FC Augsburg
Encyclopedia
FC Augsburg is a German football club
based in Augsburg
, Bavaria
. The team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg
from 1921 to 1969.
The club, who has long fluctuated between the second and third division, experienced a difficult time in the early 2000s, suffering relegation to the fourth division for two seasons. FCA recovered from this, returning to profesional football by 2006. After a successful 2009-10 season which saw the club advance to the semi-final of the German Cup for the first time and coming close to Bundesliga promotion, the club achieved the latter in the following year.
A merger of Augsburg's two most successful clubs, TSV Schwaben
and BC Augsburg
, was discussed as early as in the late 1940s, but distrust between the two sides and a fear that the other club would dominate the merger caused each side to hesitate, despite the financial trouble both clubs were in. A first serious meeting between the two sides was held in 1964, both clubs having dropped out of tier-one football
by then. The leadership of the multi-sports club Schwaben was completely behind a merger but the club's football department was not and once more the process of forming FCA was stalled. Traditionally, BCA saw itself as a working-class club, based in the north of Augsburg, while Schwaben was the club of the more affluent and based south of the city, with the river Wertach forming something of a boundary between the two clubs territories.
In 1968, with BCA struggling in the third division after relegation from professional football the year before and Schwaben soon to follow, another effort was made. In April 1969, a high-level meeting between the two club bosses brought the decision to merge the clubs and name the new side FC Augsburg. FCA was to be a football club only with no other sports department. The then-mayor of Augsburg, Hans Breuer, was one of the driving forces behind the move.
The merger came at a time of on-the-field decline for both sides, Schwaben had just been relegated from the tier-two Regionalliga Süd and decided that an attempt to regain their status was financially impossible, while BCA narrowly missed out on promotion to the league that season. In June, 256 of 265 of BCA's members present voted for the merger while, shortly after, 75 percent of Schwaben's members approved the motion, too.
Schwaben however opted for the "small solution", the club was to remain independent with only its football department merging into the new club. But even this move was not universally popular within the club, with some former members forming a new football club, the Eintracht Augsburg and restarting at the lowest level of the pyramid. For this reason, FCA is generally not considered to carry on the traditions of TSV Schwaben, only those of BC Augsburg. A year later, the footballers of Eintracht rejoined Schwaben but, since then, have always remained an amateur club. It took the new football department until 1981 to regain its third-division status, where they were to meet FCA for the first time in league football and renewed the Augsburg derby.
The new FCA played its first game on 30 July 1969, when it met 1. FC Nuremberg in Augsburg in front of 13,000 and lost 3-0 in extra time.
The 1973-74 season saw the return of one of Augsburgs greatest football talents to the city, and the FCA. Former German international Helmut Haller
had returned to the club after eleven years in Italy
, playing for Bologna
and Juventus
. FCA had paid DM 44,000 for the transfer of Haller.
FCA became an instant success in the Regionalliga, drawing an average crowd of over 22,000 for its home matches. When the club traveled to Munich to meet TSV 1860 in the still quite new Olympic Stadium
, 80,000 flogged to the game starting what remains today as a fierce rivalry between the two clubs. FCA dominated the season, eventually winning the league title as a freshly promoted team. The mood in Augsburg was one of excitement and the newspapers spoke of the atmosphere in the stadium as of "Augsburg, the Napoli of Germany".
Augsburg qualified for the promotion round of for the Fussball-Bundesliga through its league title, where it met four other teams to determined the one available spot in the first division. FCA gave away easy points at home, drawing three times in four games. Away, the team lost only once, against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
, but nevertheless came only second, one point behind Tennis Borussia Berlin
, who earned promotion. Nevertheless, FCA had qualified for the southern division of the new 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga through its league title.
FCA was able to break the fall and win the Bavarian league title to gain promotion back to the 2nd Bundesliga straight away in 1979-80. On top of this, the team qualified for the German amateur football championship
, where it went all the way to the final before losing to VfB Stuttgart
's reserve side. But the clubs promotion back to the second level faced a major obstacle. The 2nd Bundesliga, after 1981, was to operate in a single division and with half as many clubs as before, meaning the club had to fulfill the qualifying norm, not an easy task for a freshly promoted side. FCA finished 18th in 1980-81, not enough to hold the league in a normal season and definitely not enough in 1981.
