Eintracht Frankfurt

The first team of Frankfurter Fußball-Club Victoria in 1899

The origins of the side go back to a pair of football clubs founded in 1899: Frankfurter Fußball-Club Viktoria von 1899 – regarded as the "original" football side in the club's history – and Frankfurter Fußball-Club Kickers von 1899. Both clubs were founding members of the new Nordkreis-Liga in 1909. These two teams merged in May 1911 to become Frankfurter Fußball Verein (Kickers-Viktoria), an instant success, taking three league titles from 1912 to 1914 in the Nordkreis-Liga and qualifying for the Southern German championship in each of those seasons. In turn, Frankfurter FV joined the gymnastics club Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861 to form TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 in 1920. (The German word Eintracht means 'harmony, concord,' and Eintracht X is the equivalent of X United in English in the names of sports teams.[9])

Oberliga Süd match in 1946: Karlsruher FV v Eintracht Frankfurt

At the time, sports in Germany was dominated by nationalistic gymnastics organizations, and under pressure from that sport's governing authority, the gymnasts and footballers went their separate ways again in 1927, as Turngemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 and Sportgemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt (FFV) von 1899.

Historical chart of Eintracht Frankfurt league performance after WWII

Through the late 1920s and into the 1930s, Eintracht won a handful of local and regional championships, first in the Kreisliga Nordmain, then in the Bezirksliga Main and Bezirksliga Main-Hessen. After being eliminated from the national level playoffs after quarterfinal losses in 1930 and 1931, they won their way to the final in 1932 where they were beaten 0–2 by Bayern Munich, who claimed their first ever German championship. In 1933, German football was re-organized into sixteen Gauligen under the Third Reich and the club played first division football in the Gauliga Südwest, consistently finishing in the upper half of the table and winning their division in 1938.

Eintracht picked up where they left off after World War II, playing as a solid side in the first division Oberliga Süd and capturing division titles in 1953 and 1959. Their biggest success came on the heels of that second divisional title as they went on to a 5–3 victory over local rivals Kickers Offenbach to take the 1959 German national title and followed up immediately with an outstanding run in the 1960 European Cup. Eintracht lost 3–7 to Real Madrid in an exciting final that was widely regarded as one of the best football matches ever played,[10] which included a hat-trick by Alfredo Di Stéfano and four goals by Ferenc Puskás.

The side continued to play good football and earned themselves a place as one of the original 16 teams selected to play in the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, formed in 1963. Eintracht played Bundesliga football for 33 seasons, finishing in the top half of the table for the majority of them.

Their best Bundesliga performances were five third-place finishes: they ended just two points back of champion VfB Stuttgart in 1991–92.

The team also narrowly avoided relegation on several occasions. In 1984, they defeated MSV Duisburg 6–1 on aggregate, and in 1989 they beat 1. FC Saarbrücken 4–1 on aggregate, in two-game playoffs. Eintracht finally slipped and were relegated to 2. Bundesliga for the 1996–97 season. At the time that they were sent down alongside 1. FC Kaiserslautern, these teams were two of only four sides that had been in the Bundesliga since the league's inaugural season. It looked as though they would be out again in 1998–99, but they pulled through by beating defending champions Kaiserslautern 5–1, while 1. FC Nürnberg unexpectedly lost at home to give Eintracht the break they needed to stay up. The following year, in another struggle to avoid relegation, the club was "fined" two points by the German Football Association (DFB) for financial misdeeds, but pulled through with a win by a late goal over SSV Ulm on the last day of the season. The club was plagued by financial difficulties again in 2004 before once more being relegated.

Between 1997 and 2005, Eintracht bounced regularly between the top two divisions.

The 2010–11 season ended with the club's fourth Bundesliga relegation. After setting a new record for most points in the first half of the season, the club struggled after the winter break, going seven games without scoring a goal. Despite winning the next game, Frankfurt sacked coach Michael Skibbe, replacing him with Christoph Daum.[11] The change in coaches did little to improve Eintracht's fortunes. Frankfurt achieved only three draws from the last seven games of the season and were relegated on the 34th matchday.[12]

One year later, Eintracht defeated Alemannia Aachen 3–0 on the 32nd match day of the 2011–12 season, thus qualifying for the Bundesliga.[13]

In 2018–19, Eintracht had the 21st highest attendance in Europe, ahead of such prominent clubs as Olympique Lyonnais, Paris Saint-Germain and Valencia CF.

Eintracht Frankfurt before the Europa League match at FC Salzburg on February 28 2020

The club has enjoyed considerable success in competition outside the Bundesliga. Eintracht famously lost the European Cup final to Real Madrid on 18 May 1960 at Hampden Park 7–3 in front of 127,621 spectators. In the match, Alfredo Di Stéfano scored three and Ferenc Puskás scored the other four in Madrid's victory.

