FC Grün-Weiß Wolfen
Encyclopedia
FC Grün-Weiß Wolfen is a German association football club
from the industrial city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen
in southern Saxony-Anhalt. They currently compete in the tier V NOFV-Oberliga Süd
.
joined BSG Agfa Wolfen and BSG Einheit Wolfen to form ZSG Wolfen, which was renamed BSG Chemie Agfa Wolfen on 7 October 1949.
In 1950, the Wolfen team were promoted to the Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt, then the third tier of the East German football league system
. In their first season there, they earned a respectable 6th place finish, and the following season they were Landesmeister (en:state champions) of Saxony-Anhalt, winning promotion to the DDR-Liga
(II).
In July 1957, the club was joined by BSG Aktivist Sandersdorf to form BSG Chemie Wolfen. The Sandersdorf side was established in 1945 as SG Sandersdorf and played as SG Falke Sandersdorf (1948) before becoming Aktivist in 1951. After advancing to second division play in 1952, Wolfen generally managed mid-table results until being sent down to the Bezirksliga Halle in 1964 after a 16th place finish. They reclaimed a place in second tier play through a first place Bezirksliga finish in 1968, followed by a successful promotion playoff run.
A third place finish in the 1970–71 season nurtured hopes that Wolfen had successfully re-established themselves in tier II, but instead the club was sent down for breaking DFV
statutes by poaching players, and financial irregularities. Despite winning immediate re-promotion out of the Berzirksliga, the club could only manage 10th and 11th finishes in 1973 and 1974, and was sent down yet again. Wolfen spent seven of the next eight seasons on the DDR-Liga (II) before slipping out of sight into lower level competition in 1985. Their most successful season during this period was in 1983–84 when they finished third, drawing crowds of about 1,600 spectators to watch their matches at the 10,000-capacity Jahnstadion.
In 1989, Wolfen won another Bezirksliga championship, failed to return to the DDR-Liga when they finished third in the promotion playoffs.
In the FDGB Cup Chemie Wolfen had their best season in 1956, beating SC Lok Leipzig in the round of last 16, and going out in the quarter final against ASK Vorwärts Berlin
.
, in the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt.
or in Fußball-Bundesliga
.
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 industrial city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen
Bitterfeld-Wolfen
Bitterfeld-Wolfen is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in south-eastern Saxony-Anhalt, west of the river Mulde, in an area that is dominated by heavy industry and lignite mining...
in southern Saxony-Anhalt. They currently compete in the tier V NOFV-Oberliga Süd
NOFV-Oberliga Süd
The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of former East Germany. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the fourth tier of the league system. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony...
.
History
After an Agfa factory had been founded in Wolfen in 1909, the city experienced a boom that also led to the creation of the Wolfener Ballspielclub in 1915. This club was later renamed, first becoming VfL Wolfen and then IG Farben Sportverein. After World War II all sports clubs and associations in Germany were dissolved. Sportgemeinde Wolfen emerged as a successor side in 1945 and became part of football competition in East Germany. In November 1948, SGjoined BSG Agfa Wolfen and BSG Einheit Wolfen to form ZSG Wolfen, which was renamed BSG Chemie Agfa Wolfen on 7 October 1949.
In 1950, the Wolfen team were promoted to the Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt, then the third tier of the East German football league system
East German football league system
The football league system of the German Democratic Republic existed from the creation of the DDR-Oberliga in 1949 until shortly after German reunification in 1990....
. In their first season there, they earned a respectable 6th place finish, and the following season they were Landesmeister (en:state champions) of Saxony-Anhalt, winning promotion to the DDR-Liga
DDR-Liga
The DDR-Liga was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR , being roughly equivalent to the Bundesliga in West Germany.-1950-1955:The league was established with two divisions of ten teams each in 1950...
(II).
In July 1957, the club was joined by BSG Aktivist Sandersdorf to form BSG Chemie Wolfen. The Sandersdorf side was established in 1945 as SG Sandersdorf and played as SG Falke Sandersdorf (1948) before becoming Aktivist in 1951. After advancing to second division play in 1952, Wolfen generally managed mid-table results until being sent down to the Bezirksliga Halle in 1964 after a 16th place finish. They reclaimed a place in second tier play through a first place Bezirksliga finish in 1968, followed by a successful promotion playoff run.
A third place finish in the 1970–71 season nurtured hopes that Wolfen had successfully re-established themselves in tier II, but instead the club was sent down for breaking DFV
DFV
The abbreviation DFV can refer to:* Cosworth DFV, a Formula One racing engine* Deutscher Frisbeesport-Verband, the association of frisbee players and teams in Germany.* Deutscher Fußball-Verband...
statutes by poaching players, and financial irregularities. Despite winning immediate re-promotion out of the Berzirksliga, the club could only manage 10th and 11th finishes in 1973 and 1974, and was sent down yet again. Wolfen spent seven of the next eight seasons on the DDR-Liga (II) before slipping out of sight into lower level competition in 1985. Their most successful season during this period was in 1983–84 when they finished third, drawing crowds of about 1,600 spectators to watch their matches at the 10,000-capacity Jahnstadion.
