DGF Flensborg
Encyclopedia
The DGF Flensborg is a German association football club
from the city of Flensburg
, Schleswig-Holstein
.
DGF is the largest of the clubs of the Danish minority
in northern Germany. Apart from offering association football, it also has an American football
department, as well as boxing
, baseball, badminton
, handball
and inline hockey
departments.
in 2004). Since the Bonn-Kopenhagener-Declarations in 1955, the Danish minority enjoys special rights equivalent to the special rights the German minority in Denmark enjoys.
minority, as indicated by its Danish language name and the use of the Danish Flensborg rather than the German Flensburg. In 1926, DGF took up football, playing games at the Tivoliplatz. In the following years, the club expanded its number of departments but from 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, found itself more and more restricted. From 1937, the club's activities almost ceased altogether due to attempts by Nazis to Germanise the Danish minority.
Upon the return of its members following the Second World War, DFG resumed its activities in 1947. In 1948, some club members left DGF to form another ethnically-Danish club, the IF Stjernen Flensborg. DGF was granted the use of Frueskovens Idrætspark as its home ground by the city of Flensburg. In 1951, an agreement was reached with the German football federation of Schleswig-Holstein and its clubs, granting Danish minority clubs the same rights and duties as their German counterparts, the Sportfrieden von Malente
(English: Sports peace of Malente).
Through the support of Danish Football Association
, part of the gate receipts from a Denmark national football team
versus Norway national football team
international were made available to the club and DGF was able to buy Frueskovens Idrætspark. The club had to use old military tents as its change rooms. By joining the Schleswig-Holstein Football Federation they were finally permitted to take part in competitive football.
In 1957, DGF built its own club house and in 1967 the facility was expanded through the addition of change rooms and showers. However, in 1974, the club had to transfer Frueskovens Idrætspark back to the city of Flensburg as they were unable to afford necessary major upgrades.
For its 75th anniversary in 1998, the club attracted Brøndby IF
for a friendly. In 2001, Frueskovens Idrætspark once more changed ownership when it was acquired by the Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger, a community based Danish organization.
Winning another championship in this league in 1968–69, the team gained promotion to the tier four Verbandsliga, where, after a difficult first season, it won the league in 1970–71 and returned to third division football. Coming second-last in the Landesliga in 1972, it was relegated back down straight away. DGF continued in the Verbandsliga as a lower table side, earning a fifth place in 1978–79 as its best result. In 1978, the Verbandsliga was renamed Landesliga and had become a tier five league since 1974, when the Oberliga Nord
was reformed. In 1980, the club was relegated once more.
In the Bezirksliga Nord, DGF became a struggler against relegation, finishing one spot above it in each of its first three seasons there and improving from then on. After a couple of seasons in mid-table, the team was relegated further down in 1988 but returned immediately the year after. Mid to lower table finishes remained all the club could archive until a league championship in 1996 meant promotion once more.
Back in the Landesliga (V) the club finished in mid-table once more in the next three seasons until another league reorganisation meant it became part of the new Bezirksoberliga Nord. After dropping down a level in 2005 and returning in 2007, a tenth place finish in 2008 in the Bezirksoberliga was enough for the club to qualify for the new Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West in another league restructuring.
(VI), sitting in the relegation zone after half the season having been played.
Football in Germany
Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...
from the city of Flensburg
Flensburg
Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
.
DGF is the largest of the clubs of the Danish minority
Danish minority of Southern Schleswig
The Danish ethnic minority in Southern Schleswig, Germany, has existed by this name since 1920, when the Schleswig Plebiscite split German-ruled Schleswig into two parts: Northern Schleswig, with a Danish majority and a German minority was united with Denmark, while Southern Schleswig remained a...
in northern Germany. Apart from offering association football, it also has an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
department, as well as boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, baseball, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
and inline hockey
Inline hockey
Inline hockey, often referred to as roller hockey in the United States, is a sport similar to ice hockey but played with inline skates. Like its parent sport, skaters on two teams use hockey sticks to direct a disk-shaped puck into the opponent's goal; however, various details of the game, such as...
departments.
Danish minority
The Danish minority in Schleswig-Holstein is currently (2008) considered to consist of about 50,000 people. The Danish government supports the minority financially, (400,000,000 Danish kroneDanish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
in 2004). Since the Bonn-Kopenhagener-Declarations in 1955, the Danish minority enjoys special rights equivalent to the special rights the German minority in Denmark enjoys.