In 1967, Eintracht won the Intertoto Cup after beating Inter Bratislava in the final.

Eintracht won the DFB-Pokal in 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988 and in 2018, and took the UEFA Cup over another German team, Borussia Mönchengladbach, in 1980. Also, Eintracht were the losing finalists in the 2005–06 DFB-Pokal. Their opponents in the final, that year's Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, previously qualified to participate in the Champions League. As a result, Eintracht, received the DFB-Pokal's winner's place in the UEFA Cup, where they advanced to the group stage. In 2017 DFB-Pokal, they were defeated in the final match by Borussia Dortmund and made it the next year again into the final, which they won 3–1 against Bayern Munich. In 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, Eintracht reached the semi-finals of the competition, only losing on penalties to the eventual champions, Chelsea.[14]

Besides playing friendlies against famous clubs from all of the world, Eintracht also played friendly matches against national teams from the following countries: Argentina,[15][16] Austria,[17][18] Belgium,[19] Colombia,[20] Czechoslovakia,[21] Egypt,[22][23] France,[24] Germany,[25][26] Hungary,[27] Israel,[28][29] Ivory Coast,[30] Kenya,[31][32] Kosovo,[33] Kuwait,[34] Luxembourg,[35] Malaya,[36] Mexico,[37] Netherlands,[38] Poland,[39] Romania,[40] South Korea,[41][42][43] Tunisia[44] and Vietnam.[45]

• German Championship[56]
  • Champions: 1959
  • Runners-up: 1932
• DFB-Pokal[56]
  • Winners: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1987–88, 2017–18
  • Runners-up: 1963–64, 2005–06, 2016–17
• 2. Bundesliga[56]
  • Winners: 1997–98
  • Runners-up: 2011–12
• DFB/DFL-Supercup[56]
  • Runners-up: 1988, 2018

• European Cup/UEFA Champions League[56]
  • Runners-up: 1959–60
• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League[56]
  • Winners: 1979–80
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners: 1967

• Southern German Championship[57]
  • Champions: 1929–30, 1931–32
  • Runners-up: 1912–13+, 1913–14+, 1927–28, 1930–31
• Oberliga Süd
  • Champions: 1952–53, 1958–59
  • Runners-up: 1953–54, 1960–61, 1961–62
• Nordkreis-Liga
  • Champions: 1911–12+, 1912–13+, 1913–14+
• Kreisliga Nordmain
  • Champions: 1919–20+, 1920–21
  • Runners-up: 1921–22
• Bezirksliga Main-Hessen:
  • Champions: 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32
  • Runners-up: 1932–33
• Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen:
  • Champions: 1937–38
  • Runners-up: 1936–37
• Hesse Cup (Tiers 3–7):
  • Winners: 1946, 1969^*
  • Runners-up: 1949
• Hesse Championship (Tier 3 & 4):
  • Champions: 1970^*, 2002^*
  • Runners-up: 1978^*, 1983^*, 1995^*
• + As Frankfurter FV
• ^* Achieved by Reserve Team

Green denotes the highest level of football in Germany; yellow the second highest.

As of 22 January 2021[58]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Kevin Trapp 2 DF  FRA Evan N'Dicka 3 MF  AUT Stefan Ilsanker 7 MF  AUS Ajdin Hrustić 8 MF   SUI Djibril Sow 9 FW  SRB Luka Jović (on loan from Real Madrid) 10 MF  SRB Filip Kostić 11 MF   SUI Steven Zuber 13 DF  AUT Martin Hinteregger 15 MF  JPN Daichi Kamada 17 MF  GER Sebastian Rode 18 DF  FRA Almamy Touré 20 MF  JPN Makoto Hasebe (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW  GER Ragnar Ache 22 DF  USA Timothy Chandler 23 GK  GER Markus Schubert (on loan from Schalke 04) 25 DF  GER Erik Durm 27 MF  MAR Aymen Barkok 30 DF  NED Jetro Willems 31 DF  GER Fynn Otto 32 MF  GER Amin Younes (on loan from Napoli) 33 FW  POR André Silva 34 FW  ANG Jabez Makanda 35 DF  BRA Tuta 36 MF  AUT Lukas Fahrnberger 38 DF  GER Yannick Brugger

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 40 GK  GER Elias Bördner 41 DF  GER Felix Irorere