The club once more one the Bavarian league on first attempt, defeating Schwaben in the first two Augsburg league derbies since 1968, but now had to enter a promotion round to determined the two teams that would go up out of the four Southern German league champions. FCA cam second behind FSV Frankfurt
and returned to the 2nd Bundesliga once more, despite some of the gate receipts already being pocessed during the game against FC Homburg
by the tax department because of outstanding debts. However, the side was again not strong enough for this level and was relegated on a slightly worse goal average then 16th placed Union Solingen
, lacking three goals to salvation. It was to be Augsburg's last season in the second tier for almost a quarter of a century.
, SpVgg Fürth, Jahn Regensburg
, MTV Ingolstadt
, FC Schweinfurt 05 and FC Bayern Hof had all played with Augsburg in the 2nd Bundesliga not long ago.
While the club was one of the top sides in the league, another title did not seem to materialise, a second place in 1985 being the best result, one point behind champions SpVgg Bayreuth. Again, the club changed managers frequently but had settled into the Bayernliga for good, it seemed. It was only when Armin Veh
took over the team in 1991 that fortunes for the team seemed to improve, not harmed by the fact that TSV 1860 Munich made its "escape" from the league and returned to professional football that year.
In 1993, the club won its one and only national championship to date, when 1. FC Kaiserslautern
was defeated in the German Under-19 championship final.
In 1994, the club had another try at promotion in the last year of promotion play-offs to the 2nd Bundesliga. However, this time the Bavarian champion was not grouped with the other Southern German clubs as in previous years and had to face stronger clubs in the northern group that included Eintracht Braunschweig
and Fortuna Düsseldorf
. Despite being overmatched and unable to advance, they still had good support in the region with crowds of 20,000 plus turning up at these games. While the performance was not enough to gain entry to the 2nd Bundesliga, FCA did qualify for the new Regionalliga Süd
, which was slotted between the second division and the Bayernliga as the new third tier.
The following year was once more a qualifying season, with the number of Regionalligas being reduced in numbers from four to two. FCA fulfilled the on-the-field requirement, finishing eighth, its best Regionalliga result to that date. However, financially the club was in dire straights with a real possibility of the club folding. While the later could be averted, FCA was refused a Regionalliga licence when a potential investor backed out and the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB or German Football Association) relegated it to the Bayernliga, now the fourth tier. Main sponsor Infomatec, who had promised to provid a DM 3 million security for the club with the DFB was unable to do so and, faced with debts of DM 1.8 million, the club was not in the financial position to obtain a Regionalliga licence.
The club returned as a force in the third division, earning top-four finishes in all of the next four seasons there. FCA came achingly close to advancing to 2nd Bundesliga in 2005, but missed their opportunity after giving up two goals to Jahn Regensburg
in the last four minutes of their final game of the season. The club dominated the Regionalliga Süd the next year, winning the league and clinching a berth in the 2nd Bundesliga for the 2006–07.
This marked their first appearance in the 2nd Bundesliga in 23 years. They finished the campaign in seventh place on 52 points, only 8 points away from promotion to the top-flight. One again, the game at TSV 1860 was the highlight, with a 3–0 victory for Augsburg in front of 69,000 in the Allianz Arena. Ralf Loose
replaced Rainer Hörgl as head coach in October 2007 when the club found itself in the relegation zone. Loose's contract was terminated on 16 April 2008 after a string of bad results. He was replaced with Holger Fach
two days later. The club avoided relegation on goal average, being on equal points with relegated side Kickers Offenbach
at the end of the season.
The long time home ground of the FCA, Rosenau Stadion, built from World War II rubble, finally came to its well-deserved rest in 2009 when a new stadium was completed. The new Impuls Arena
will also host games of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The team disappeared into the lower amateur leagues after that but returned to the Landesliga Bayern-Süd
in 1976, finishing runners-up in the league in its first season, now as FC Augsburg Amateure. By 1978 however, the side was relegated again, not to return to this level for a quarter of a decade. It did however take out the Schwaben Cup
in 1977 and qualified for the first round of the 1977–78 German Cup. After away victories over second division side Arminia Hannover
and fellow amateur side 1. FC Normannia Gmünd in the first two rounds, the team reached the third round, where it lost 0-4 to Hertha BSC Berlin
.
After becoming a founding member of the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben
in 1988, the team was withdrawn at the end of the season, disbanded altogether and not reformed for more than a decade.
Since 2004, the side once more plays in the Landesliga Bayern-Süd again, generally achieving good results but not managing another promotion.
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...
based in Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. The team was founded as Fußball-Klub Alemania Augsburg in 1907 and played as BC Augsburg
BC Augsburg
BC Augsburg was a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Club Allemannia Augsburg in 1907 and played as Ballspiel-Club Augsburg from 1921 to 1969. Facing imminent financial collapse, BC merged with the football side of TSV Schwaben Augsburg in July 1969 to...
from 1921 to 1969.
The club, who has long fluctuated between the second and third division, experienced a difficult time in the early 2000s, suffering relegation to the fourth division for two seasons. FCA recovered from this, returning to profesional football by 2006. After a successful 2009-10 season which saw the club advance to the semi-final of the German Cup for the first time and coming close to Bundesliga promotion, the club achieved the latter in the following year.
Formation
TSV Schwaben Augsburg
TSV Schwaben Augsburg is a German football club which is part of a larger sports association whose origins go back to the 1847 formation of the gymnastics club Turnverein Augsburg...
and BC Augsburg
BC Augsburg
BC Augsburg was a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Club Allemannia Augsburg in 1907 and played as Ballspiel-Club Augsburg from 1921 to 1969. Facing imminent financial collapse, BC merged with the football side of TSV Schwaben Augsburg in July 1969 to...
, was discussed as early as in the late 1940s, but distrust between the two sides and a fear that the other club would dominate the merger caused each side to hesitate, despite the financial trouble both clubs were in. A first serious meeting between the two sides was held in 1964, both clubs having dropped out of tier-one football
Oberliga Süd (1945-63)
The Oberliga Süd was the highest level of the German football league system in the south of Germany from 1945 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.It covered the three states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen.-Overview:...
by then. The leadership of the multi-sports club Schwaben was completely behind a merger but the club's football department was not and once more the process of forming FCA was stalled. Traditionally, BCA saw itself as a working-class club, based in the north of Augsburg, while Schwaben was the club of the more affluent and based south of the city, with the river Wertach forming something of a boundary between the two clubs territories.
In 1968, with BCA struggling in the third division after relegation from professional football the year before and Schwaben soon to follow, another effort was made. In April 1969, a high-level meeting between the two club bosses brought the decision to merge the clubs and name the new side FC Augsburg. FCA was to be a football club only with no other sports department. The then-mayor of Augsburg, Hans Breuer, was one of the driving forces behind the move.
The merger came at a time of on-the-field decline for both sides, Schwaben had just been relegated from the tier-two Regionalliga Süd and decided that an attempt to regain their status was financially impossible, while BCA narrowly missed out on promotion to the league that season. In June, 256 of 265 of BCA's members present voted for the merger while, shortly after, 75 percent of Schwaben's members approved the motion, too.
Schwaben however opted for the "small solution", the club was to remain independent with only its football department merging into the new club. But even this move was not universally popular within the club, with some former members forming a new football club, the Eintracht Augsburg and restarting at the lowest level of the pyramid. For this reason, FCA is generally not considered to carry on the traditions of TSV Schwaben, only those of BC Augsburg. A year later, the footballers of Eintracht rejoined Schwaben but, since then, have always remained an amateur club. It took the new football department until 1981 to regain its third-division status, where they were to meet FCA for the first time in league football and renewed the Augsburg derby.
The new FCA played its first game on 30 July 1969, when it met 1. FC Nuremberg in Augsburg in front of 13,000 and lost 3-0 in extra time.
Early years: 1969 to 1974
After the formation of the club in 1969, the side was to spend most of its time in tier-two and three leagues, the Fussball-Bayernliga, Regionalliga Süd and the 2nd Bundesliga. The new side, despite now concentrating Augsburgs football forces, was no instant success. A fourth place in the league and dwindling supporter numbers proved that the new merger side had not yet been accepted in town. The following season, FCA finished one place better in the league but, with an average support of 300 spectators per game, the club found it difficult to retain its top players. The 1971-72 season saw further decline, finishing eighth but, from there, the team improved, winning the league the following year and returning professional football to town. By then, the club had found acceptance in town and, in the final game of the season, 15,000 spectators had turned up to celebrate the Bayernliga championship.The 1973-74 season saw the return of one of Augsburgs greatest football talents to the city, and the FCA. Former German international Helmut Haller
Helmut Haller
Helmut Haller is a former footballer who represented West Germany at three World Cups.A playmaker and striker who made his international debut at age 19 in 1958, he played at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile, the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England and the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, earning a total...
had returned to the club after eleven years in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, playing for Bologna
Bologna F.C. 1909
Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian Football League club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1993. The club are nicknamed the rossoblù because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear. Red and Blue are the official colours of the town.During its history...
and Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
. FCA had paid DM 44,000 for the transfer of Haller.
