The VfB Wissen is a

German 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 ...

association football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

from the town of

Wissen Wissen is a town in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approximately 12 km northeast of Altenkirchen. Wissen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. The club's greatest success has been a single season spent in the tier two

2. Oberliga Südwest The (English: 2nd Premier league Southwest) was the second-highest level of the German football league system in the southwest of Germany from 1951 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It covered the two states of Rhineland-Palatinate a ...

in 1962–63 and to become a founding member of the tier three

Regionalliga West/Südwest The Regionalliga West/Südwest was the third tier of the German football league system in the states of Saarland, Rheinland-Pfalz and Nordrhein-Westfalen from 1994 to 2000. Overview The Regionalliga West/Südwest was formed in 1994 to form a r ...

in 1994.

History

The origins of an organised sports club in Wissen goes back to 1889 when the TV Wissen was formed, a gymnastics club. Attempts to form a football department within this club failed because of the club rejecting football as a suitable sport for young men. Attempts were made to form an independent football club in 1910 but this club soon folded again. With the industrialisation of Wissen and the considerable growth of the town just before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

a football club was finally formed on 28 February 1914. The war soon interrupted regular play and it took until 1919 for ''VfB'' to renter league football. The club was grouped in the B-Klasse of the

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

region but won the league and entered the A-Klasse from the next season. The club was able to maintain a football team well into the last year of the

Second World War 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 ...

. The club reformed in 1946 with the permission of the French occupation authorities but had to official disband and reform again the following year. The club was now grouped in the part of

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

region that would later become the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate rather than in Westphalia. VfB Wissen was promoted to the

Rheinlandliga The Rheinlandliga is a German amateur football division administered by the Rhineland Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Rhineland state association, the Verbandsliga is currently a l ...

, then the

Amateurliga Rheinland The Amateurliga Rheinland was the highest football league in the region of the Rheinland Football Association and the third tier of the German football league system from its inception in 1952 to the formation of the Oberliga Südwest and the Ve ...

, in 1956. The club played in the eastern division of the league, then split into two regional groups and won the league in 1961 and 1962. While it failed to win the Rhineland championship in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

it did so in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

and was promoted to the tier two

. Wissen finished in sixth place but the introduction 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 ...

in 1963 and the changes in the league system meant that the club had to drop back to the Amateurliga. The club also won the

Rhineland Cup The Rhineland Cup (German: ''Rheinlandpokal'') 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. It is limited to clubs from the northern part of Rhinela ...

on two occasions in this era, in 1959 and 1961. ''VfB'' played two more seasons in the Rheinlandliga, now organised in a single division before being relegated in 1965. It returned to this level in 1968 and finished runners-up in the league in 1972. The club remained in the league until 1978 when it was renamed to Verbandsliga Rheinland. In the same year the Oberliga Südwest was established as the third tier in the region but Wissen needed to qualify in sixth place to enter this new league and came only thirteenth. VfB Wissen became a top side in the Verbandsliga, finishing runners-up in 1981. It twice qualified for the first round of the

German Cup 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 considered ...

in the early 1980s. In the 1980–81 edition it defeated

ASV Burglengenfeld ASV Burglengenfeld is a German association football club from the town of Burglengenfeld, Bavaria. The club's greatest success has been its three participations in the DFB-Pokal, the German Cup, reaching the second round on one occasion, as wel ...

in the first round before going out to

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The cl ...

in the second. In 1982–83 it lost to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

in the first round. After 21 consecutive seasons in the Amateurliga/Verbandsliga the club finally won the Rheinlandliga in 1988 and was promoted to the Oberliga Südwest for the 1988–89 season, where the club finished sixteenth and was promptly relegated again. It took ''VfB'' two seasons to return to the Oberliga. It spent three seasons in the league from 1991 to 1994. After an eleventh place in 1992 it came fourth in 1993 and third in 1994. The later result was enough to be one of six teams from the league to qualify for the new

, one of four Regionalligas introduced that year. VfB Wissen came last in this league in 1994–95 and was relegated from the Regionalliga again. The following season, in the Oberliga, the club came last again and was relegated from this league, too. The Regionalliga West/Südwest disbanded in 2000 and the Oberliga Südwest renamed in 2012 and ''VfB'' did not return to either in this time. VfB Wissen lasted for two seasons in the Rheinlandliga before suffering another relegation in 1998, after 31 seasons at this level or above. It played in the Landesliga after that, with this league eventually disbanded and replaced by the Bezirksliga at its level. Since then the club has dropped as far as the Kreisliga A before making a return to the Bezirksliga in 2014.VfB Wissen
fussball.de, accessed: 20 September 2014

Honours

The club's honours: *

(III/IV) ** Champions:

, 1988, 1991 ** Runners-up:

, 1972, 1981 * Kreisliga A Sieg ** Champions: 2014 ** Runners-up: 2012, 2013 *

(Tiers III-VII) ** Winners: 1959, 1961 ** Runners-up: 1973, 1982

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
Historical German domestic league tables, accessed: 20 September 2014Fussball.de - Ergebnisse
Tables and results of all German football leagues, accessed: 20 September 2014 *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 The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

in 2008 as the new third tier, below the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

, all leagues below dropped one tier.

Key

References

External links

Official team site

Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
historical German domestic league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Wissen, Vfb Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Rhineland-Palatinate Association football clubs established in 1914 1914 establishments in Germany