SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over 2,400.

History

The club was founded 1907 and played in the second division of the ''

Westkreis-Liga The Westkreis-Liga (English: ''Western district league'') was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate, the northern parts of the Grand Duchy of Baden, the southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province and par ...

'' before the First World War. ''Waldhof'' became part of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1919 and won this league in 1920 and 1921. In each of those seasons, the club failed to advance in the

Southern German championship The Southern German football championship (German: ''Süddeutsche Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in the southern Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to ...

because it was grouped with all-powerful 1. FC Nürnberg at the time. The club took a Bezirksliga Rhein championship in 1924 before joining the

Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar The Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the northernmost part of Baden from 1927 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis t ...

in 1927, where it won five out of the next six division titles without ever performing particularly well in the Southern championship. Its enjoyed its best performances in the

Gauliga Baden The Gauliga Baden was the highest football league in the German state of Baden from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the '' Gau Baden'' replaced the state '' ...

, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established through the 1933 re-organization of German football 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 ...

. ''Waldhof'' dominated the division through the 1930s and into the early 1940s, capturing the title five times. They were unable, however, to translate that into success at the national level. Their best result came in 1940 when they went out in a semi-final against '' FC Schalke 04'', the dominant side of the era, before settling for fourth place after losing a consolation round match to '' Rapid Vienna''. Waldhof Mannheim Performance Chart

After World War II, ''Waldhof'' competed in the Oberliga Süd, where they earned mid-table results until being relegated to the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1954. They bounced up and down between first and second division play until the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, in 1963. The next season saw them in the tier II Regionalliga Süd alongside local rivals ''

VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the national title in 19 ...

''. A string of unimpressive results finally led to relegation to the Amateurliga Nordbaden (III) in 1970. Support from a new sponsor, the snack chip maker

Chio Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

, revived the team and helped their return to the second division where they played as ''SV Chio Waldhof Mannheim'' from 1972 to 1978. They continued to play as a middling side there until they broke through to the Bundesliga in 1983. ''Waldhof'' spent seven seasons in the top flight until a 17th-place finish saw the club relegated at the end of the 1989–90 season. They played for seven seasons as a 2. Bundesliga club until slipping to the Regionalliga Süd for two seasons in 1997–99. A merger with ''

'' was considered in 1998 but the club walked away from a deal at the last minute. Their return to the 2. Bundesliga in 1999 after a season-long struggle with ''

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also 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 established local clubs in ...

'' was cut short in 2003 when financial irregularities saw the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of ...

deny the team a licence, dropping them to the

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg The Oberliga Baden-Württemberg is the highest association football league in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg and the Baden-Württemberg football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberliga (football), Oberligas in German footb ...

(IV). Another attempt at a merger with ''VfR'' failed that same year. The club played in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg until 2007–08, when a third-place finish allowed them to qualify for 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 fourt ...

. After coming fourth in the Regionalliga Süd in 2008–09, the club moved to the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...

in 2009–10 to balance out the three Regionalligas. Waldhof again had their licence withdrawn in 2010 and were demoted back to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, now the fifth level of German football, despite having finished clear of the relegation zone with the league's smallest budget. Waldhof spent only one year in the Oberliga, winning the league in 2010–11 and advancing directly back to the Regionalliga. On 11 June 2011 they defeated FV Illertissen 6–0 in their final league match to clinch promotion and also set a new fifth division attendance record of 18,312. It surpassed the previous record, the 2009 Leipzig derby, by more than 3,000 spectators. At the end of the 2011–12, season the club was grouped into the new

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...

, which replaced the Regionalliga Süd in the region. Waldhof won the league in 2015–16 but lost to Sportfreunde Lotte in the promotion round. They also lost promotion play-offs in the following two seasons after finishing second in the Regionalliga Südwest, to

Meppen Meppen (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Möppen'') is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund–Ems Canal (DEK). The name stems from the word ''M ...

on penalties in 2017 and to KFC Uerdingen in 2018 after crowd disturbances caused the second leg to be abandoned while Waldhof were losing 3–1 on aggregate. In the 2018–19 season, the team secured the Regionalliga Südwest championship and direct promotion to 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 ...

on the 30th matchday with a 1–0 home win over

Wormatia Worms VfR Wormatia 08 Worms is a German association football club that plays in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club and its historical predecessors were regular participants in regional first-division football competition until the formation of the ...

Players

Current squad

Reserve team

The ''SV Waldhof II'', historically also referred to as ''SV Waldhof Amateure'', rose to the tier-IV league

Verbandsliga Nordbaden The Verbandsliga Nordbaden is a German amateur football division administered by the Baden Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Baden state association, the Verbandsliga is currently a ...

in 1986 and remained there until gaining promotion to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg in 2001. After two seasons in the Oberliga with good results, the team had to be withdrawn due to the forced relegation of the first team. In the 2007–08 season, the team narrowly missed out on Verbandsliga promotion when it finished second on equal points to the SV Sandhausen II.

Honours

The club's honours:

League

* Kreisliga Odenwald (I) ** Champions: 1920, 1921 ** Runners-up: 1922, 1923 * Bezirksliga Rhein (I) ** Champions: 1924 *

(''Rhein division'') (I) ** Champions: 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933 ** Runners-up: 1929 *

(I) ** Champions: 1934, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1942 * Oberliga Süd (I) ** Runners-up: 1947 * 2. Bundesliga (II) ** Champions: 1983 * 2. Oberliga Süd (II) ** Champions: 1958, 1960 * Amateurliga Nordbaden (III) ** Champions: 1971, 1972 *

** Runners-up: 2000^‡, 2001^‡ * Landesliga Rhein/Neckar ** Runners-up: 2008^‡, 2009^‡ *

(IV) ** Champions: 2016, 2019

Cup

* German Cup/

DFB-Pokal 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 considere ...

** ''Runners-up'':

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

* Baden Cup (Tiers III-VII) ** Winners: 1998, 1999,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Youth

* German Under 19 championship ** Champions: 1980 ** Runners-up: 1996 * ^‡ Won by reserve team.

Recent managers

Recent managers of the club:

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:

SV Waldhof Mannheim

SV Waldhof Mannheim II

* With the introduction of the

s in 1994 and the

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

Key

Rivals

Waldhof have a fierce rivalry with

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in severa ...

. However, due to the league gap between the two sides, the rivalry was rarely competed until the 2019–20 season, where the two sides met for the first time in 22 years in the

, the third tier of German football. Past meetings between the two have resulted in violence between the two sets of supporters, as well as between supporters and

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

. Another incident before a derby saw weapons seized by police. Waldhof also share smaller rivalries with

and Mannheim city-rivals

Stadium

SV Waldhof plays its home games at the Carl-Benz-Stadion, which holds 27,000 and opened in 1994.Carl-Benz-Stadion
weltfussball.de. Retrieved 18 September 2011

References

External links

*
SV Waldhof Mannheim at Weltfussball.deDas deutsche Fußball-Archiv
historical German domestic league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannheim, Sv Waldhof Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Baden-Württemberg Association football clubs established in 1907 1907 establishments in Germany Sport in Mannheim Bundesliga clubs 2. Bundesliga clubs 3. Liga clubs