1.
Fritz-Walter-Stadion
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The Fritz-Walter-Stadion is the home to the 2. FC Kaiserslautern and is located in the city of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate and it was one of the stadia used in the 2006 World Cup. The Stadium was built on the Betzenberg hill, hence its nickname Betze, the stadium was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 2006, FC Kaiserslautern Information and Image Gallery
2.
Kaiserslautern
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Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century and it is 459 kilometres from Paris,117 km from Frankfurt am Main, and 159 km from Luxembourg. Kaiserslautern is home to 98,166 people, additionally, approximately 45,000 NATO military personnel inhabit the city and its surrounding district, and contribute approximately US$1 billion annually to the local economy. The city is home to football club 1. FC Kaiserslautern that has won the German championship four times, prehistoric settlement in the area of what is now Kaiserslautern has been traced to at least 800 BC. Some 2, 500-year-old Celtic tombs were uncovered at Miesau, a town about 29 kilometres west of Kaiserslautern, the recovered relics are now in the Museum for Palatinate History at Speyer. Kaiserslautern received its name from the hunting retreat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1155 until 1190. The small river Lauter made the old section of Kaiserslautern an island in medieval times, ruins of Fredericks original castle, built 1152–1160, can still be seen in front of the Rathaus. A second castle, Nanstein Castle, was built at Landstuhl to guard the approach to the city. Barbarossas influence on Kaiserslautern remains today, both in its nickname as a Barbarossa city and the open-mouthed pike on the coat of arms. The Stiftkirche, Kaiserslauterns oldest church, was constructed in 1250–1350, as the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered the town in 1276. St. Martins Kirche was built from 1300–1350 for an order of monks, today a section of the original city wall still stands in the courtyard of the church. In 1375, the city of Kaiserslautern was pledged to Electoral Palatinate, in 1519, Franz von Sickingen became the owner of Nanstein Castle. He became a Protestant, and in 1522 Nanstein was a stronghold for local nobles favouring the Reformation, Sickingen and the local nobles began their battle against the Archbishop of Trier, but the attack was unsuccessful, and they retreated to Nanstein. Nanstein was then besieged by cannon-armed German Catholic princes, Sickingen died after the castle surrendered, and the Protestant nobility of the Electoral Palatinate were subdued by the Catholic princes. Count of the Electoral Palatinate Johann Casimir, came to Kaiserslautern during the Thirty Years War, spanish occupation in 1621–1632 ended when Protestant Swedish armies liberated the area. In 1635, however, Croatian troops of the Austrian emperors army entered Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl was saved from a similar fate by surrendering without a fight. It took Kaiserslautern about 160 years to repopulate itself, conflict did not end with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648
3.
Michael Frontzeck
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Michael Frontzeck is a German football coach and former footballer, who last managed Hannover 96. For the German national football team, he earned 19 caps and was in the squad for Euro 1992, Frontzeck began his career in the Bundesliga in 1982 with Borussia Mönchengladbach. From 1989 to 1994, he played for VfB Stuttgart as left wing back and he returned to Borussia Mönchengladbach for the season 1995–96 but then had his first stay abroad in the 1996–97 season with Manchester City. After playing for SC Freiburg and a last season for Borussia Mönchengladbach and he played for the German national team from 1984 to 1992 in a total of 19 games and won a runners-up medal in UEFA Euro 1992. Frontzeck started as assistant coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach from 2000 to 2003 and he was head coach of Alemannia Aachen from 13 September 2006 until the end of the season 2006–07 when he resigned due to the clubs relegation. In January 2008, he was named coach of Arminia Bielefeld. Eventually, it was announced that his contract was extended until 2010 but on 17 May 2009, on 3 June 2009, Borussia Mönchengladbach announced Frontzecks return to the team as new head coach. He signed a two-year-contract until 30 June 2011, following the loss against FC St. Pauli on 13 February 2011 Frontzeck was released as head coach by the club management of Borussia Mönchengladbach. He finished with a record of 16 wins,14 draws, on 3 October 2012, he was named new manager of FC St. Pauli replacing André Schubert. He was sacked on 6 November 2013 and he finished with a record of 15 wins,10 draws, and 5 losses. He was appointed the new coach of Hannover 96 on 20 April 2015. His first match was a 2–1 loss to 1899 Hoffenheim, to finish out the 2014–15 season, Hannover defeated FC Augsburg and SC Freiburg, both by a 2–1 scoreline, and two draws against VfL Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen. The win against Augsburg was Hannovers first win of 2015, on 28 May 2015, Hannover removed the interim tag and gave Frontzeck a two–year contract. He resigned on 21 December 2015 and he finished with a record of seven wins, four draws, and 13 losses
4.
