Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

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 has spent 35 seasons in the Bundesliga.

History

Founding to World War II

VfL Bochum is one of the oldest sports organizations in the world, claiming an origin date of 26 July 1848 when an article in the ''Märkischer Sprecher'' – a local newspaper – called for the creation of a gymnastics club. The Turnverein zu Bochum was then formally established on 18 February 1849. The club was banned on 28 December 1852 for political reasons and then reestablished on 19 June 1860. The club was reorganized in May 1904 as Turnverein zu Bochum, gegründet 1848 and formed a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

department on 31 January 1911. On 1 April 1919, the club merged with Spiel und Sport 08 Bochum to form Turn- und Sportverein Bochum 1848. On 1 February 1924, the two clubs from the earlier merger split into the Bochumer Turnverein 1848 (gymnastics department) and Turn- und Sportverein Bochum 1908 (

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

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 ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and tennis departments). Bochumer Turnverein 1848 was forced by the

Nazi regime 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 ...

to merge with Turn- und Sport Bochum 1908 and Sportverein Germania Vorwärts Bochum 1906 into the current-day club VfL Bochum on 14 April 1938. After the merger, VfL Bochum continued to compete in the top flight as part of 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 ...

.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag As

World War II 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 opposin ...

progressed, play throughout Germany became increasingly difficult due to player shortages, travel problems and damage to football fields from Allied bombing raids. VfL became part of the wartime side Kriegsspielgemeinschaft VfL 1848/Preußen Bochum alongside Preußen 07 Bochum before re-emerging as a separate side again after the war. Although they fielded competitive sides, they had the misfortune of playing in the same division as

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

, which was the dominant team of the era. VfL's best result was therefore a distant second place in 1938–39.

Postwar and entry to Bundesliga play

Following World War II, the football section resumed play as the independent VfL Bochum 1848 and played its first season in the second division 2. Oberliga West in 1949, while Preußen Bochum went on to lower tier amateur level play. VfL captured the division title in 1953 to advance to the Oberliga West for a single season. They repeated their divisional win in 1956 and returned to the top-flight until again being relegated after the 1960–61 season. With 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 league, in 1963 VfL found itself in the third tier Amateurliga Westfalen. A first-place result there in 1965 raised them to the Regionalliga West (II), from which they began a steady climb up the league table to the Bundesliga in 1971. During this rise, Bochum also played its way to the final of the 1967–68 DFB-Pokal, where they lost 1–4 to 1. FC Köln. In spite of being a perennial lower table side, Bochum developed a reputation for tenaciousness on the field in a run of 20 seasons in the top flight. The club made a repeat appearance in the DFB-Pokal final in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, losing 0–1 to

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. Relegated after a 16th-place finish in the 1992–93 season, the team has become a classic "

yo-yo club A yo-yo club is a sporting side that is regularly promoted and relegated. The phrase is most typically used in association football in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to promotion to and relegation from the Premier League. The name ...

", bouncing up and down between the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga. The club finished in 5th place in the Bundesliga in 1996–97 and 2003–04, which earned them appearances in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, they advanced to the third round, where they were eliminated by

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, and in 2004, they were eliminated early through

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

(0–0 and 1–1) by

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. In the 2020–21 season, the club won the 2. Bundesliga, earning promotion to the Bundesliga.

Current

Today's sports club has 5,000 members, with the football department accounting for over 2,200 of these. Other sections now part of the association include

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

, basketball, dance,

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

, gymnastics,

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

, swimming,

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

, tennis, and volleyball.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable players

Honours

* 2. Bundesliga champions: 1993–94, 1995–96, 2005–06,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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 ...

finalists: 1967–68, 1987–88 *

qualification: 1996–97 (5th), 2003–04 (5th) * Bundesliga top goal scorer: 1985–86 (

Stefan Kuntz Stefan Kuntz (born 30 October 1962) is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the head coach of the Turkey national team. Kuntz represented the Germany national team between 1993 and 1997, rea ...

, 22 goals), 2002–03 (

Thomas Christiansen Thomas Christiansen Tarín (born 11 March 1973) is a former footballer who played as a striker, currently the manager of Panama. Left-footed, he played for a number of clubs in Danish, Spanish and German football over a 15-year professional ...

, 21 goals (w/

Giovane Élber Élber de Souza (born 23 July 1972), commonly known as Giovane Élber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer in various clubs, Élber's career was mostly spent in Germany, where he repres ...

