VfB Oldenburg is a German association football club based in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. In the 2022–23 season, they play in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany.

History

Founded by a group of high school boys as ''FC 1897 Oldenburg'' on 17 October 1897, they merged with ''FV Germania 1903 Oldenburg'' in 1919 and adopted their current name. Their interests were football, cricket and track. Within a year the club acquired an old velodrome in Donnerschwee – part of the town of Oldenburg today – and converted it to a football ground. The club played for two seasons in the

Gauliga Weser-Ems The Gauliga Niedersachsen was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Hanover and the German states of Bremen, Brunswick, Schaumburg-Lippe and Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis re ...

(I), just before the end of the war, from 1942 to 1944. After again restoring their ground in the aftermath of World War II, the club was able to pick up play in the Oberliga Nord in the 1949–50 season, but immediately found themselves relegated to tier II. They made another single season appearance in the upper league in 1955–56, before returning for a run of three seasons from 1960 to 1963 in the lead up to the formation of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, Germany's new professional football league. ''Oldenburg'' did not qualify for the new circuit and found themselves in the Regionalliga Nord (II). They played at that level until the mid-1970s when they slipped into the

Amateur Oberliga Nord The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the introduction of the 3. Liga, the league ceased to exist fr ...

(III). They enjoyed their highest league finish in 1991–92. They finished bottom of the third level in 1999–2000, and came close to being dissolved due to financial problems. After a decade of lower division play following relegation from the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

in 2000, the club returned to this level in 2012 and played there until they were promoted to the 3. Liga in 2022 by beating BFC Dynamo in a promotion play-off.

Stadium

Since 1991 VfB Oldenburg has been playing in the

Marschweg-Stadion Marschweg-Stadion is a multi-use stadium in Oldenburg, Germany. Since 1991 is has been used as the stadium of VfB Oldenburg VfB Oldenburg is a German association football club based in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, t ...

, which was opened in 1951. It has a capacity of 15,200, of which 4,500 are seats and 10,700 standing places. Its record attendance of 32,000 was achieved before reconstruction.

Local derby rivalry

VfB Oldenburg has a local derby rivalry with

VfL Oldenburg VfL Oldenburg is a German sports club from the town of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony which is best known for its football team, which plays in the Niedersachsenliga, the fifth level of the German football league system. The club has over 2,000 me ...

Players

Current squad

Players out on loan

Honours

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 ...

** Runners-up: 1988 * Niedersachsenliga West ** Champions: 1952, 1957, 1959, 2007 (V) *

Niedersachsenliga The Oberliga Niedersachsen ( en, Upper League Lower Saxony), sometimes referred to as ''Niedersachsenliga'' (Lower Saxony league), is the fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Lower Saxony (ge ...

** Champions: 1972, 2009 (V) *

Oberliga Nord The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the introduction of the 3. Liga, the league ceased to exist f ...

(III) ** Champions: 1975, 1980, 1990 *

** Champions: 1996 (III), 2022 (IV) *

Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen The Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany, existing from 1994 to 2004. It covered the states of Lower Saxony and Bremen. With the re-formation of the Oberliga Nord in 2004, t ...

** Champions: 2002 (IV)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oldenburg, Vfb Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Lower Saxony Association football clubs established in 1897 1897 establishments in Germany 2. Bundesliga clubs Sport in Oldenburg (city)