The 1. Rödelheimer FC is a German association football club from the

Rödelheim Rödelheim is a quarter of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the ''Ortsbezirk (Frankfurt am Main), Ortsbezirk Mitte-West'' and is subdivided into the ''Stadtbezirke'' Rödelheim-Ost and Rödelheim-West. There are a number of celebrities ...

district in the city of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Hesse.

History

The 1. RFC was formed as a football club on 12 April 1902 by twelve football enthusiasts in a local pub, the Zum Taunus.1. Rödelheimer FC 02 website – History
, accessed: 21 March 2009 The club went through several name changes to eventually revert to its original name after the Second World War. For most of its history, the club did not rise above the local level and stood in the shadow of Frankfurt's bigger clubs, Eintracht and FSV. It played for one season in the tier-one

Kreisliga Nordmain The Kreisliga Nordmain (English: ''District league North Main'') was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introd ...

in 1921–22. In 1943, the club, then under the name of VfL Rödelheim, won promotion to the tier-one

Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen The Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen was the highest football league in the German state of Hesse, the Bavarian province of Palatinate, the Saarland and some parts of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1933 to 1941. From 1941, it also included ...

. The club's biggest success to date came in 1948, when it managed to win the

Landesliga Hessen The Hessenliga (until 2008 ''Oberliga Hessen'') is the highest football league in the state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. ...

, then the second tier of the league system in Southern Germany. The team was promoted to the

Oberliga Süd Oberliga () may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, replaced by the NOFV-O ...

, the highest level of play, where it lasted for only one season, finishing last, before being relegated again, back to the Landesliga. While the low point of the season came with a 0–10 defeat to

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly 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 establis ...

, another local rival, its last Oberliga game was a 4–1 triumph over 1. FC Nürnberg, in front of 8,000 spectators. All four goals were scored by

Hubert Schieth Hubert Schieth (26 January 1927 – 19 February 2013) was a German football player and manager who played as a forward. Career Statistics References External links * 1927 births 2013 deaths German men's footballers Eintracht Frankf ...

. Another player of the Oberliga team that season was

Alfred Pfaff Alfred Pfaff (16 July 1926 – 27 December 2008) was a German football player and World Cup winner with West Germany in 1954. Life Pfaff was capped seven times between 1953 and 1956 for the West Germany national team, scoring two goals as an ...

, who would later, as an Eintracht Frankfurt player, be part of the German team that won the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

. The club soon found itself back to the lower ranks of football, being relegated from what was now the

Amateurliga Hessen The Hessenliga (until 2008 ''Oberliga Hessen'') is the highest football league in the state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. ...

in 1951. It did not reappear in any of the top-four divisions of German football after 1963. In 2007–08, a second-place finish in the Bezirksliga Frankfurt (VII) meant, the club was promoted to what was now the Gruppenliga Frankfurt-West, formerly Bezirksoberliga Frankfurt-West. It held this league level for two seasons but was relegated again in 2010 into what had now become the Kreisoberliga (VIII), where it plays today.

Honours

The club's honours: *

(II) ** Champions: 1947, 1948

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Fussball.de – Ergebnisse
Tables and results of all German football leagues * With the introduction of the

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

s in 1994 and the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. Also in 2008, a large number 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.

References

External links

*
Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
– historical German domestic league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodelheimer Fc Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Frankfurt Association football clubs established in 1902 1902 establishments in Germany