rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
from
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, currently playing in the
Rugby-Bundesliga
The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation.
The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, t ...
. It is part of a larger multi-sport club, the USV Potsdam, which also offers other sports like
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
and
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and consists of 19 departments.
History
USV Potsdam
The club was formed on 11 March 1949 as SG Landeshochschule Potsdam in what was soon to become
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. It was later renamed to HSG PH Potsdam.USV Potsdam website - History , accessed: 6 April 2010
In 1990, with the imminent dissolution of East Germany, it became the HSG BLH Potsdam, to adopt its current name, USV Potsdam, in July 1991, reflecting its close ties with the
University of Potsdam
The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace of Sanssouci which is known ...
.
Rugby department
The club's rugby department was formed in 1988. However, rugby in Potsdam dates back to the 1950s. In 1963, a rugby department was formed at the ''Pädagogischen Hochschule Potsdam'', which later joined local club Dynamo Potsdam. In 1988, students at the ''Pädagogischen Hochschule'' once more formed a rugby club, the RG 88 Potsdam. Once more, this team joined the local police sports club, the former ''Dynamo'' now being renamed PSV Potsdam.Die Geschichte unserer Männer Rugby department website - History, accessed: 6 April 2010
In 1993, this team won promotion to the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North for the first time. In 1997, the rugby department then joined the university club ''USV'', its current home.
The team earned promotion to the
2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East
The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third tie ...
in 2005, the second tier of German club rugby, by winning its regional division of the
Rugby-Regionalliga
The Rugby Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. It is set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and is organised in eight regional divisions.
Since 2010, the ''Regiona ...
Hamburger RC
The Hamburger Rugby Club (HRC) is a German rugby union club from Hamburg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga.
History
''HRC'' was formed on 6 June 1950, under the leadership of Emil Creydt.
Finishing the first three seasons in this league in the lower half of the table, ''USV'' progressed to a third place in 2008-09. In the 2009-10 season, the club leads the league and has a good chance of earning promotion to the
Rugby-Bundesliga
The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation.
The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, t ...
. The club however is trying to attract sponsorship to be able to afford competing at national level.
A league reform in 2012 allowed the club promotion to the Bundesliga as the league was expanded from ten to 24 teams. USV finished third in their group in the 2012-13 season and qualified for the north/east division of the championship round, where it came sixth. The club opted to not play their first round play-off match, citing player shortage, and was thereby knocked out of the championship with the game awarded 50-0 to the opposition.
The club qualified for the DRV-Pokal in 2013–14 and was knocked out by RC Leipzig in the quarter finals of the play-offs. At the end of the season the club opted to withdraw from the Bundesliga to the tier three Regionalliga. After a season there in 2013–14 USV earned promotion back to the 2nd Bundesliga for the following year after a Regionalliga championship.
Recent seasons of the club:RugbyWeb Ergebnisarchiv rugbyweb.de - Results archive, accessed: 24 July 2012
* Until 2001, when the single-division Bundesliga was established, the season was divided in autumn and spring, a ''Vorrunde'' and ''Endrunde'', whereby the top teams of the Rugby-Bundesliga would play out the championship while the bottom teams together with the autumn 2nd Bundesliga champion would play for Bundesliga qualification. The remainder of the 2nd Bundesliga teams would play a spring round to determine the relegated clubs. Where two placing's are shown, the first is autumn, the second spring. In 2012 the Bundesliga was expanded from ten to 24 teams and the 2nd Bundesliga from 20 to 24 with the leagues divided into four regional divisions.