Borussia Fulda is a
German association football club from
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
History ...
,
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
. The club was founded 4 July 1904 as ''FC Borussia 1904 Fulda'' and underwent a number of changes in 1923 when they were first joined by ''Radsportclub 1907 Fulda'' in July, and then by ''Kraftsportklub Germania Fulda'' in September. On 6 September 1923, the association was named ''1. SV Borussia 04 Fulda''.
History
In 1933, German football was re-organized under the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
into sixteen top-flight divisions and ''Fulda'' immediately took up play in the
Gauliga Hessen
The Gauliga Hessen was the highest football league in the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1933 to 1945. From 1941, it was renamed Gauliga Kurhessen. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorgani ...
, capturing the division title and advancing to the national playoff round where they went out early. Over the next two seasons the team earned consecutive second-place finishes behind ''
FC Hanau 93
FC Hanau 93 is a German association football club based in Hanau, Hesse.
History
Early history
Founded in 1893, the club is Hesse's oldest. In its first year, the club was winless in a half dozen matches, but the next season emerged as south ...
'' before being relegated in 1938. ''Fulda'' returned to first division play in 1939 and the next year claimed the first of what would be three divisional titles over the course of the next four seasons, but were unable to claim any successes at the national level or in play for the
Tschammerpokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
, predecessor of today's
German Cup
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
. They earned their last title playing as ''Reichsbahn SG Borussia Fulda'' after a 1943 wartime merger with ''Reichsbahn SG Fulda''. Play in the ''Gauliga Hessen'' collapsed in the 1944–45 season as Allied armies advanced into Germany as World War II drew to a close.
At war's end, occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in the country, including sports and football associations. The club was re-established as ''SG Borussia 04/45 Fulda'' on 17 October 1945 and was united with a club bearing the name ''1. SV Borussia Fulda'' which has been formed on 11 March 1948. A 17 January 1951 merger with ''SC Fulda'' led to the creation of ''SC Borussia 04 Fulda''.
''SC Borussia'' played as a local side until winning promotion to 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. ...
'' (III) in 1957 and, with the exception of the 1959–60 season, remained a third division team through to 1963. The club finished well enough that year to earn a place in the newly formed
Regionalliga Süd (II) but were promptly relegated. They would compete in the ''Amateurliga Hessen'' (III) for the next 11 seasons before slipping to fourth division play in the
Landesliga Hessen-Nord
The Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord, until 2008 named ''Landesliga Hessen-Nord'', is currently the sixth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, and until the in ...
in 1975 and then spending the next season in the fifth division.
''Fulda'' has since played largely as fourth tier side with occasional forays into third division competition. After some solid finishes in the Regionalliga Süd (III) in the late 90s the club ran into financial difficulties and nearly collapsed midway through the 1998–99 season. The club played in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) from 2006 to 2009 again, until suffering relegation to the Landesliga. The club after this fell another tier, playing in the Gruppenliga Fulda (VII) from 2010 to 2014. It came close to financial collapse once more in 2010 and had to declare insolvency but managed to recover. A title in the Gruppenliga Fulda in 2014 however took the club back to the Verbandsliga, where in 2015 it won its third title and promotion back to the Hessenliga. After an initial seventh-place finish in 2018 the club's first team was integrated into ''
TSV Lehnerz
The SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz is a German association football club from the Lehnerz suburb of Fulda, Hesse.
The club's greatest success has been to earn promotion to the tier four Regionalliga Südwest in 2022.
History
The club was formed ...
'', the latter becoming ''SG Barockstadt Fulda Lehnerz''.
The junior teams remained with ''Borussia''. Following the merger with Lehnerz, the club was placed last in the Hessenliga and resigned from it. For the 2018–19 season, its reserve team, which has been playing in the ''Kreisliga Fulda'' (IX), became the new first team.
Honours
The club's honours:
League
*
Gauliga Hessen
The Gauliga Hessen was the highest football league in the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1933 to 1945. From 1941, it was renamed Gauliga Kurhessen. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorgani ...
** Champions: 1934, 1941, 1942, 1944
** Runners-up: 1935, 1936
*
Oberliga 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. ...
(IV)
** Champions: 1954, 1957, 1960, 1996, 2001
*
Landesliga Hessen-Nord
The Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord, until 2008 named ''Landesliga Hessen-Nord'', is currently the sixth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, and until the in ...
(V)
** Champions: 1990, 2006, 2015
* Landesliga Hessen/Fulda
** Champions: 1947
* Gruppenliga Fulda
** Champions: 2014
Cup
*
Hesse Cup
The Hesse Cup (German: ''Hessenpokal'') is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football. The winner of the competition gains entry to the first round of the German Cup.
History
The Cup was established in 1945, after the end of the S ...
** Runners-up: 1993, 1999
Recent seasons
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:
* With the introduction of the
Regionalliga
The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...
s 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, 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.
Stadium
''Borussia Fulda'' plays in the Sportpark Johannisau (''Stadion der Stadt Fulda'') which was built in 1957 to hold 30,000 spectators and today has a capacity of 18,000 (~750 seats).
Sportpark Johannisau
weltfussball.de, accessed: 6 December 2011
References
Sources
* Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag
External links
Official team site
Borussia Fulda at Weltfussball.de
Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
historical German domestic league tables
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulda, Borussia
Football clubs in Germany
Football clubs in Hesse
Association football clubs established in 1904
1904 establishments in Germany