Club
The club was formed in 1923 as a gymnastics association by the city's DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
minority, as indicated by its Danish language name and the use of the Danish Flensborg rather than the German Flensburg. In 1926, DGF took up football, playing games at the Tivoliplatz. In the following years, the club expanded its number of departments but from 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, found itself more and more restricted. From 1937, the club's activities almost ceased altogether due to attempts by Nazis to Germanise the Danish minority.
Upon the return of its members following the Second World War, DFG resumed its activities in 1947. In 1948, some club members left DGF to form another ethnically-Danish club, the IF Stjernen Flensborg. DGF was granted the use of Frueskovens Idrætspark as its home ground by the city of Flensburg. In 1951, an agreement was reached with the German football federation of Schleswig-Holstein and its clubs, granting Danish minority clubs the same rights and duties as their German counterparts, the Sportfrieden von Malente
Malente
This Article is about a German location. For the DJ with the same name, see Malente .Malente is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is about 5 km northwest of Eutin and 35 km north of Lübeck....
(English: Sports peace of Malente).
Through the support of Danish Football Association
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in the city of Brøndby and is a founding member of both FIFA...
, part of the gate receipts from a Denmark national football team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
versus Norway national football team
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
international were made available to the club and DGF was able to buy Frueskovens Idrætspark. The club had to use old military tents as its change rooms. By joining the Schleswig-Holstein Football Federation they were finally permitted to take part in competitive football.
In 1957, DGF built its own club house and in 1967 the facility was expanded through the addition of change rooms and showers. However, in 1974, the club had to transfer Frueskovens Idrætspark back to the city of Flensburg as they were unable to afford necessary major upgrades.
For its 75th anniversary in 1998, the club attracted Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...
for a friendly. In 2001, Frueskovens Idrætspark once more changed ownership when it was acquired by the Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger, a community based Danish organization.
On the field
DGF entered the Bezirksklasse Nord Schleswig-Holstein (III) in 1951 but could not hold their place. They returend to the Bezirksliga in 1959, and then in 1964 earned promotion to the Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein, the local third division. They played two season there before being relegated to the 2nd Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (IV) in 1966. While winning its league in 1966–67, they missed being promoted and after a 6th place result the next season failed to qualify for the new Verbandsliga Nord (IV), slipping down to fifth tier Bezirksliga Nord.Winning another championship in this league in 1968–69, the team gained promotion to the tier four Verbandsliga, where, after a difficult first season, it won the league in 1970–71 and returned to third division football. Coming second-last in the Landesliga in 1972, it was relegated back down straight away. DGF continued in the Verbandsliga as a lower table side, earning a fifth place in 1978–79 as its best result. In 1978, the Verbandsliga was renamed Landesliga and had become a tier five league since 1974, when the Oberliga Nord
Oberliga Nord
The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein...
was reformed. In 1980, the club was relegated once more.
In the Bezirksliga Nord, DGF became a struggler against relegation, finishing one spot above it in each of its first three seasons there and improving from then on. After a couple of seasons in mid-table, the team was relegated further down in 1988 but returned immediately the year after. Mid to lower table finishes remained all the club could archive until a league championship in 1996 meant promotion once more.
Back in the Landesliga (V) the club finished in mid-table once more in the next three seasons until another league reorganisation meant it became part of the new Bezirksoberliga Nord. After dropping down a level in 2005 and returning in 2007, a tenth place finish in 2008 in the Bezirksoberliga was enough for the club to qualify for the new Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West in another league restructuring.
Current
In the 2008–09 season, DGF struggles in the Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-WestVerbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West
The Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the second-highest league in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, together with three other leagues at this level in the state...
(VI), sitting in the relegation zone after half the season having been played.
Honours
- League
- Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (IV) champions: 1971
- 2nd Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (IV) champions: 1963, 1967
- Bezirksliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (V–VI) champions: 1969, 1996
Recent seasons
| Year | Division | Position |
| 1999–2000 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (VI) | 3rd |
| 2000–01 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord | 8th |
| 2001–02 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord | 11th |
| 2002–03 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord | 6th |
| 2003–04 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord | 8th |
| 2004–05 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord | 16th ↓ |
| 2005–06 | Bezirksliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (VII) | 6th |
| 2006–07 | Bezirksliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord | 3rd ↑ |
| 2007–08 | Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (VI) | 10th |
| 2008–09 | Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West The Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the second-highest league in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, together with three other leagues at this level in the state... (VI) |
18th ↓ |
| 2009–10 | Kreisliga Flensburg (VII) | 2nd |
| 2010–11 | Kreisliga Flensburg (VII) |
External links
- Official team site
- DGF Bulls website of the American football team
- The Danish consulat in Flensburg website & with information on the Danish minority
Sources
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables