Rot-Weiß Lüdenscheid is a German association football club playing in

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers which b ...

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 ...

History

The origins of the club go back to the formation of the ''Luedenscheider Fußball-Klub'' in 1908. In the aftermath of World War I, a number of local sides went through a series of mergers. Late in 1918 ''LFK'' merged with ''FC Preußen 09'' and ''SV Luedenscheider 1910'' to form ''VfB Lüdenscheid 08''. In 1919, ''Ballspielverein Lüdenscheid'' and ''FC Fortuna 1910'' formed another predecessor side called ''RSV Höh 1910''. These two clubs then entered into a short-lived union with ''Lüdenscheid Turn-Verein 1861''. ''RSV'' left this union in 1920, and ''VfB'' followed in 1924, taking on the name ''Sportfreunde 08''. Finally, in 1971, ''RSV'' and ''Sportfreunde'' merged to form the present club. ''Rot-Weiß'' enjoyed its greatest success between 1977 and 1981 when it played in the 2. Bundesliga Nord. However, the team consistently flirted with relegation, and after the 2. Bundesliga Nord and Süd were merged into a single, smaller division in 1974, ''RWL'' found itself in the third division

Oberliga Westfalen The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. Wi ...

. The club bounced up and down between the third and fourth divisions until last relegated in 1997. After a 13th-place finish in 2005–06 in the

Verbandsliga Westfalen The Westfalenliga (''formerly the '') is the second highest amateur football league in the region of Westphalia which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the sixth tier of the German football league system. It operates in two groups ...

(IV), ''Lüdenscheid'' was relegated to the

Landesliga Westfalen The Landesliga Westfalen is a German amateur football division administered by the Westphalian Football and Athletics Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the third level of the Westphalian state association, the La ...

(V). In 2009 it dropped out of the Landesliga as well and now plays in the tier eight Bezirksliga Westfalen.

Stadium

''RWL'' plays its home matches in the Nattenberg Stadion, built in 1972, which has a capacity of 19,000 (2,234 seats).

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludenscheid, Rot-Weiss Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia Lüdenscheid Association football clubs established in 1908 1908 establishments in Germany 2. Bundesliga clubs