In 1989, Wolfen won another Bezirksliga championship, failed to return to the DDR-Liga when they finished third in the promotion playoffs.
In the FDGB Cup Chemie Wolfen had their best season in 1956, beating SC Lok Leipzig in the round of last 16, and going out in the quarter final against ASK Vorwärts Berlin
FC Viktoria Frankfurt
Frankfurter FC Viktoria is a German association football club based in Frankfurt , Brandenburg. The club was originally founded in East Germany as the army club SV Vorwärts der HVA Leipzig in 1951 in the city of Leipzig.- History :One of the characteristics of East German football after World War...
.
League overview
| 1950–1952 | Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt |
| 1952–1964 | DDR-Liga* |
| 1964–1968 | Bezirksliga Halle |
| 1968–1971 | DDR-Liga |
| 1971/72 | Bezirksliga Halle |
| 1972–1974 | DDR-Liga |
| 1974–1977 | Bezirksliga Halle |
| 1977–1981 | DDR-Liga |
| 1981/82 | Bezirksliga Halle |
| 1982–1985 | DDR-Liga |
| 1985–1990 | Bezirksliga Halle |
| * altogether 24 seasons in DDR-Liga, 19th in the Historic Ranking |
Women's section
More successful than their male counterparts, Wolfen's women's team was one of the pioneers in GDR women's football. Until 1982 they were part of the top flight that had been established in 1979, finishing 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 5th, respectively. Today the women's section plays in the Landesliga.FC Grün-Weiß
Political and economic change following German reunification led to the film factory no longer sponsoring the club. The club was renamed again, now called SG Chemie Wolfen. Four years later, on 21 January 1994, the football section left the club and created FC Grün-Weiß Wolfen. The men's team has been playing in the tier V Landes/Verbandsliga Saxony-Anhalt since 1990, as does the women's team. Thanks to sponsoring from solar panel producer Q-Cells the men's team won promotion to the Oberliga in 2008. After a very poor championship and despite its ambitions, the club was relegated after only one season. They will thus continue to play in tier VI of the German football league systemGerman football league system
The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany that consists of over 2,300 men's divisions, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation...
, in the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt.
Notable people
A number of people who spent time at Chemie Wolfen have gained notability prior or after their time at the club, becoming GDR internationals, playing in the DDR-OberligaDDR-Oberliga
The DDR-Oberliga was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the elite level of football competition in the DDR , being roughly equivalent to the Oberliga or Bundesliga in West Germany.-Overview:Following World...
or in Fußball-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...
.
- Managers
- Werner Welzel ( until 1981), 1 cap for the GDREast Germany national football teamThe East Germany national football team was from 1952 to 1990 the football team of East Germany, playing as one of three post-war German teams, along with Saarland and West Germany....
, 156 Oberliga matches for Motor Dessau, ASK Vorwärts BerlinFC Viktoria FrankfurtFrankfurter FC Viktoria is a German association football club based in Frankfurt , Brandenburg. The club was originally founded in East Germany as the army club SV Vorwärts der HVA Leipzig in 1951 in the city of Leipzig.- History :One of the characteristics of East German football after World War...
and Chemie HalleHallescher FCHallescher FC is a German association football club based in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.-History:The club's roots are in the 1946 formation of SG Glaucha in Soviet-occupied East Germany around the core of Hallescher Fußball-Club Wacker which was founded in 1900... - Klaus UrbanczykKlaus UrbanczykKlaus Urbanczyk, nicknamed Banne, born 4 June 1940 in Halle , is a former East German football player and manager.Urbanczyk began his football career at Turbine Halle in 1948. Beginning in 1960, he played for this team - in the meantime renamed Chemie Halle and later Hallescher FC Chemie - in the...
(1984/85), 34 caps for the GDR, 250 Oberliga matches for Chemie Halle
- Werner Welzel ( until 1981), 1 cap for the GDR
- Oberliga players
- Klaus Büchner, until 1955 and 1957–59 in Wolfen, 1955–57 beim SC Chemie Halle, from 1959 at Wismut Gera, 9 caps for junior GDR teams
- Matthias LiebersMatthias LiebersMatthias Liebers is a former German professional footballer.He began his youth career with Lokomotive Leipzig in 1965, and was promoted to the senior squad in 1968, where he played in the DDR-Oberliga at the top level of the East German football league. He played 321 games for the club, scoring 37...
, arrived from VfB Leipzig in 1996, 321 Oberliga matches for Lok Leipzig, 25 Bundesliga matches for VfB Leipzig, 59 caps for the GDR - René TretschokRené TretschokRené Tretschok is a retired German footballer who has played for Borussia Dortmund and was part of their Champions League victory in 1997. He scored an important goal in the semi final of their victorious campaign against Manchester United, giving Dortmund a crucial 1-0 lead going into the second...
, left for Chemie Halle in 1984, 81 Oberliga matches for Chemie Halle,180 Bundesliga matches for Borussia DortmundBorussia DortmundBallspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
, 1. FC Köln1. FC Köln1. FC Köln is a German association football club based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and SpVgg Sülz 07....
and Hertha BSC - Roland Wawrzyniak, arrived from Chemie Halle in 1984, 184 Oberliga matches for Chemie Halle