Sportfreunde Katernberg was a German association football club from the Katernberg suburb of Essen,

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 was a runners-up finish in the tier one Oberliga West in 1947–48 which qualified the club to participate in the

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. Apart from football the club also offered a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

department when the team was a long-term member of the

Chess Bundesliga The term Chess Bundesliga (german: Schach-Bundesliga) normally refers to the premier league of team chess in Germany established in 1980. It is arguably the strongest league of its kind and attracts many high-rated grandmasters. Austria also has ...

History

Formed in 1913 the club played its first three decades as a non-descript local side. ''Sportfreunde'' took part in the 1943 Tschammerpokal, the German Cup, but lost 4–2 to FC Schalke 04 in the second round after defeating Luxembourg side FK Niederkorn in the first round. It won promotion to the

Gauliga Niederrhein The Gauliga Niederrhein was the highest football league in the northern part of the Prussian Rhine Province from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the '' Gaue' ...

in 1944 but the league was cancelled after only one round because of the effects of 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 ...

.Chronik der Auf- und Abstiege
Sportfreunde Katernberg website – Promotions & relegations, accessed: 5 November 2015 Sportfreunde Katernberg became part of the new tier one Oberliga West when it was formed in 1947. In the league's inaugural season the club finished runners-up, two points behind champions

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

, and qualified for the championship of the

British occupation zone The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom along with her Commonwealth were one of the three major Allied po ...

, a qualifying competition for the

. Katernberg lost to Eintracht Braunschweig in the quarter finals and was knocked out. The season after the club finished thirteenth and was relegated to the 2. Oberliga West. In this new competition Katernberg won one of the two divisions and was promoted back to the Oberliga alongside Borussia Mönchengladbach. Sportfreunde Katernberg spend three more seasons in the Oberliga from 1950 to 1953 but never came close to the success of 1947–48 and was eventually relegated back to the 2. Oberliga. Two seasons in this league followed until another relegation in 1955 took the club permanently from the top levels of German football. Katernberg played the 1955–56 season in one of the three divisions of the tier three

Landesliga Niederrhein The Landesliga Niederrhein is the second highest amateur football league in the Lower Rhine region which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and since 2012 the sixth tier of the German football league system. It operates in two groups wh ...

but, finishing eighth, did not qualify for the new

Verbandsliga Niederrhein The Oberliga Niederrhein ( en, Premier League of the Lower Rhine) is a German amateur football division administered by the Football Association of the Lower Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Lowe ...

. It won promotion to this league in 1958 but lasted for only two seasons before dropping into local football in 1960. It briefly returned to the Verbandsliga for a season in 1976–77 before dropping down again. The club experienced a brief revival in the late 1980s, winning promotion to the Verbandsliga again in 1988. It won the league in 1988–89 and was promoted to the tier three

Oberliga Nordrhein The Oberliga Nordrhein was the highest Football League in the region of Nordrhein which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 2008. In its last season, it was one of nine Oberligas in German football, the 4th tier of the Ge ...

. Katernberg spend two seasons in this league, finishing thirteenth in 1989–90 but coming last in 1990–91. Back in the Verbandsliga ''Sportfreunde'' suffered another relegation in 1991–92 and permanently dropped back into local amateur football again where it played until 2016–17. In March 2017, the club merged with DJK Katernberg to become DJK Sportfreunde Katernberg, whose first team replaced the former in Kreisliga A, while the second team took over ''Sportfreunde'' in Kreisliga B.

Honours

The club's honours: * Oberliga West ** Runners-up: 1947–48 *

** Champions: 1988–89 *

** Champions: 1957–58, 1975–76, 1987–88

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Historic German football league tables
Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv, accessed: 5 November 2015Sportfreunde Katernberg at Fussball.de
accessed: 22 June 2017 * With the introduction of the Regionalligas 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 th ...

in 2008 as the new third tier, below 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 ...

, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the elevation of the tier six

to Oberliga status in 2012 all leagues below were elevated one tier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katernberg, Sportfreunde Defunct football clubs in Germany Defunct football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia Association football clubs established in 1913 Association football clubs disestablished in 2017 1913 establishments in Germany 2017 disestablishments in Germany Sport in Essen Football clubs in Germany