1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V. known as 1. FCK, FCK or 1. FC Kaiserslautern, is a sports club based in Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club operates in several other sports. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900. In 1909, the club went on to join FC FC Bavaria to form FV 1900 Kaiserslautern. In 1929, they merged with SV Phönix to become FV Phönix-Kaiserslautern before taking on their current name in 1933; as a founding member of the Bundesliga, FCK played from 1963 to 1996 uninterrupted in the top division. It has won four German championships, two DFB-Pokals, one DFL-Supercup, is among the most successful football clubs in Germany occupying tenth place in the All-time Bundesliga table; the club's international performances include reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 1999 as well as two participations in the UEFA Cup semi-finals. Kaiserslautern won the German championship in the 1997–98 season as a newly promoted team, unique in German football.
After a six-year spell in the second tier, in 2018 they were relegated to the 3. Liga for the first time. Since 1920, Kaiserslautern's stadium has been the Fritz-Walter-Stadion, named after the captain of the West German national team who won the world cup in 1954. Two of the club's predecessors, Bavaria and FC 1900 Kaiserslautern, were part of the Westkreis-Liga when this league was formed in 1908, with the latter winning the first league. From 1909 through 1918, the new FV Kaiserslautern performed well, finishing runners-up in 1910 and 1912; the team reached tier-one in the new Kreisliga Saar in 1919, the Kreisliga Pfalz in 1920 and the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar in 1931 and spent the rest of the 1930s bouncing up and down between the Bezirksliga and the upper level Gauliga Südwest, one of sixteen top flight divisions formed in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. The club's performance was unremarkable in the years leading up to World War II, but improved after 1939, they captured the Gauliga Südwest/Staffel Saarpfalz title, but lost the overall division title to Staffel Mainhessen winners Kickers Offenbach.
In the 1941–42 season the Gauliga Südwest was split into the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau and the Gauliga Westmark, Kaiserslautern took the Westmark title, going on to play for the first time in the national final rounds. They were decisively put out 3–9 by eventual champions Schalke 04, the dominant side in this era of German football; the performance of the team slipped and they finished last in their division in 1944. The following year saw the collapse of league play in this part of Germany as the Third Reich crumbled under the advance of Allied armies. After the war, Southwestern Germany was part of the occupation zone held by the French. Teams there were organized into northern and southern divisions and played to determine which of them would join the new Oberliga being put together. French authorities were slow to loosen their control over play in their zones of occupation – and in the Saarland in particular – Teams in the French areas took longer to join the re-established German national league than in other parts of the country.
1. FC Kaiserslautern resumed play in the Oberliga Südwest in 1945 and finished the season just one point behind 1. FC Saarbrücken; the next season, they won the Gruppe Nord in 1947 due in large part due to the play of Fritz Walter and his brother Ottmar – the duo scored 46 goals between them, more than any other entire team. This marked the beginning of the club's dominance of the Oberliga Südwest as they went on to capture the division title eleven times over the next twelve seasons. FCK advanced to Germany's first post-war national final in 1948, but lost 1–2 to 1. FC Nürnberg. Kaiserslautern became a presence on the national scene through the early 1950s, capturing their first German championship in 1951 with a 2–1 victory of their own, this time over Preußen Münster, they won a second title in 1953, followed by two losing final appearances in 1954 and 1955. The club sent five players to the national side for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, which West Germany won in what became popularly known as "The Miracle of Bern".
Kaiserslautern's performance fell off late in the decade and into the early 1960s, highlighted only by an advance to the 1961 DFB-Pokal final, where they lost 0–2 to Werder Bremen. The side recovered its form in time to again win their division on the eve of the formation in 1963 of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league; this secured them one of the 16 places in the new top flight circuit. However, the club's next honours would be some time in coming: they made failed German Cup final appearances in 1972, 1976, 1981 and were UEFA Cup semi-finalists in 1982 before winning the domestic Cup in 1990, they followed up the next season with their first Bundesliga championship. 1. FCK won a second German Cup in 1996, but that victory was soured since the team had been relegated to 2. Bundesliga with a 16th-place finish just one week before the Cup final. At the time, Kaiserslautern was one of only four of the original 16 teams that had played in each Bundesliga season since the inception of the league, having never been relegated.
This group included Eintracht Frankfurt, 1. FC Köln, "the Dinosaur", Hamburger SV, whose spell ended in 2018; the Red Devils came storming back with an accomplishment unique in Bundesliga history – and rare across the major European football leagues – by winning promotion from the 2. Bundesliga at the first attempt in 1997, going on to
'Spirit of Surfing' is a low-key initiative started in 1995 by longtime surfer, Peter Cuming, surf elders Rob Conneelly, Nat Young, surf artist Roscoe Kermode. Spirit of Surfing was established to promote the traditions of free surfing; these key messages are shared and encouraged in the water amongst surfers and through other opportunities such as festivals, forums and local surfing communities. It was first presented to the Angourie Boardriders in late 1995, at Yamba, in NSW, they adopted the general Spirit of Surfing principles in their approach to their activities including a stronger focus on active beach restoration work as part of their regular surfing sessions and competitions. Peter Cuming liaised with Nat Young, past world short and longboard surfing champion, who supported the aims, raised the concept in his working relationship with the World Longboard Championship Tour to engage in adopting the principles; the Surfers Code, or Tribal Law as it was called, was developed as an SoS project by Rob Conneelly, based on the verbally shared "Gentlemen's Rules" of old.
This resulted in a “Tribal Law” poster which emerged under Roscoe's skilled hands, was launched at the Margaret River Surfing Classic in 1996, which included an “expression session” to promote creative ‘free’ surfing. It was again part of the Margaret River Masters Surf Classic in 1997, the focus of a project with local community healthcare groups in Margaret River, sponsored by the W. A Health Promotion Foundation, in response to growing surf related injuries, promoting the necessary safety aspects of surfing along the powerful South-Western Australian coastline. In October 1998, at Margaret River in Western Australia, the group erected a Tribal Law plaque at Surfer's Point, explaining surfers' principles of right-of-way and respect in the water. Follow-up plaques at ‘Lefthanders’ and other well-known nearby breaks in the South West were planned, as well as at Perth surf beaches, plaques created however didn't eventuate. To this daythe plaques haven't resurfaced and must be valued by those that have them!
Hearing of the Surfer's Code and the Margaret River plaque, a group of surfing interests from the West Coast of Victoria-based around Bells Beach-Winkipop contacted SoS trust members and with Roscoe Kermode's artistic support, a code was developed for Bells Beach and launched as the Bells Beach Surfers Code in 2000. The Bells Beach Spirit of Surfing committee was formed to further develop projects at Bells Beach; this committee includes the Surf Coast Shire, Torquay Boardriders, Surfers Appreciating the Natural Environment, Surfing Victoria Inc. Surfrider Foundation, the Bells Beach Surfing Reserve Advisory Committee. Victorian-based Mornington Peninsular Surfriders, hearing of the surfers code, liaised with the Bells Beach group and arranged distribution of the general surfer's code poster as a guide for surfers on the East Coast Peninsular. SoS supported and facilitated the Spirit of Surfing/ Surf Elders Gathering held at Broken Head, Byron Bay, New South Wales, in June 2000, organised by and held at the home of longtime surfer and Greens New South Wales Senator, Ian Cohen.
The 2-day weekend gathering of 30 people, facilitated by Peter Cuming, represented around 700 years of personal surfing experience. It included representatives from the Surfrider Foundation, Australian Professional Surfing Association, surfers from Southern Queensland, Sydney, NSW North Coast and Central Coasts, Bells Beach/Victorian West Coast regions. Surfing elders such as George Greenough, Nat Young, Dick Hoole and Rusty Miller shared visions and stories; the gathering discussed the growing interest in the sport and lifestyle of surfing, concerns about commercialisation, ‘surf rage’ and the Spirit of Surfing concept. As a result of the gathering the principles and establishment of the Spirit of Surfing Trust was supported. A number of media releases presented the key issues that the Spirit of Surfing concept was tackling and commitments were made to promote the SoS principles; that year, the Surfrider Foundation in NSW, launched a version of the Surfers Code, under the guidance of Neil Lazarow with support from the formative Spirit of Surfing Trust, A ‘Law of the Ocean’ forum, sponsored by Southern Cross University, was held in Byron Bay in 2001, discussed a range of issues and responses related to ‘surf rage’ events, including the Surfers Code and Spirit of Surfing concept.
In 2000 when Nat Young was assaulted in a "surf rage" incident at Angourie Point, he gifted $7000 he received as payment from a television interview on the incident to the SoS initiative. These funds were used to support the work of the movement including development of the Bells Beach, Spirit of Surfing project. Through 2000 to 2002 the Bells Beach SoS working group, supported by SoS consulted with local surfing groups, aboriginal traditional owners and the local council, Surf Coast Shire to design and erect key standing stones reading "Respect the Ocean", "Respect the Land", "Respect each Other", as a local interpretation of the surfing spirit; these stones are seen by all surfers. The project involved locating and installing hand carved sandstone plaques, a signing ceremony involving some of the first surfers to surf Bells Beach, local Aboriginal custodians, Surf Coast Shire
Kick Start was a motorcycle trials series on BBC television that aired between 1979 and 1988. The idea originated from Nick Brittan, the organiser of the 1978 Lombard RAC Rally, who thought top trials motorcyclists, competing over a hazardous track and obstacles, would make exciting television, it was produced by BBC Pebble Mill producer Derek Smith, who created Top Gear. The first series, hosted by Dave Lee Travis, aired in August 1979 filling the slot vacated by Nationwide; the course for these three shows was devised by trials rider Sammy Miller and constructed within the Donington Park Race Circuit. For the following series, which were filmed at Easton Neston near Towcester, Travis was replaced by Peter Purves from Blue Peter. An offshoot programme, Junior Kick Start, was made for younger contestants, notably appearances include Dougie Lampkin. Another notable contestant to appear on the show is Jean-Pierre Goy, who became a stunt motorcyclist, he performed. An often-repeated incident from the programme was when a ten-year-old competitor fell from an obstacle into a ditch.
As volunteers from the St. John Ambulance attempted to help, they fell into the ditch too. Commentator Peter Purves had to apologise. Trials were run against the clock. Riders were required to run over obstacles such as logs, oil drums, water troughs, steep banking, cliff-faces and a VW Beetle. Time penalties were incurred for putting a foot on the ground while tackling an obstacle or touching or knocking over specified parts of an obstacle; the competition had a first prize of £500. The courses and obstacles designed for Junior Kick Start were modified to be easier for the younger contestants. A video-game inspired by the series called Kikstart was released for the Commodore 64 in 1985 by Mastertronic, it was released for the ZX Spectrum and Atari 8-bit computers. According to the game's programmer, Shaun Southern, "The C64 version's name at least, was a shameless rip-off of the TV series." Kick Start on IMDb Kick Start at TV.com Junior Kick Start at TV.com