FCA became an instant success in the Regionalliga, drawing an average crowd of over 22,000 for its home matches. When the club traveled to Munich to meet TSV 1860 in the still quite new Olympic Stadium
Olympic Stadium (Munich)
Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics....
, 80,000 flogged to the game starting what remains today as a fierce rivalry between the two clubs. FCA dominated the season, eventually winning the league title as a freshly promoted team. The mood in Augsburg was one of excitement and the newspapers spoke of the atmosphere in the stadium as of "Augsburg, the Napoli of Germany".
Augsburg qualified for the promotion round of for the Fussball-Bundesliga through its league title, where it met four other teams to determined the one available spot in the first division. FCA gave away easy points at home, drawing three times in four games. Away, the team lost only once, against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as Oberhausener SV in December 1904 out of the merger of Emschertaler SV and the football enthusiasts of Oberhausener TV 1873...
, but nevertheless came only second, one point behind Tennis Borussia Berlin
Tennis Borussia Berlin
Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in Berlin-Westend.- History :The team was founded in 1902 and takes its name from its origins as a tennis and ping-pong club. "Borussia" is a Latinised version of Prussia. In 1903 the club took up football and quickly developed a rivalry with...
, who earned promotion. Nevertheless, FCA had qualified for the southern division of the new 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga through its league title.
Stagnation: 1974 to 1983
The success of 1973-74 was quickly replaced with relegation trouble in the new 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga. The next five seasons saw lower table finishes, the temporary departure of Haller and frequent replacements of managers. By 1978-79, the club was unable to avoid relegation, despite Helmut Haller, at the age of 40, once more taking to the field for FCA for a last time. The club, after six seasons in the second division, returned to the Bayernliga.FCA was able to break the fall and win the Bavarian league title to gain promotion back to the 2nd Bundesliga straight away in 1979-80. On top of this, the team qualified for the German amateur football championship
German amateur football championship
The German amateur football championship was a football competition in Germany, existing from 1950 to 2000, organised by the German Football Association, the DFB.-Overview:...
, where it went all the way to the final before losing to VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
's reserve side. But the clubs promotion back to the second level faced a major obstacle. The 2nd Bundesliga, after 1981, was to operate in a single division and with half as many clubs as before, meaning the club had to fulfill the qualifying norm, not an easy task for a freshly promoted side. FCA finished 18th in 1980-81, not enough to hold the league in a normal season and definitely not enough in 1981.
The club once more one the Bavarian league on first attempt, defeating Schwaben in the first two Augsburg league derbies since 1968, but now had to enter a promotion round to determined the two teams that would go up out of the four Southern German league champions. FCA cam second behind FSV Frankfurt
FSV Frankfurt
FSV Frankfurt is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. The club plays in the shadow of larger and much more successful Eintracht Frankfurt, which has recently returned to 2nd tier football...
and returned to the 2nd Bundesliga once more, despite some of the gate receipts already being pocessed during the game against FC Homburg
FC Homburg
FC 08 Homburg is a German association football club based in Homburg, Saarland. The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as Fussball Club Homburg by a group of seventeen young men at the local Hohenburg pub.- History :...
by the tax department because of outstanding debts. However, the side was again not strong enough for this level and was relegated on a slightly worse goal average then 16th placed Union Solingen
Union Solingen
1. FC Union Solingen is a German association football club from Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia.- History :The side can trace its roots back to an earlier Union Solingen club founded in 1897 out of the merger of a number of clubs from the district of Ohligs that would over time include Ohligs FC...
, lacking three goals to salvation. It was to be Augsburg's last season in the second tier for almost a quarter of a century.
