1. FC Gera 03 was a German association football club located in

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. The club withdrew from the

NOFV-Oberliga Süd The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of the former East Germany. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony and southern Brandenburg. It is one of fourteen Oberl ...

during the 2011–12 season and became defunct.

History

The club was founded in 2003 through the merger of TSV 1880 Gera-Zwötzen and SV 1861 Liebschwitz. The club was made up largely of players who used to play in higher divisions with a large number coming from the two most successful Thuringian clubs,

FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt is a German association football club based in Erfurt, Thuringia. History Foundation to World War II The club has roots that go back to a cricket club founded in 1895. As they broadened their interests they came to be calle ...

and

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Formed in 1903 and initially associated with the Carl Zeiss AG factory, they were one of the strongest clubs in East Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, winning the DDR-Obe ...

. Gera won the

Landesliga Thüringen The Landesliga ( en, Football State League) is a tier of football in some states of the German football league system. In Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Hamburg, the Landesligas are set right below the Oberliga and therefo ...

(V) in 2006–07 and gained promotion to the Oberliga. It lasted for three seasons in the Oberliga, was relegated in 2010 and won immediate promotion back up in 2011. The club withdrew from the league during the 2011–12 season for financial reasons, became insolvent and eventually folded. Gera's most notable success was their advance to the final of the 2007 TFV-Pokal (Thuringian Cup) where they lost to FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Despite their losing appearance, the team still qualified for the 2006–07 DFB-Pokal as Jena had already earned their place in that competition through their promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. Gera hosted 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the opening round and lost 0–2. 1. FC Gera 03 played in the Stadion der Freundschaft which has a capacity of 16,800 spectators. They shared the venue with 1. SV Gera. The best known footballer to have played for Gera 03 was

Marco Weißhaupt Marco Weißhaupt (born 24 June 1972) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, bre ...

, who went on to play in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

for

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

, and

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

. The club also had a women's football team, which played at the Regionalliga level.

Honors

The club's honours: *

Thüringenliga The Thüringenliga is the sixth tier (VI) of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Thuringia (german: Thüringen). Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, u ...

: ** Winners: 2006–07, 2010–11 *

Thuringia Cup The Thuringia Cup (German: Thüringenpokal) is an annual football competition in Thuringia, Germany. The Thuringia Football Association (German: Thüringer Fußball-Verband, TFV) is its governing body. The cup winner qualifies for next season's DFB ...

: ** Winners: 2006–07 ** Runners-up: 2005–06

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gera, 1. Fc Defunct football clubs in Germany Football clubs in East Germany Defunct football clubs in Thuringia Gera Association football clubs established in 2003 Association football clubs disestablished in 2012 2003 establishments in Germany 2012 disestablishments in Germany Football clubs in Germany