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  DEN Frederik Rønnow (at Schalke 04 until 30 June 2021) — DF  GER Danny da Costa (at Mainz 05 until 30 June 2021) — MF  GER Dominik Kohr (at Mainz 05 until 30 June 2021) — MF  GER Nils Stendera (at Lokomotive Leipzig until 30 June 2021) — MF  URU Rodrigo Zalazar (at FC St. Pauli until 30 June 2021) — FW  SRB Dejan Joveljić (at Wolfsberger AC until 30 June 2021) — FW  POR Gonçalo Paciência (at Schalke 04 until 30 June 2021)

World Cup 1954 – Germany

• Alfred Pfaff (1949–1961)
• Toni Turek (1946–1947)

World Cup 1974 – Germany

• Jürgen Grabowski (1965–1980)
• Bernd Hölzenbein (1967–1981)

World Cup 1990 – Germany

• Uwe Bein (1989–1994)
• Thomas Berthold (1982–1987)
• Andreas Köpke (1994–1996)
• Andreas Möller (1985–1987), (1990–1992), (2003–2004)

World Cup 2014 – Germany

• Joachim Löw (1981–1982)
• Erik Durm (2019–)

World Cup 1954 – Hungary

• Gyula Lóránt (1976, as a manager)

World Cup 1966 – Germany

• Friedel Lutz (1957–1966), (1967–1973)
• Jürgen Grabowski (1965–1980)
• Hans Tilkowski (1967–1970)

World Cup 1982 – Germany

• Manfred Kaltz (2000–2001, as an assistant manager)
• Felix Magath (1999–2001, as a manager)

World Cup 1986 – Germany

• Thomas Berthold (1982–1987)
• Felix Magath (1999–2001, as a manager)
• Uwe Rahn (1992–1993)
• Wolfgang Rolff (2014–2015, as an assistant manager)
• Uli Stein (1987–1994)

World Cup 2002 – Germany

• Jörg Böhme (1995–1996)
• Marko Rehmer (2005–2007)
• Bernd Schneider (1998–1999)

World Cup 2018 – Croatia

• Ante Rebić (2016–2019)

World Cup 1934 – Germany

• Rudi Gramlich (1929–1939), (1943–1944)

World Cup 1970 – Germany

• Jürgen Grabowski (1965–1980)

World Cup 1982 – Poland

• Włodzimierz Smolarek (1986–1988)

World Cup 2006 – Germany

• Timo Hildebrand (2014–2015)
• Bernd Schneider (1998–1999)

World Cup 2010 – Germany

• Joachim Löw (1981–1982)
• Marko Marin (1996–2005)

World Cup 2014 – Netherlands

• Jonathan de Guzmán (2017–2020)

UEFA Euro 1972 – Germany

• Jürgen Grabowski (1965–1980)
• Jupp Heynckes (1994–1995, as a manager)
• Horst Köppel (1994–1995, as an assistant manager)

UEFA Euro 1980 – Germany

• Felix Magath (1999–2001, as a manager)

UEFA Euro 1996 – Germany

• Andreas Köpke (1994–1996)
• Andreas Möller (1985–1987), (1990–1992), (2003–2004)

European Nations' Cup 1960 – Yugoslavia

• Fahrudin Jusufi (1966–1970)
• Branko Zebec (1982–1983, as a manager)

UEFA Euro 1976 – Germany

• Bernd Hölzenbein (1967–1981)
• Peter Reichel (1970–79)

UEFA Euro 1992 – Germany

• Manfred Binz (1985–1996)
• Thomas Doll (1994–1996)
• Andreas Köpke (1994–1996)
• Andreas Möller (1985–1987), (1990–1992), (2003–2004)

UEFA Euro 1996 – Czech Republic

• Karel Rada (2001–2002)

1994 Africa Cup of Nations – Nigeria

• Jay-Jay Okocha (1992–1996)

1992 Africa Cup of Nations – Ghana

• Tony Yeboah (1990–1995)

Summer Olympics 1952 – Hungary

• Gyula Lóránt (1976, as a manager)

Summer Olympics 1960– Yugoslavia

• Fahrudin Jusufi (1966–1970)

Summer Olympics 1996 – Nigeria

• Jay-Jay Okocha (1992–1996)

Summer Olympics 2000 – Cameroon

• Serge Branco (2000–2003)

Summer Olympics 2012 – Mexico

• Marco Fabián (2016–2019)

Summer Olympics 1924 – Switzerland

• Walter Dietrich (1925–1938)

Summer Olympics 1952 – Yugoslavia

• Ivica Horvat (1957–1961)
• Branko Zebec (1982–1983, as a manager)

Summer Olympics 1992 – Poland

• Dariusz Adamczuk (1992–1993)

Summer Olympics 2016 – Germany

• Niklas Süle (2006–2009)

Summer Olympics 1988 – West Germany

• Ralf Sievers (1982–1990)
• Rudolf Bommer (1992–1997)
• Olaf Janßen (1996–2000)