Bayernliga: 1983 to 1994
FCA was to spend the next eleven seasons once more in Bavaria's highest league, the Bayernliga, at the time still the third tier of league football in the state. With the gradual reduction of the number of second divisions from five in 1974 to one in 1981, a number of Bavarian clubs that had once played at higher level had now dropped down to this level, too and competition in the league was much stiffer then in the past. TSV 1860 Munich, SpVgg BayreuthSpVgg Bayreuth
SpVgg Bayreuth is a German football club based in Bayreuth, Bavaria. Apart from coming within two games of earning promotion to the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1979, the club also reached the quarter finals of the DFB-Pokal twice, in 1977 and 1980.- 1921 to 1945 :...
, SpVgg Fürth, Jahn Regensburg
Jahn Regensburg
SSV Jahn Regensburg is a German association football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The team was part of a larger sports club founded in 1889 as Turnerbund Jahn Regensburg which took its name from Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, whose ideas of gymnastics greatly influenced German sport in the 19th...
, MTV Ingolstadt
MTV Ingolstadt
The Männer-Turn-Verein von 1881 Ingolstadt or Men's Gymnastics Club of 1881 Ingolstadt is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It was founded on 18 July 1881....
, FC Schweinfurt 05 and FC Bayern Hof had all played with Augsburg in the 2nd Bundesliga not long ago.
While the club was one of the top sides in the league, another title did not seem to materialise, a second place in 1985 being the best result, one point behind champions SpVgg Bayreuth. Again, the club changed managers frequently but had settled into the Bayernliga for good, it seemed. It was only when Armin Veh
Armin Veh
Armin Veh is a German former footballer and current manager who works for Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart on 19 May 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the double" by winning the DFB-Cup on 26 May 2007 in Berlin, but lost 2–3 in...
took over the team in 1991 that fortunes for the team seemed to improve, not harmed by the fact that TSV 1860 Munich made its "escape" from the league and returned to professional football that year.
In 1993, the club won its one and only national championship to date, when 1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
was defeated in the German Under-19 championship final.
In 1994, the club had another try at promotion in the last year of promotion play-offs to the 2nd Bundesliga. However, this time the Bavarian champion was not grouped with the other Southern German clubs as in previous years and had to face stronger clubs in the northern group that included Eintracht Braunschweig
Eintracht Braunschweig
Eintracht Braunschweig is a German association football club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963 and won the national title in 1967.-History:...
and Fortuna Düsseldorf
Fortuna Düsseldorf
' is a German association football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, currently playing in the second tier of German league football, the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga...
. Despite being overmatched and unable to advance, they still had good support in the region with crowds of 20,000 plus turning up at these games. While the performance was not enough to gain entry to the 2nd Bundesliga, FCA did qualify for the new Regionalliga Süd
Regionalliga Süd
The Regionalliga Süd is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the southern part of Germany...
, which was slotted between the second division and the Bayernliga as the new third tier.
Regionalliga: 1994 to 2000
Augsburg spend the first four years in the new league as a mid-table side, never getting anywhere near the promotion ranks. The fifth season then saw a decline, with the team only finishing 14th and only two points clear of a relegation rank.The following year was once more a qualifying season, with the number of Regionalligas being reduced in numbers from four to two. FCA fulfilled the on-the-field requirement, finishing eighth, its best Regionalliga result to that date. However, financially the club was in dire straights with a real possibility of the club folding. While the later could be averted, FCA was refused a Regionalliga licence when a potential investor backed out and the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB or German Football Association) relegated it to the Bayernliga, now the fourth tier. Main sponsor Infomatec, who had promised to provid a DM 3 million security for the club with the DFB was unable to do so and, faced with debts of DM 1.8 million, the club was not in the financial position to obtain a Regionalliga licence.
Recovery: 2000 to 2009
Financial rescue came in the form of Walther Seinsch, a local entrepreneur, who took over as chairman and introduced sound financial management in the club. The club was able to field a competitive team in the Bayernliga once more and achieved promotion back to the Regionalliga in its second season, in 2002.The club returned as a force in the third division, earning top-four finishes in all of the next four seasons there. FCA came achingly close to advancing to 2nd Bundesliga in 2005, but missed their opportunity after giving up two goals to Jahn Regensburg
Jahn Regensburg
SSV Jahn Regensburg is a German association football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The team was part of a larger sports club founded in 1889 as Turnerbund Jahn Regensburg which took its name from Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, whose ideas of gymnastics greatly influenced German sport in the 19th...
in the last four minutes of their final game of the season. The club dominated the Regionalliga Süd the next year, winning the league and clinching a berth in the 2nd Bundesliga for the 2006–07.
