SC Eintracht Hamm was a German association football club from the town of Hamm,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. The club's greatest success has been its two championships in the tier three

Oberliga Westfalen The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. Wit ...

in 1982–83, 1984–85. This entitled the club to, unsuccessfully, take part in the promotion round to the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

in 1983 and 1985.

History

The club's origins date back to 1922 when VfR Heessen was formed. ''VfR'' competed on a number of occasions unsuccessfully for promotion to the

Gauliga Westfalen The Gauliga Westphalia was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Westphalia and the small Free State of Lippe from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germa ...

, the highest tier of football in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

after 1933. The club continued play during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

until 1944. ''VfR'' profited from the availability of workers from local coal mines to play for the club. A

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

explosion at the ''Zeche Sachsen'' mine in 1944 however which claimed 169 lives, including 113 foreign workers, brought play to a halt.Die Vereinsgeschichte
scealteherren.de – Club history, accessed: 7 November 2015 In 1970 VfR Heessen merged with TuS Heessen to form Eintracht Heessen with the new club taking up ''VfR's'' place in the

Landesliga Westfalen The Landesliga Westfalen is a German amateur football division administered by the Westphalian Football and Athletics Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the third level of the Westphalian state association, the La ...

. After ten seasons there a league championship in 1979–80 took the club up to the Verbandsliga. Newly promoted to the

Verbandsliga Westfalen The Westfalenliga (''formerly the '') is the second highest amateur football league in the region of Westphalia which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the sixth tier of the German football league system. It operates in two groups ...

the club won the north-east division and earned promotion to the

in 1980–81.Historic German football league tables
Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv, accessed: 4 November 2015 Eintracht Hamm played the next six seasons in the Oberliga, winning the league in 1982–83 and 1984–85 and finishing runners-up in the season between. The two league championships qualified the club for the promotion round to the

but it was unsuccessful on both occasions. In the 1983 2. Bundesliga promotion round Eintrach Hamm faced

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

SC Charlottenburg SCC Berlin is a German sports club based in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin and founded in 1902 as ''Charlottenburger Sport-Club 1902''. In 1911, they merged with ''Sport-Club Westen 05'' and changed their club colors from yellow and blue ...

and

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

, with the latter two winning promotion while Hamm finished one point behind Charlottenburg in third place. The club took part in the 1984

German amateur football championship The German amateur football championship was a national football competition in Germany organized by the German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; DFB) and in existence from 1950 to 1998. History Overview The championship was ...

where it reached the final but lost to

Offenburger FV Offenburger FV is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg. History Early years The club was formed on 20 July 1907 under the name of FC 1907 Offenburg in what was then the Gran ...

4–1. In the 1985 2. Bundesliga promotion round Hamm played against Hummelsbütteler SV,

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and ta ...

and

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The c ...

. This time the team came fourth, three points behind second placed Tennis Borussia while VfL Osnabrück won the tournament. The club's rise had been made possible through sponsorship of the local Hammer Bank. When the latter collapsed in November 1984 the fortunes of the club drastically changed. After its failed second attempt in promotion to professional football and the loss of its sponsor the club quickly declined, finishing ninth in 1985–86 and being relegated from the Oberliga the season after, finishing sixteenth. The following season Hamm came sixteenth in the Verbandsliga as well and was relegated from there, too. Eintracht Hamm struggled financially in the following years, having to accommodate a huge debt. By 1993 the club had however recovered. In 2006 Eintracht Hamm merged with SV 26 Heessen to form SV Eintracht Heessen.

Honours

The club's honours: *

** Runners-up: 1984 *

** Champions: 1982–83, 1984–85 ** Runners-up: 1983–84 *

** Champions: 1980–81

References

External links

SV Eintracht Heessen website

SC Eintracht Hamm at Weltfussball.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamm, Eintracht Defunct football clubs in Germany Defunct football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia Association football clubs established in 1922 1922 establishments in Germany Association football clubs disestablished in 2006 2006 disestablishments in Germany