Kickers Offenbach

Offenbacher Kickers

logo
Full name	Offenbacher Fußball-Club Kickers 1901 e. V.
Nickname(s)	OFC
Founded	27 May 1901
Ground	Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium
Ground Capacity	20,500
Chairman	Helmut Spahn
Manager	Rico Schmitt
League	Regionalliga Südwest (IV)
2014–15	1st
Home colours Away colours

Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club 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 as a separate side, Offenbacher FC Kickers. Since 2012, Kickers Offenbach's stadium has been the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium.

History

The club 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.

The club 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 the team 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 the team 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.

Stadion am Bieberer Berg (1921-2011)

Sparda-Bank-Hessen-Stadion (since 2012)

Entry to the Bundesliga and scandal

The club found itself in the new Regionalliga Süd (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, the club would win its one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2:1 German Cup victory over 1. FC Köln.

However, the end of the 1971 season would find Kickers Offenbach at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal. The club president, Horst Canellas, went to the German Football Association (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 Offenbach's 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. The club 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; salary 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. Kickers immediately returned to top level. The best finish was 7th in 1972-73 season. They were leaders for 5 rounds and beat Bayern Munich 6-0 in 1974-75 season. They relegated to second level in 1975-76 season.

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 the club 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 the team took part in the nation amateur championship winning the title in 1999.

The club 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 the team remain a fan favorite and are well supported.

On 18 July 2012, the club's new ground, the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, was opened with a pre-season friendly between Kickers and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The club was refused a 3. Liga licence at the end of the 2012–13 season and relegated to the Regionalliga with SV Darmstadt 98 taking its place. The club, €9 million in debt, could potentially have faced insolvency and a restart at the lowest level of the German football league system.

The club won the Regionalliga Südwest in 2014–15 and thereby earned the right to take part in the promotion round to the 3. Liga, where it missed out on promotion to 1. FC Magdeburg. The loss was overshadowed by approximately 40 Offenbach supporters storming the field in the 84th minute and forcing a twenty-minute interruption to the return leg.

Recent seasons

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

Kickers Offenbach

Season	Division	Tier	Position
1994–95	Regionalliga Süd	III	15th ↓
1995–96	Hessenliga	IV	3rd
1996–97	Hessenliga		2nd ↑
1997–98	Regionalliga Süd	III	2nd
1998–99	Regionalliga Süd		2nd ↑
1999–2000	2. Bundesliga	II	17th ↓
2000–01	Regionalliga Süd	III	10th
2001–02	Regionalliga Süd		8th
2002–03	Regionalliga Süd		8th
2003–04	Regionalliga Süd		13th
2004–05	Regionalliga Süd		1st ↑
2005–06	2. Bundesliga	II	11th
2006–07	2. Bundesliga		14th
2007–08	2. Bundesliga		15th ↓
2008–09	3. Liga	III	7th
2009–10	3. Liga		7th
2010–11	3. Liga		7th
2011–12	3. Liga		8th
2012–13	3. Liga		15th ↓
2013–14	Regionalliga Südwest	IV	8th
2014–15	Regionalliga Südwest		1st
2015–16	Regionalliga Südwest

Kickers Offenbach II

Season	Division	Tier	Position
1999–2000	Oberliga Hessen	IV	15th ↓
2000–01	Landesliga Hessen-Süd	V	3rd
2001–02	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		11th
2002–03	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		3rd
2003–04	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		5th
2004–05	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		3rd
2005–06	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		9th
2006–07	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		3rd
2007–08	Landesliga Hessen-Süd		1st ↑
2008–09	Hessenliga		4th
2009–10	Hessenliga		5th
2010–11	Hessenliga		5th
2011–12	Hessenliga		12th
2012–13	Hessenliga		13th
2013–14	Hessenliga		18th ↓
2014–15	Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd	VI

• 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. Also in 2008, the majority of football leagues in Hesse were renamed, with the Oberliga Hessen becoming the Hessenliga, the Landesliga becoming the Verbandsliga, the Bezirksoberliga becoming the Gruppenliga and the Bezirksliga becoming the Kreisoberliga.

Key

↑ Promoted

↓ Relegated

Current squad

As of 8 July 2015

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Alexander Sebald 4 DF Klaus Gjasula 5 DF Kristian Maslanka 6 MF Matthias Schwarz 7 MF Martin Röser 8 DF Maik Vetter 9 FW Benjamin Pintol 11 FW Fabian Bäcker 13 MF Jan Biggel 14 DF Thomas Franke 15 MF Alexandros Theodosiadis 16 GK Daniel Endres

No. Position Player 17 DF Stefano Maier 18 MF Philipp Fleischer 20 MF Robin Scheu 22 FW Steven von der Burg 23 DF Dennis Schulte 25 MF Mohamed Tahiri 27 MF Sascha Korb 29 MF Baris Yakurt 31 FW Markus Müller 32 DF Jan-Hendrik Marx 33 MF Nikolaos Dobros

Coaches

The managers of the club:

Name	Period
Franz Nagy	1922
Rudolf Keller	1926
Mac Pherson	1927
Rudolf Keller	1928
Paul Oßwald	1946–1958
Bogdan Cuvaj	1958–1962
Hans Merkle	1962–1964
Radoslav Momirski	1964–1965
Kurt Baluses	1965 – Feb. 1968
Kurt Schreiner	Mar. – Jun. 1968
Paul Oßwald	Jul. 1968 – Nov. 1969
Kurt Schreiner	Dec. 1969
Willi Keim	Dec. 1969
Zlatko Čajkovski	Jan – Jul. 1970
Kurt Schreiner	Aug. 1970
Aki Schmidt	Sep. 1970
Rudi Gutendorf	Sep. 1970 – Feb. 1971
Kuno Klötzer	Feb. 1971 – Jun. 1972
Gyula Lóránt	Jul. 1972 – Mar. 1974
Otto Rehhagel	Apr. 1974 – Dec. 1975
Zlatko Čajkovski	Jan. – Oct. 1976
Udo Klug	Nov. 1976 – Jun. 1978
Horst Heese	Jul. 1978 – Jun. 1980
Franz Brungs	Jul. 1980 – May 1982
Lothar Buchmann	Jun. 1982 – Mar. 1984
Hermann Nuber	Mar. 1984 – Jun. 1984
Fritz Fuchs	Jul – Dec 1984
Horst Heese	Dec 1984 – Jun 1985
Wilfried Kohls	Jul 1985 – Jun 1986
Franz Brungs	Jul 1986 – May 1987
Robert Jung	May 1987 – Jun 1987
Dieter Renner	Jul 1987 – Mar 1989
Nikolaus Semlitsch	Mar 1989 – Dec 1989
Hans-Günter Neues	Dec 1989 – Apr 1990
Kurt Geinzer	Apr 1990 – Jun 1992
Lothar Buchmann	Jul 1992 – Oct 1994
Valentin Herr	Oct 1994 – Apr 1995
Wilfried Kohls	Maz 1995 – Jun 1995
Wolfgang Uschek	Jul 1995 – Dec 1995
Ronald Borchers	Jan 1996 – Apr 1997
Wilfried Kohls/Jörg Hambückers	Apr 1997 – Jun 1997
Hans-Jürgen Boysen	Jul 1997 – Oct 1999
Peter Neururer	Oct 1999 – Aug 2000
Dragoslav Stepanovic	Aug 2000 – Sep 2000
Knut Hahn	Sep 2000 – Oct 2000
Wilfried Kohls	Oct 2000 – Oct 2000
Knut Hahn	Nov 2000 – Nov 2000
Dieter Müller/Oliver Roth	Nov 2000 – Dec 2000
Ramon Berndroth	Dec 2000 – Aug 2003
Lars Schmidt	Aug 2003 – Mar 2004
Hans-Jürgen Boysen	Mar 2004 – Jan 2006
Wolfgang Frank	Jan 2006 – Oct 2007
Jørn Andersen	Nov 2007 – May 2008
Hans-Jürgen Boysen	May 2008 – Oct 2009
Steffen Menze	Oct 2009 – Feb 2010
Wolfgang Wolf	Feb 2010 – Feb 2011
Thomas Gerstner	Feb 2011 – May 2011
Arie van Lent	May 2011 – Feb 2013
Rico Schmitt	Feb 2013 -

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

Notable players

Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here.

Walter Bechtold Matthias Becker Uwe Bein Egon Bihn Manfred Binz Fred-Werner Bockholt Horst Buhtz Saša Ćirić Siegfried Gast Horst Gecks Jimmy Hartwig Sigfried Held Valentin Herr Bernd Helmschrot Josef Hickersberger Gerhard Kaufhold Johann Kondert Engelbert Berti Kraus Walter Krause Sebastian Rode André Hahn

Erwin Kremers Helmut Kremers Erwin Kostedde Michael Kutzop Dieter Müller Hermann Nuber Helmut Preisendörfer Oliver Reck Hans Richter Manfred Ritschel Winfried Schäfer Egon Schmitt Nikolaus Semlitsch Moses Sichone Lothar Skala Reinhard Stumpf César Thier Suat Türker Ion Vlădoiu Rudi Völler Olivier Occean

Gernot Rohr Mamadou Diabang Aristide Bancé Niko Bungert

Honours

The club's 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
  • Winners: 1949, 1955
  • Runners-up: 1957, 1959, 1960
• Regionalliga Süd (II)
  • Winners: 1967, 1970, 1972
  • Runners-up: 1966, 1968
• 2. Bundesliga Süd (II)
  • Runners-up: 1981
• Regionalliga Süd (III)
  • Winners: 2005
  • Runners-up: 1998, 1999
• Regionalliga Südwest
  • Champions: 2015
• Oberliga Hessen (III-IV)
  • Winners: 1986, 1987, 1993
  • Runners-up: 1994, 1997

• All competitions are tier-one unless otherwise stated

Cup

• DFB-Pokal
  • Winners: 1970
• Hesse Cup
  • Winners: 1949, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014
  • Runners-up: 1950

Reserve team

• Landesliga Hessen-Süd (IV-V)
  • Winners: 1984, 1999, 2008
  • Runners-up: 1979, 1983
• Landesliga Hessen-Mitte
  • Winners: 1971

Youth

• German Under 19 championship
  • Runners-up: 1973
• German Under 17 championship
  • Runners-up: 1985

Kickers Offenbach II

Main article: Kickers Offenbach II

Kickers second team played in the Amateurliga Hessen (III) from 1971–74 until being disbanded after the 1973–74 season. The reconstituted side reappeared in the Amateuroberliga Hessen (III) in 1984, but were sent down after the relegation of the senior side from the 2. Bundesliga. The amateur's next appearance of note was in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) in 1999 in a campaign that ended in relegation after a 15th-place finish. In 2008–09, it returned to the Hessenliga and finished in fourth place. After six seasons in the league the team finished 18th in the Hessenliga in 2014 and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.

Recent managers

Recent managers of the team:

Manager	Start	Finish
Steffen Menze	1 July 2005	30 June 2006
Ramon Berndroth	1 July 2006	30 June 2008
Steffen Menze	1 July 2008	30 June 2009
Jürgen Baier	1 July 2009	30 June 2010
Günter Stiebig	1 July 2011	30 June 2013
Alexander Conrad	1 July 2013	Present

External links

• Official website (German)
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
• Kickers Offenbach at Weltfussball.de (German)