This marked their first appearance in the 2nd Bundesliga in 23 years. They finished the campaign in seventh place on 52 points, only 8 points away from promotion to the top-flight. One again, the game at TSV 1860 was the highlight, with a 3–0 victory for Augsburg in front of 69,000 in the Allianz Arena. Ralf Loose
Ralf Loose
Ralf Loose is a German football coach and former player. He is most noted for his stint with the Liechtenstein national football team, and currently coaches Dynamo Dresden.-Playing career:...
replaced Rainer Hörgl as head coach in October 2007 when the club found itself in the relegation zone. Loose's contract was terminated on 16 April 2008 after a string of bad results. He was replaced with Holger Fach
Holger Fach
Holger Fach is a former German footballer and a current manager for Lokomotiv Astana. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he could also pitch in at centre back.-Football career:...
two days later. The club avoided relegation on goal average, being on equal points with relegated side Kickers Offenbach
Kickers Offenbach
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 including Melitia, Teutonia, Viktoria, Germania and Neptun...
at the end of the season.
The long time home ground of the FCA, Rosenau Stadion, built from World War II rubble, finally came to its well-deserved rest in 2009 when a new stadium was completed. The new Impuls Arena
Impuls Arena
SGL arena, until 1 July 2011 the Impuls Arena, is a football stadium in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of FC Augsburg. The stadium has a capacity of 30,660 with 19,060 seats and standing room for 11,034. A second phase of construction...
will also host games of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Bundesliga ambitions: 2009 to present
Augsburg had its most successful seasons in its history in 2009-10, when the club reached the semi-finals of the German Cup as well as finishing third in the 2nd Bundesliga, which allowed it to play 1. FC Nuremberg for Bundesliga promotion. In two games there, the Franconians kept the upper hand and FCA was condemned to wait another year. At the end of the 2010–11 season FC Augsburg was promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in its history, finishing second in the league. On October 15, 2011, Augsburg won its first-ever game in the first division, defeating Mainz 1-0.Youth
The historically indifferent performance of the senior side was offset by the success of the club's youth team, which captured a national championship in the under-18's in 1993, being the last non-Bundesliga club to do so. They also took four Cup titles in the early 1990s, all under the guidance of coach Heiner Schuhmann. With Schuhmann's departure for Bayern Munich, the golden age of FCA youth football ended and the club could not quite achieve so highly again. With the formation of the Under 19 Bundesliga (2004) and Under 17 Bundesliga (2007), the clubs youth teams slipped to second division status but recovered and, in 2010–11, the youth teams play in the Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga and Under 17 Fußball-Bundesliga, the first tier of youth football in Germany.Reserve team
The club's reserve side had its greatest success before the merger, playing, as BC Augsburg Amateure, for a season in the southern division of the Amateurliga Bayern in 1962-63. A sixth place there allowed the side to qualify for the unified Bavarian league the following year but, along with the decline of the senior team, the reserve side got relegated too, finishing 17th.The team disappeared into the lower amateur leagues after that but returned to the Landesliga Bayern-Süd
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
The Landesliga Bayern-Süd is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga it was the 5th tier of the league system....
in 1976, finishing runners-up in the league in its first season, now as FC Augsburg Amateure. By 1978 however, the side was relegated again, not to return to this level for a quarter of a decade. It did however take out the Schwaben Cup
Schwaben Cup
The Schwaben Cup was a domestic cup competition in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia , played from 1947 to 2009.-Overview:...
in 1977 and qualified for the first round of the 1977–78 German Cup. After away victories over second division side Arminia Hannover
Arminia Hannover
SV Arminia Hannover is a German association football club based in Hanover, Lower Saxony.- History :The club was founded in 1910 as FC Arminia Hannover and merged with Rugby-Verein Merkur in 1918, becoming SV Arminia-Merkur. Two years later they re-named themselves SV Arminia Hannover and captured...
and fellow amateur side 1. FC Normannia Gmünd in the first two rounds, the team reached the third round, where it lost 0-4 to Hertha BSC Berlin
Hertha BSC Berlin
Hertha Berliner Sport-Club von 1892, commonly known as Hertha BSC or Hertha Berlin, is a German association football club based in Berlin. A founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900, the club has a long history as Berlin's best-supported side...
