VfB Fichte Bielefeld is a German association football club based in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

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

. The club was formed out of the merger of ''VfB Bielefeld 03'' and ''SpVgg Fichte Bielefeld 06/07'' on 1 July 1999.

History

Of these predecessor sides ''VfB Bielefeld 03'' was the more successful, as ''SpVgg'' remained an anonymous local side. In 1931 ''VfB'' finished runners-up in the

Western German football championship The Western German football championship (German: ''Westdeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in Western Germany, in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, the Rhine Province, the northern parts of the pr ...

. Two years later 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 ''VfB'' eventually earned 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 ...

in 1941. However, they were immediately relegated after finishing at the bottom of the table well back of other clubs. In 1943 ''VfB'' joined ''

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

'' in the wartime side (Kriegspielgemeinschaft) ''KSG VfB/DSC Arminia Bielefeld'' to play to the Gauliga. The combined side also finished last, but remained in the top flight through the incomplete 1944–45 season as the league struggled to continue play as Allied armies advanced on Germany. After the war the two clubs resumed play as separate sides. ''VfBs best result was ascent into the

2. Oberliga West The (English: 2nd Premier League West) was the second-highest level of the German football league system in the west of Germany from 1949 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It covered the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most popu ...

in 1950 and participation in the semi-finals of the

German amateur 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 ...

. Through the 60s and into the early 70s the club played as a third division side in 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 ...

-NO, before slipping and bouncing between fourth and fifth tier competition until the end of the 90s. ''SpVgg'' played 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 ...

(IV) during most of this period, with the occasional descent to the Verbandsliga (V) or Bezirksliga Westfalen (VI). At the time of their 1999 merger ''VfB'' and ''SpVgg'' were both competing in the Verbandsliga Westfalen (V). Two years later the new club was promoted to the

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. Wi ...

(IV) where they remained until being sent down in 2006. From 2013 to 2016 the club was part of the tier six Westalenliga again until relegated to the Landesliga.

Honours

The club's honours: ''VfB Bielefeld'' *

** Runners-up: 1931 *

** Champions: 1973 ''VfB Fichte Bielefeld'' *

** Champions: 2001

Stadium

''Fichte'' plays its home matches at the Stadion Rußheide which has a capacity of ~12,000 spectators.

External links

Official team site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bielefeld, Fichte Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia Association football clubs established in 1903 1903 establishments in Germany