VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

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 ...

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 1949 with a victory over

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

. They have played through most of its recent history as an unheralded local amateur side and were, until 2015, part of the

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

(V).

History

Predecessor sides

FG Mannheim FG, fg, or Fg may refer to: Organizations * Falun Gong, a Chinese organization * Fine Gael, an Irish political party * Fallschirmjäger, German paratroopers * FG (restaurant), a Michelin-starred restaurant in Rotterdam, formerly ''Ivy'' Place ...

Mannheimer FG Union Mannheimer is a German language surname, meaning a person from Mannheim. Spelling variants include Manheimer and Mannerheim. It may refer to: *Albert Mannheimer (1913–1972), American writer * Anna Mannheimer (born 1963), Swedish journalist * Cari ...

and

Viktoria Mannheim Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

were each founding members of 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 t ...

in 1900. These various Mannheim teams were members of the VSFV (Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine or Federation of South German Football Clubs) and after their merger in 1911 played as VfR through the 1910s and 1920s in 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 ...

. The club emerged as the league champions of the

Kreisliga Odenwald The Kreisliga Odenwald (English: ''District league Odenwald'') was the highest association football league in the northern part of the German state of Baden and the southern part of the state of Hesse from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded wit ...

in 1922 and the

Bezirksliga Rhein The Bezirksliga Rhein was the highest association football league in the northern part of the German state of Baden and the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1923 to 1927, when the league was replaced by the '' Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar''. Overvie ...

in 1925. They took part in the national playoffs after their Bezirksliga title and subsequent regional Süddeutschland win, but went out in an eighth final to

TuRu Düsseldorf Turu may refer to: * Turu people, an ethnic and linguistic group in Tanzania who speak the bantu language Kinyaturu * Turu language or Nyaturu language, a Bantu language ;Given name and surname * Turu Flores or José Oscar Flores (born 1971), Arg ...

. The club finished in mid-table throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s in 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 to ...

Success through the 1930s and 1940s

After 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 ...

into sixteen top flight regional leagues, Mannheim began play 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 ''Ba ...

. The club performed well in the years leading up to

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 ...

and the throughout the conflict, taking division titles in 1935, 1938, 1939, 1943 and 1944. However they could not translate this success in league play into success in the national playoffs with their best result being an advance to the 1943 quarterfinals where they were put out 2–3 by eventual vice-champions

FV Saarbrücken FV may stand for: Groups, organizations, companies * Rossiya (airline) (IATA code: FV) * Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, a German publishing house * Federal Vision, an evangelical Christian faith * Funk Volume, a hip hop record label founded by American ...

. Mannheim repeated as division champions in 1944. Wartime conditions made playing football increasingly difficult in the country, so much so that the national playoffs were initially abandoned and VfR declared champions by the sport's governing authority. However, this decision was revoked after protests from other clubs and the playoff competition reinstated. Mannheim advanced only as far as the eighth final before being eliminated by 1. FC Nürnberg.

Postwar national championship

After the war VfR Mannheim played in the first division

Oberliga Süd Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...

where they earned unremarkable results until a surprising breakthrough in 1949 that saw the team transform a distant second-place finish in their division into a national championship. After thrashing

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

5–0 in the opening round, they upset

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 ...

, who had finished eleven points ahead of them in their Oberliga division that season, by a score of 2–1. VfR then earned a come from behind 3–2 overtime victory over

in front of 90,000 fans in the final. Between 1903 and 1944 German national champions were awarded the

Viktoria trophy The Viktoria, formerly spelled ''Victoria'', is a German association football trophy which was awarded to the German champions from 1903 to 1944. It is modelled on Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, winged and flinging a wreath. Thus it is th ...

. The 1944 final between

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport List of football clubs in Germany, club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a Founding Clubs of the DFB, founding member of the Germa ...

and

Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg (literally: Airforce sports club Hamburg) was a short-lived military German association football club active during World War II and is notable as the most successful of the wartime military sides. History Military spor ...

was the last Viktoria match ever played as the trophy disappeared at war's end. The missing prize was replaced by the

Meisterschale The ''Meisterschale'' ("champions' bowl"), colloquially referred to as the ''Salatschüssel'' (salad bowl, despite of the fact that it more closely resembles a giant plate), is a German association football trophy which has been awarded to the G ...

in 1949 and was first awarded to Mannheim despite 1. FC Nürnberg being Germany's first postwar champions in 1948. Today the Meisterschale recognizes the country's Bundesliga champions and is inscribed with the names of each national championship team since 1903. The Viktoria has since been recovered and is held by the

. The next year they again met Dortmund in the playoffs, this time in the opening round, and once again eliminated them. However, they would themselves be put out in the next round by

Preußen Dellbrück Preußen or Preussen is the German word for Prussia. It also refers to: Ships * ''Preußen'' (ship), windjammer built in 1902 * SMS ''Preußen'' (1873), armored frigate * SMS ''Preußen'' (1903), pre-dreadnought Battleship * , vorpostenboot ...

and begin a slide into anonymity.

Descent from the top flight

Mannheim played in the second tier Regionalliga Süd formed in 1963 at the same time as Germany's new professional league, 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 ...

. After ten years near or at the bottom of the league table they fell to tier III football, the

Amateurliga Nordbaden The Amateurliga Nordbaden was the highest football league in the region of the North Baden Football Aassociation and the third tier of the German football league system from its inception in 1945 to the formation of the Oberliga Baden-Württember ...

. Despite ongoing financial problems they rebuffed offers of a merger from

SV Waldhof Mannheim SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over ...

in 1998 and again in 2003. They were denied a license that year and driven to the

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 ...

(V). However, the side performed well enough to win their division the next season and promotion to

(IV), where they play today. With a sixteenth place in 2007–08, they narrowly avoided relegation, being on equal points with the seventeenth team. After suffering relegation in 2009, the club took two seasons to recover before returning to the Oberliga in 2011. In its first season back the club finished second in the league behind

SSV Ulm 1846 SSV Ulm 1846 is a German football club from Ulm, Baden-Württemberg. The modern-day football department, officially playing as SSV Ulm 1846 Fussball, was formed on 9 March 2009 when the department separated from SSV Ulm 1846. The club's great ...

. In the 2014–15 season the club came second-last in the league and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.

Honours

The club's honours:

League

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

** Champions: 1949 *

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 p ...

** Champions: 1925

Regional

(I) ** Champions: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914 *

(I) ** Champions: 1922 ** Runners-up: 1920, 1921 *

(I) ** Champions: 1925, 1926 ** Runners-up: 1924, 1927 *

(I) ** Champions: 1935, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1944 ** Runners-up: 1934, 1937, 1940 *

(III) ** Champions: 1973, 1976 *

(V) ** Champions: 2004 ** Runners-up: 2011 * Southern German Cup ** Winners: 1959 *

North Baden Cup The North Baden Cup (German: ''Badischer Pokal'' or ''BFV-Pokal'') is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football. The winner of the competition gains entry to the first round of the German Cup. History The Cup was established in ...

(Tiers III-VII) ** Winners: 1972, 1997, 2001 ** Runners-up: 2004

Other sports

* The club has won the German championship in baseball in 1965, 1966 and 1970.

Recent managers

Recent managers of the club:

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Fussball.de – Ergebnisse
Tables and results of all German football leagues * With the introduction of 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 four ...

s in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.

References

External links

Official website

Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
historical German domestic league tables
VfR Mannheim at Weltfussball.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mannheim, Vfr Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Baden-Württemberg Association football clubs established in 1911 1896 establishments in Germany Sport in Mannheim 2. Bundesliga clubs