Kickers Offenbach

Offenbacher Kickers, also known as 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. From 1921 to 1925 they were united with VfB 1900 Offenbach as VfR Kickers Offenbach until resuming their status as a separate side, Offenbacher FC Kickers.[1] Since 2012, Kickers Offenbach's stadium has been the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium.

Offenbacher Kickers
Full nameOffenbacher Fußball-Club Kickers 1901 e. V.
Nickname(s)OFC
Founded27 May 1901 (1901-05-27)
GroundSparda Bank Hessen Stadium
Capacity20,500
ChairmanHelmut Spahn
ManagerAngelo Barletta
LeagueRegionalliga Südwest
2019–208th

History

The club became one of the founding members of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909, where it played until the outbreak of the war. In post-First World War Germany, Kickers played in the Kreisliga Südmain (I), winning this league in 1920, 1922 and 1923.

The club played as a mid-table side in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen through the late 1920s and early 1930s. German football was re-organized in 1933 under the Third Reich into sixteen first division Gauligen. Kickers joined the Gauliga Südwest, where the team immediately captured the title and entered the national playoffs for the first time. They fared poorly there, but did manage to raise their overall level of play in the following seasons, going on to win five consecutive divisional championships from 1940 to 1944.[2]

In the early 1940s the Gauliga Südwest had been split into the Gauliga Westmark and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, where Kickers played. Their best post-season result came in 1942 when the team was able to advance as far as the semi-finals in the national championship rounds before they were decisively put out 0:6 by Schalke 04, who were on their way to their sixth championship as the era's most dominant side. By 1944, Allied armies were rolling through Germany and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau did not play the 1944–45 season.

Historical chart of Kickers Offenbach league performance after WWII
Stadion am Bieberer Berg (1921–2011)
Sparda-Bank-Hessen-Stadion (since 2012)

Entry to the Bundesliga and scandal

The club found itself in the new Regionalliga Süd (II) and play in the Bundesliga would have to wait until 1968. The team was immediately relegated, but returned to the upper league for play in 1970–71. In addition to their return to the Bundesliga, the club would win one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2:1 German Cup victory over 1. FC Köln.

However, the end of the 1971 season would find Kickers Offenbach at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal. The club president, Horst-Gregorio Canellas, went to the German Football Association (Deutsche Fussball Bund or German Football Association) after being approached by a player from another team looking for a cash bonus for that club's effort in beating one of Offenbach's rivals in the fight against relegation. Receiving no help from league officials, Canellas began gathering evidence of how widespread the payoffs were. In the end more than fifty players from seven clubs, two coaches, and six game officials were found guilty of trying to influence the outcome of games through bribes, but Canellas was unable to save his club from relegation. The club central to the scandal – Arminia Bielefeld – would not be punished until the following season, too late to save Offenbach.[3]

The scandal had a negative effect on the young league and contributed to plummeting attendance figures. One outcome of the whole affair was the further evolution of German football; salary restrictions were removed and the 2. Bundesliga also became a professional league. Kickers immediately returned to the top level. The best finish was 7th in the 1972–73 season. They were leaders for 5 rounds and beat Bayern Munich 6–0 in the 1974–75 season but were relegated to the second level in the 1975–76 season.

Decline and recovery

Kickers spent the next seven years in the 2. Bundesliga before making a return to the Bundesliga for just a single season in 1983–84. In 1985, financial problems led to the club being penalized points and driven into the third division amateur Oberliga Hessen. They recovered, only to be denied a licence in 1989, and were sent back down again. By the mid-1990s they again slipped into the Oberliga Hessen (IV). They appeared in the final of the national amateur championship in 1994 where they lost 1–0 to Preußen Münster. Offenbach returned the 2. Bundesliga in 1999 and were immediately relegated after a 17th-place finish. In each of these seasons the team took part in the nation amateur championship, winning the title in 1999.

The club next appeared in the 2. Bundesliga in 2005. After two lower table finishes, Kickers were relegated to the 3. Liga on the final day of the 2007–08 season following a 3–0 defeat to fellow strugglers VfL Osnabrück.

On 18 July 2012, the club's new ground, the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, was opened with a pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen. The club was refused a 3. Liga licence at the end of the 2012–13 season and was relegated to the Regionalliga, with SV Darmstadt 98 taking its place. The club, €9 million in debt, could have faced insolvency and a restart at the lowest level of the German football league system.[4]

The club won the Regionalliga Südwest in 2014–15 and earned the right to take part in the promotion round to the 3. Liga, where they missed out on promotion to Magdeburg. The loss was overshadowed by approximately 40 Offenbach supporters storming the field in the 84th minute and forcing a twenty-minute interruption to the return leg.[5]

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the team:[6][7]

  • With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. Also in 2008, the majority of football leagues in Hesse were renamed, with the Oberliga Hessen becoming the Hessenliga, the Landesliga becoming the Verbandsliga, the Bezirksoberliga becoming the Gruppenliga and the Bezirksliga becoming the Kreisoberliga.

Current squad
As of 3 January 2021[15]

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 Dominik Draband
3 DF  GER Leonidas Tiliudis
4 MF  GER Tim Dierßen
5 DF  POL Sebastian Zieleniecki
6 MF  ITA Luigi Campagna
7 DF  GER Marco Fritscher
8 MF  GER Maik Vetter
9 MF  GER Serkan Firat
10 FW  SLE Abu Bakarr Kargbo
11 MF  GER Marcell Sobotta
14 DF  GER Maurice Pluntke
15 DF  GER Malte Karbstein
16 GK  GER Angelo Tramontana
17 MF  GER Luka Garić
18 MF  GER Tunay Deniz
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF  GER Jakob Lemmer
20 MF  GER Denis Huseinbasic
21 FW  ITA Elia Soriano
22 GK  FIN Felix Ferahyan
23 DF  ITA Francesco Calabrese
24 FW  ALB Flo Bojaj
25 FW  GER Mathias Fetsch
26 MF  GER Davud Tuma
28 GK  GER Stephan Flauder
29 DF  GER Lucas Albrecht
30 FW  GER Moritz Reinhard
31 DF  MOZ Ronny Marcos
32 DF  GER Vincent Moreno Giesel
— MF  FRA Charles-Elie Laprévotte

Coaches

The managers of the club:[16]

Name Period
Franz Nagy 1922
Rudolf Keller 1926
Mac Pherson 1927
Rudolf Keller 1928
Paul Oßwald 1946–1958
Bogdan Cuvaj 1958–1962
Hans Merkle 1962–1964
Radoslav Momirski 1964–1965
Kurt Baluses 1965 – Feb. 1968
Kurt Schreiner Mar. – Jun. 1968
Paul Oßwald Jul. 1968 – Nov. 1969
Kurt Schreiner Dec. 1969
Willi Keim Dec. 1969
Zlatko Čajkovski Jan – Jul. 1970
Kurt Schreiner Aug. 1970
Aki Schmidt Sep. 1970
Rudi Gutendorf Sep. 1970 – Feb. 1971
Kuno Klötzer Feb. 1971 – Jun. 1972
Gyula Lóránt Jul. 1972 – Mar. 1974
Otto Rehhagel Apr. 1974 – Dec. 1975
Zlatko Čajkovski Jan. – Oct. 1976
Udo Klug Nov. 1976 – Jun. 1978
Horst Heese Jul. 1978 – Jun. 1980
Franz Brungs Jul. 1980 – May 1982
Lothar Buchmann Jun. 1982 – Mar. 1984
Hermann Nuber Mar. 1984 – Jun. 1984
Fritz Fuchs Jul – Dec 1984
Horst Heese Dec 1984 – Jun 1985
Wilfried Kohls Jul 1985 – Jun 1986
Franz Brungs Jul 1986 – May 1987
Robert Jung May 1987 – Jun 1987
Dieter Renner Jul 1987 – Mar 1989
Nikolaus Semlitsch Mar 1989 – Dec 1989
Hans-Günter Neues Dec 1989 – Apr 1990
Kurt Geinzer Apr 1990 – Jun 1992
Lothar Buchmann Jul 1992 – Oct 1994
Valentin Herr Oct 1994 – Apr 1995
Wilfried Kohls Maz 1995 – Jun 1995
Wolfgang Uschek Jul 1995 – Dec 1995
Ronny Borchers Jan 1996 – Apr 1997
Wilfried Kohls/Jörg Hambückers Apr 1997 – Jun 1997
Hans-Jürgen Boysen Jul 1997 – Oct 1999
Peter Neururer Oct 1999 – Aug 2000
Dragoslav Stepanovic Aug 2000 – Sep 2000
Knut Hahn Sep 2000 – Oct 2000
Wilfried Kohls Oct 2000 – Oct 2000
Knut Hahn Nov 2000 – Nov 2000
Dieter Müller/Oliver Roth Nov 2000 – Dec 2000
Ramon Berndroth Dec 2000 – Aug 2003
Lars Schmidt Aug 2003 – Mar 2004
Hans-Jürgen Boysen Mar 2004 – Jan 2006
Wolfgang Frank Jan 2006 – Oct 2007
Jørn Andersen Nov 2007 – May 2008
Hans-Jürgen Boysen May 2008 – Oct 2009
Steffen Menze Oct 2009 – Feb 2010
Wolfgang Wolf Feb 2010 – Feb 2011
Thomas Gerstner Feb 2011 – May 2011
Arie van Lent May 2011 – Feb 2013
Rico Schmitt Feb 2013 – Jan 2016
Oliver Reck Jan 2016 – Jun 2018
Daniel Steuernagel Jul 2018 – Sep 2019
Steven Keßler Sep 2019 – Dec 2019
Angelo Barletta Dec 2019 –

Source: Book "Kickers Offenbach – die ersten hundert jahre" ("Kickers Offenbach – the first hundred years")

Notable players
Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here.

Honours

The club's honours:

Kickers Offenbach II
Main article: Kickers Offenbach II

Kickers second team played in the Amateurliga Hessen (III) from 1971–74 until being disbanded after the 1973–74 season. The reconstituted side reappeared in the Amateuroberliga Hessen (III) in 1984, but were sent down after the relegation of the senior side from the 2. Bundesliga. The amateur's next appearance of note was in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) in 1999 in a campaign that ended in relegation after a 15th-place finish. In 2008–09, it returned to the Hessenliga and finished in fourth place. After six seasons in the league the team finished 18th in the Hessenliga in 2014 and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.[17]

Recent managers

Recent managers of the team:[18]

Manager Start Finish
Steffen Menze 1 July 2005 30 June 2006
Ramon Berndroth 1 July 2006 30 June 2008
Steffen Menze 1 July 2008 30 June 2009
Jürgen Baier 1 July 2009 30 June 2010
Günter Stiebig 1 July 2011 30 June 2013
Alexander Conrad 1 July 2013 Present

References
  1. Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
  2. Grüne, Hardy (1996). Vom Kronprinzen bis zur Bundesliga. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-928562-85-1
  3. Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger (2002). Tor! The Story of German Football. WSC Books ISBN 0-9540134-5-X
  4. Ruhl: "Ein bitterer Tag für den OFC" (in German) kicker.de, published: 3 June 2013, accessed: 4 June 2013
  5. 3. Liga: Magdeburg, Würzburg, Bremen II steigen auf (in German) Weltfussball.de, published: 31 May 2015, accessed: 1 June 2015
  6. Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables
  7. Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Archived 18 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues
  8. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  9. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  10. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  11. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  12. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  13. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  14. 30 Jahre Bundesliga, DFB special edition booklet
  15. Mannschaft / Offenbacher Kickers
  16. Kickers Offenbach .:. Trainer von A-Z (in German) weltfussball.de, accessed: 5 December 2011
  17. Kickers Offenbach II at Weltfussball.de (in German) accessed: 5 December 2011
  18. Kickers Offenbach II .:. Trainer von A-Z (in German) weltfussball.de, accessed: 5 December 2011
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