 January 2011). "The Joy of Six: Newly promoted success stories". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  5. ^ Steffen Potter (21 May 2015). "How promoted Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga". UEFA. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  6. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
    . Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Hanslik, Hercher, and Raab ensure Kaiserslautern promotion to 2. Bundesliga". Bulinews.com. 24 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Bundesliga Archive". DFB. September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  9. ^ "Bundesliga Archive". 7 August 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Profis – FCK DE". fck.de.
  11. ^ 1. FC Kaiserslautern Departments (English Homepage) Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine (accessed on 24 November 2014)
  12. ^ 1.FC Kaiserslautern Department Basketball (German Homepage) (accessed on 24 November 2014)
  13. ^ FCK Rolling Devils (German Homepage) (accessed on 24 November 2014)
  14. ^ 1st German Wheelchair Basketball Federal League 2014 (1. Rollstuhlbasketball-Bundesliga) rankings Archived 18 June 2015 at archive.today (accessed on 1 March 2014)

External links