SV Ratibor 03
Encyclopedia
SV Ratibor was a German association football club
from the city of Ratibor
, Upper Silesia
(today Racibórz
, Poland
). It was the first football club established in Upper Silesia and remained active until 1945.
The club was established in 1903 by Fritz Seidl as Fußball Club Ratibor and in 1906 became part of the Upper Silesian division (Bezirk Oberschlesien) of the Southeast German Football Association. In 1911, the team took on the name Sportvereinigung Ratibor.
During the interwar period, Ratibor was in and out of regional first class competition with their best result coming as a second place finish in 1931. In 1933, German football was reorganized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions and Ratibor became part of the Gauliga Schlesien
. SVs best finish (4th) came in the 1933–34 season, and just three campaigns later the team was relegated. They made a single appearance in the Tschammerpokal tournament, predecessor to today's DFB-Pokal
(German Cup), in 1937. Ratibor returned to first division play in 1938 and later withdrew after playing just four matches of the 1939–40 Gauliga Oberschlesien (I) season when they could not field a team due to lack of players. The team disappeared with the end of World War II.
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 Ratibor
Racibórz
Racibórz is a town in southern Poland with 60,218 inhabitants situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship...
, Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
(today Racibórz
Racibórz
Racibórz is a town in southern Poland with 60,218 inhabitants situated in the Silesian Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
). It was the first football club established in Upper Silesia and remained active until 1945.
The club was established in 1903 by Fritz Seidl as Fußball Club Ratibor and in 1906 became part of the Upper Silesian division (Bezirk Oberschlesien) of the Southeast German Football Association. In 1911, the team took on the name Sportvereinigung Ratibor.
During the interwar period, Ratibor was in and out of regional first class competition with their best result coming as a second place finish in 1931. In 1933, German football was reorganized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions and Ratibor became part of the Gauliga Schlesien
Gauliga Schlesien
The Gauliga Schlesien was the highest football league in the region of Silesia , which consisted of the Prussian provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia from 1933 to 1945...
. SVs best finish (4th) came in the 1933–34 season, and just three campaigns later the team was relegated. They made a single appearance in the Tschammerpokal tournament, predecessor to today's DFB-Pokal
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...
(German Cup), in 1937. Ratibor returned to first division play in 1938 and later withdrew after playing just four matches of the 1939–40 Gauliga Oberschlesien (I) season when they could not field a team due to lack of players. The team disappeared with the end of World War II.