)), 2006–07 (

Theofanis Gekas Theofanis "Fanis" Gekas ( el, Θεοφάνης "Φάνης" Γκέκας; born 23 May 1980) is a Greek professional football official, coach and a former player, who played as a striker. He is the manager of Turkish fourth-tier TFF Third League ...

, 20 goals) *Promoted to

: 1970–71 (1st Regionalliga West, 1st promotion group #1), 1993–94 (1st), 1995–96 (1st), 1999–2000 (2nd), 2001–02 (3rd), 2005–06 (1st),

(1st) * 2. Bundesliga top goal scorer: 1993–94 ( Uwe Wegmann, 22 goals), 2015–16 ( Simon Terodde, 25 goals) *

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 ...

champions: 1969–70, 1970–71

Youth

* German Under 19 championship ** Champions: 1969 ** Runners-up: 2004, 2005 * German Under 17 championship ** Champions: 1985 * Under 19 Bundesliga West ** Champions: 2004, 2005

League results

ImageSize = width:1600 height:60 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/1938 till:01/07/2023 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1940 Colors = id:1st value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:2nd value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:3rd value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6) PlotData= bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center from:01/07/1938 till:01/07/1939 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1939 till:01/07/1940 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1940 till:01/07/1941 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1941 till:01/07/1942 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1942 till:01/07/1943 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1943 till:01/07/1944 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1944 till:01/07/1945 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1945 till:01/07/1946 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1946 till:01/07/1947 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1947 till:01/07/1948 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1948 till:01/07/1949 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1949 till:01/07/1950 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1950 till:01/07/1951 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1951 till:01/07/1952 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1952 till:01/07/1953 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1954 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1954 till:01/07/1955 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1957 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1957 till:01/07/1958 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1958 till:01/07/1959 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1959 till:01/07/1960 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1960 till:01/07/1961 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1962 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1962 till:01/07/1963 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1964 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1964 till:01/07/1965 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1966 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1966 till:01/07/1967 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1967 till:01/07/1968 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1968 till:01/07/1969 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1969 till:01/07/1970 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1970 till:01/07/1971 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1972 till:01/07/1973 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1973 till:01/07/1974 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/1976 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982 shift:(0,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:18 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:11 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:13 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(0,-4) text: from:01/07/1938 till:01/07/1945 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/07/1945 till:01/07/1947 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: " LLW" from:01/07/1947 till:01/07/1949 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " LLW" from:01/07/1949 till:01/07/1953 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2. OL West" from:01/07/1953 till:01/07/1955 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: " OLW" from:01/07/1955 till:01/07/1956 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2OLW" from:01/07/1956 till:01/07/1961 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: " OL West" from:01/07/1961 till:01/07/1963 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2OLW" from:01/07/1963 till:01/07/1965 color:3rd shift:(0,13) text: " VLW" from:01/07/1965 till:01/07/1971 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1993 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2.BL" from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: " BL" from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2.BL" from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: " BL" from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1999 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2.BL" from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: " BL" from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2.BL" from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2005 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2.BL" from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2010 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "

" from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2021 color:2nd shift:(0,13) text: " 2.BL" from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2023 color:1st shift:(0,13) text: "

European record

VfL Bochum II

Stadium

Rewirpowerstadion Ruhrstadion Bochum sp1010714

Ruhrstadion Ruhrstadion (), known as Vonovia Ruhrstadion for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Bochum, Germany. It is the home ground for the VfL Bochum and has a capacity of 27,599. It was known as rewirpowerSTADION (or, rarely, ) from 2006 to ...

(also known as the

Vonovia Vonovia is a German real estate company based in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. Its history goes back to Deutsche Annington, which merged with GAGFAH and was subsequently renamed Vonovia. The company currently owns around 400,000 apartments in ...

Ruhrstadion under a sponsorship deal) was one of the first modern football-only stadiums in Germany. It was built in the 1970s on the traditional ground of TuS Bochum 08 at the Castroper Straße, north of the city centre. The fully roofed venue's capacity is 27,599, including standing room for 12,025. Bochum

Coaches

Current staff

Coaches

References

External links

*
The Abseits Guide to German Soccervfl-bochum.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bochum, VfL Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia 1848 establishments in Germany Sports clubs established in 1848 Bundesliga clubs 2. Bundesliga clubs