.
After becoming a founding member of the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben
Bezirksoberliga Schwaben
The Bezirksoberliga Schwaben is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia . Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the 6th tier of the league system....
in 1988, the team was withdrawn at the end of the season, disbanded altogether and not reformed for more than a decade.
Since 2004, the side once more plays in the Landesliga Bayern-Süd again, generally achieving good results but not managing another promotion.
League
- 2. Bundesliga2. Fußball-Bundesliga- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
- Runners-up: 2011
- Regionalliga SüdRegionalliga SüdThe Regionalliga Süd is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the southern part of Germany...
(II-III)- Champions: (2) 1974, 2006
- Bayernliga (III-IV)
- Champions: (5) 1973, 1980, 1982, 1994, 2002
- Runners-up: 1985
Cup
- Schwaben CupSchwaben CupThe Schwaben Cup was a domestic cup competition in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia , played from 1947 to 2009.-Overview:...
- Winners: (13) 1969–1972, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005
- Runners-up: 1992
Youth
- German Under 19 champions
- Champions: 1993
- German Under 17 championship
- Runners-up: 1979
- German Under 19 Cup
- Winners: (4) 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995
- Bavarian Under 19 championship
- Champions: (5) 1978, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2010
- Runners-up: (5) 1976, 1979, 1989, 2005, 2009
- Bavarian Under 17 championship
- Champions: (5) 1979, 1981, 1995, 2003, 2006
- Runners-up: (8) 1976–78, 1984, 1985, 1991, 2008, 2010
- Bavarian Under 15 championshipBavarian Under 15 championshipThe Under 15 Fußball-Bayernliga is the highest level of competition for under 15 football teams in Bavaria and the second tier of the Southern German league system, set below the Under 15 Regionalliga South.-History:...
- Champions: (2) 1996, 2010
- Runners-up: (4) 1981, 1983, 1985, 1997
FC Augsburg seasons
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:FC Augsburg
| Season | Division | Tier Bavarian football league system The Bavarian football league system of the Bavarian Football Association ranks within the German football league system. Its highest division, the Fussball-Bayernliga, is currently the 5th tier of German football. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the 4th tier of the league system... |
Position |
| 1999–2000 | Regionalliga Süd | III | 8th ↓ |
| 2000–01 | Bayernliga | IV | 4th |
| 2001–02 | Bayernliga | 1st ↑ | |
| 2002–03 | Regionalliga Süd | III | 3rd |
| 2003–04 | Regionalliga Süd | 4th | |
| 2004–05 | Regionalliga Süd | 4th | |
| 2005–06 | Regionalliga Süd | 1st ↑ | |
| 2006–07 | 2nd Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... |
II | 7th |
| 2007–08 | 2nd Bundesliga | 14th | |
| 2008–09 | 2nd Bundesliga | 11th | |
| 2009–10 | 2nd Bundesliga | 3rd | |
| 2010–11 | 2nd Bundesliga | 2nd | |
| 2011–12 | Bundesliga Fußball-Bundesliga The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga... |
I |
FC Augsburg II
| Season | Division | Tier Bavarian football league system The Bavarian football league system of the Bavarian Football Association ranks within the German football league system. Its highest division, the Fussball-Bayernliga, is currently the 5th tier of German football. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the 4th tier of the league system... |
Position |
| 2002–03 | Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd The Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the southern half of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... |
VII | 1st ↑ |
| 2003–04 | Bezirksoberliga Schwaben Bezirksoberliga Schwaben The Bezirksoberliga Schwaben is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia . Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the 6th tier of the league system.... |
VI | 1st ↑ |
| 2004–05 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd Landesliga Bayern-Süd The Landesliga Bayern-Süd is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga it was the 5th tier of the league system.... |
V | 10th |
| 2005–06 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd | 5th | |
| 2006–07 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd | 4th | |
| 2007–08 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd | 4th | |
| 2008–09 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd | VI | 9th |
| 2009–10 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd | 3rd | |
| 2010–11 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd | 5th | |
| 2011–12 | Landesliga Bayern-Süd |
- With the introduction of the BezirksoberligasBezirksoberligen BayernThe seven Bezirksoberligas Bayern are the third highest level of the Bavarian football league system, below Oberliga and Landesliga. They are the 7th tier of the German football league system.-Overview:...
in 1988 as the new fifth tier, below the LandesligasLandesliga BayernIn the Bavarian football league system, the Landesliga Bayern is the second hightest level, below the Fußball-Bayernliga and organised in three regional divisions. The current Landesligas were formed in 1963, when the Fußball-Bundesliga was established...
, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3rd Liga3rd LigaThe 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2...
in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2nd Bundesliga2. Fußball-Bundesliga- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
, all leagues below dropped one tier.
Managers
Recent managers of the club:| Period | Manager |
| 11/1989 – 3/1990 | Dieter Schatzschneider Dieter Schatzschneider Dieter Schatzschneider is a former German footballer, who holds the record for the highest number of 2.Bundesliga goals... |
| 4/1990 – 6/1990 | Gernot Fuchs |
| 7/1990 – 6/1995 | Armin Veh Armin Veh Armin Veh is a German former footballer and current manager who works for Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart on 19 May 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the double" by winning the DFB-Cup on 26 May 2007 in Berlin, but lost 2–3 in... |
| 7/1995 – 9/1996 | Karsten Wettberg Karsten Wettberg Karsten Wettberg is a former German football player and current manager of SV Seligenporten in the Oberliga Bayern.He is one of the most successful football managers in German amateur football.... |
| 9/1996 – 12/1996 | Helmut Riedel |
| 1/1997 – 4/1998 | Hubert Müller |
| 4/1998 – 6/1998 | Helmut Riedel |
| 7/1998 – 6/1999 | Gerd Schwickert |
| 7/1999 – 11/1999 | Alfons Higl Alfons Higl Alfons Higl is a German football coach and a former player.-Honours:* DFB-Pokal finalist: 1990–91* Bundesliga runner-up: 1989–90-External links:* at transfermarkt.de... |
| 11/1999– 12/1999 | Heiner Schuhmann |
| 1/2000 – 6/2000 | Hans-Jürgen Boysen Hans-Jürgen Boysen Hans-Jürgen Boysen is a German former football player and current manager of FSV Frankfurt-External links:* at transfermarkt.de... |
| 7/2000 – 6/2002 | Gino Lettieri Gino Lettieri Gino Lettieri is the current manager of 3rd Liga team SV Wehen WiesbadenIn 2000 Lettieri became manager of FC Augsburg after they were relegated to Fußball-Bayernliga. In 2002 they were promoted back to the Fußball-Regionalliga and he left to join the now inactive football team Bonner SC... |
| 7/2002 – 9/2003 | Ernst Middendorp Ernst Middendorp Ernst Middendorp is a German football manager.- Career :Middendorp coached the South African Castle Premiership team Kaizer Chiefs from the beginning of the 2005/06 season up to March 5, 2007.... |
| 10/2003– 9/2004 | Armin Veh Armin Veh Armin Veh is a German former footballer and current manager who works for Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart on 19 May 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the double" by winning the DFB-Cup on 26 May 2007 in Berlin, but lost 2–3 in... |
| 9/2004 – 9/2007 | Rainer Hörgl |
| 9/2007 – 4/2008 | Ralf Loose Ralf Loose Ralf Loose is a German football coach and former player. He is most noted for his stint with the Liechtenstein national football team, and currently coaches Dynamo Dresden.-Playing career:... |
| 4/2008 – 4/2009 | Holger Fach Holger Fach Holger Fach is a former German footballer and a current manager for Lokomotiv Astana. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he could also pitch in at centre back.-Football career:... |
| 4/2009 – present | Jos Luhukay Jos Luhukay Jos Luhukay is a Dutch football coach and former player.- Career as a player:He began his career at the age of 15 at his hometown club VVV-Venlo. In 1989, he went to play at SVV Schiedam, where he stayed until 1991... |
Current squad
*- * Suspended
Out on loan
Sources
- Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
- Horst Eckert, Werner Klinger (2007) Augsburger Fussball-Geschichte. ISBN 3-938332-08-5
- Die Bayernliga 1945-97 DSFS, published: 1998
- kicker Almanach 1990 Copress Verlag, ISBN 3-7679-0297-4
External links
- FC Augsburg at weltfussball.de
- The Abseits Guide to German Soccer