The Eintracht Frankfurt Rugby is a German

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

from

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, currently playing in the

2nd Rugby-Bundesliga The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third ti ...

, the second tier of rugby in Germany. It is part of a larger club, the

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 ...

, which also offers other sports like

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. The team has twice appeared in the German rugby union championship final, in 1940 and 1965, but lost on both occasions.Die Deutschen Meister der Männer
''DRV'' website - German rugby union champions (men), accessed: 23 April 2010 It was also a founding member of the

Rugby-Bundesliga The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation. The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, t ...

in 1971.Historie
Eintracht Frankfurt website - Rugby department history, accessed: 23 April 2010

History

Formed in 1923, the team, for the most part of its history, stood and stands in the shadow of local rival

SC 1880 Frankfurt The Sport-Club Frankfurt 1880 e.V. (or SC 1880 Frankfurt) is a German sports club from Frankfurt am Main. The club is mainly known for its rugby union team, which currently plays in the Rugby-Bundesliga, the highest level of the league system for ...

. In 1931, Julius Fischer became the first ''Eintracht'' player to appear for the German national rugby team.Chronik
Eintracht Frankfurt website - Rugby department time line, accessed: 23 April 2010 The clubs rugby department achieved its first national success in 1940, when it reached the German championship final, losing 6-19 to

FV 1897 Linden The FV 1897 Linden is a German rugby union club from Hanover. As well as rugby, the club also offers other sports, such as American football and gymnastics. The club has four German rugby union championships to its name, won in 1932, 1937, 1940 ...

. It made a second finals appearance in 1965, this time losing 12-17 to

TSV Victoria Linden The TSV Victoria Linden is a German rugby union club from the Linden suburb of Hannover, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports, such as triathlon and athletics. The club is Germany's record ...

. In 1971, ''Eintracht'' became a founding member of the southern division of the

. The club did not survive in the Rugby-Bundesliga however, eventually being relegated to the tier-three Rugby-Regionalliga Hesse, where it plays today. In the early 2000s, the team took part in the promotion round to the

2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third ti ...

but did not succeed in achieving promotion to this level, instead remaining a top of the table side in the Regionalliga. It has won the local Hesse championship more than ten times since 1955. From 2010 onwards, Eintracht entered the new third division 3rd Liga South/West, where it played as a mid-table side. However, a league expansion saw the club return to the 2nd Bundesliga for 2012-13. In the 2012-13 season the club competed in the 2nd Bundesliga, finishing in the lower half of the table and qualifying for the play-offs for the Liga-Pokal. The club was knocked out in the first round of the play-offs after a defeat at

Welfen SC Braunschweig Rugby-Welfen Braunschweig is a German rugby union team from Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, currently playing in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga. The team is part of a larger sports club, TuRa Braunschweig, which apart from rugby also offers other sports li ...

. The club qualified for the south-west division DRV-Pokal in 2013–14, but missed out on the play-offs after coming last in its group. In the 2014–15 season the club finished fifth in the south-west Liga-Pokal group but was knocked out in the quarter finals of the play-offs after a 48–40 loss to RC Dresden.

Club honours

* German rugby union championship ** Runners up: 1940, 1965 * Rugby-Regionalliga Hesse ** Champions: 2002, 2003, 2010 ** Runners up: 2004, 2009

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:RugbyWeb Ergebnisarchiv
rugbyweb.de - Results archive, accessed: 24 July 2012 * Until 2001, when the single-division Bundesliga was established, the season was divided in autumn and spring, a ''Vorrunde'' and ''Endrunde'', whereby the top teams of the Rugby-Bundesliga would play out the championship while the bottom teams together with the autumn 2nd Bundesliga champion would play for Bundesliga qualification. The remainder of the 2nd Bundesliga teams would play a spring round to determine the relegated clubs. Where two placing's are shown, the first is autumn, the second spring. In 2012 the Bundesliga was expanded from ten to 24 teams and the 2nd Bundesliga from 20 to 24 with the leagues divided into four regional divisions.

References

External links

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Eintracht Frankfurt club info at totalrugby.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankfurt, Eintracht Rugby German rugby union clubs Rugby clubs established in 1923 Rugby union in Frankfurt Rugby 1923 establishments in Germany