2. Bundesliga
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Bundesliga is the second division of professional football in Germany. Bundesliga is ranked below the Bundesliga and above the 3, liga in the German football league system. Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the annual German Cup competition, a total of 125 clubs have competed in the 2. The decision to establish the league as the level of football in West Germany was taken in May 1973. The league started operating in August 1974, then two divisions of 20 clubs. It was reduced to a division in 1981. From the 1991–92 season onwards clubs from former East Germany started participating in the league and it returned to a single division format again at the end of that season and has had 18 clubs as its strength since 1994. Bundesliga are directly promoted to the Bundesliga, while a third promoted club has been determined through play-offs from 1974 to 1991, between 1991 and 2008 the third-placed club in the league was directly promoted. The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the division which has been, from 1974 to 1994 the Oberliga, from 1994 to 2008 the Regionalliga. The number of relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years, since 2008 two clubs are directly relegated while the third-last team has the opportunity to defend its league place in play-offs against the third placed team of the 3. FC Nürnberg holds the number of championships in the league with four. The club also holds the record for number of promotions from the 2, for the 2015–16 season, an average of 19,176 spectators watched 2. Bundesliga the worlds most-watched secondary football league, the decision to establish the 2. Bundesliga as a professional league below the Bundesliga was made at the annual convention of the German Football Association. The league replaced the five Regionalligas that were at this level from 1963 to 1974, the qualified teams were established through a ranking that took the last five seasons of the Regionalliga into account. Bundesliga was split into a northern and a division with 20 clubs each. Each division had its champion directly promoted to the Bundesliga while the two runners-up would contest a two-leg play-off to determine the promoted team. The first-ever game of the league was played on Friday,2 August 1974 between 1, FC Saarbrücken and SV Darmstadt 98 and ended in a 1–0 win for Saarbrücken, with Nikolaus Semlitsch scoring the first-ever goal of the new league
5.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
6.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
7.
Third jersey
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Alternate jerseys are also a means for professional sports organizations to generate revenue, by sales to fans. Of North American sports leagues, the NFL generates $1.2 billion annually in jersey sales, another use of the alternate uniform is for identifying with causes, like the Central Coast Mariners wear an alternate pink kit on pink ribbon day. Extra alternate uniforms or fourth/fifth kits are not commonly used, but are required when teams other uniforms cause color clashes. In cases where teams have more than three kits in the same season, the extra kits were usually recycled from previous seasons. Third-choice jerseys or uniforms are used in all four North American major professional sports leagues, Third kits are commonplace in professional European association football and in some professional European rugby union clubs. Alternate guernseys or jerseys are common in Australias two biggest domestic leagues, the Australian Football League and National Rugby League, for home and away jerseys in North America, historical convention has often dictated the colors used by teams in a given league. Teams generally have one jersey which is primarily in a team color, white at home is the convention in baseball, basketball, minor league professional hockey, and college hockey. White while away is the convention in football, major professional hockey. Association football does not have a white at home or a white while away convention, the NBA and NHL both enforce the color/white rule strictly, any NHL team seeking to wear white at home must get express permission from the league office to do so. In American sports, throwback jerseys are generally used for special team games. In American football a third jersey may be a uniform based on designs the team used in the past. In association football, meanwhile, it is commonly a radically different design. Initially, the NFL rule stated that a team may wear their third only once a year. There are currently no rules on wearing alternate pants, teams are also permitted to wear alternate jerseys as often as desired in playoff games, the only team to do so was the 2008 San Diego Chargers. Some teams will use one of their third jersey allotments against a particular division opponent each year. The New York Giants were known to wear their red jerseys at home against the Dallas Cowboys until the red jerseys were retired in 2009. The Washington Redskins wear their uniform on home games to commemorate their annual homecoming game once a year since 2012. When wearing their jerseys, especially if the team is wearing a throwback uniform
8.
Sports club
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A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. A club is solely created by its members, players and supporters, clubs may be dedicated to a single sport or to several. The term athletics club is used for a general sports club. Many professional sports clubs have a system where the affiliated supporters pay an annuity fee. Registered associate member fees, attendance receipts, sponsoring contracts, team merchandising, TV rights, some sports teams are owned and financed by a single non-sports company, for example the several sports teams owned by Red Bull GmbH and collectively known as Red Bulls. They may compete in different sports and leagues, being headquartered in some cases across several countries. In general, student sports can be described as composed by multisports clubs, each one representing its educational institution, in the United States major institutions like The New York Athletic Club and Los Angeles Athletic Club serve as athletic clubs that participate in multiple sports. Examples also abound of sports clubs that are in one sports team. Each team from the NFL, CFL, NBA, MLB, NHL or MLS North American sports leagues, can be called sports clubs, but in practice, they focus solely on a single sport. In the United Kingdom, almost all sports organizations are dedicated to a single sport. In addition, like in other countries, many universities and colleges develop a wide range of student sport activities including at a professional or semi-professional level. Fulham F. C. once ran a professional league team and rowing club. Many football clubs originate from cricket teams, today, most major cities have separate clubs for each sport. Many clubs internationally describe themselves as football clubs, generally, British football clubs field only football teams. Their counterparts in other countries tend to be full multi-sport clubs. Community organizations Health club Leisure centre North American Association of Sports Economists Sociedad Anónima Deportiva Voluntary Sports Societies of the USSR
9.
Rhineland-Palatinate
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Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of 19,846 square kilometres and about four million inhabitants, Rhineland-Palatinate is located in western Germany and borders Belgium, Luxembourg and France, and the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate dates from 30 August 1946, as of 201044. 9% of the population of the state adhered to the Roman Catholic Church,30. 6% to the Evangelical Church in Germany. 22. 0% of the population is irreligious or adheres to other religions, muslims made up 2. 5% of the total. The league of ShUM-cities in the later Rhineland-Palatinate comprised the Jewish communities of Mainz, Speyer, the Takkanot Shum, or Enactments of ShUM were a set of decrees formulated and agreed upon over a period of decades by their Jewish community leaders. Rhineland-Palatinate leads all German states with a rate of approximately 50%. Important sectors are the industry, chemical industry, pharmaceutical industry. Distinctive regional industries includes gemstone industry, ceramic and glass industry, small and medium enterprises are considered the backbone of the economy in Rhineland-Palatinate. The principal employer is the chemical and plastics processing industry which is represented by BASF in Ludwigshafen, boehringer, Joh. A. Benckiser, SGE Deutsche Holding, Schott Glassworks concludes the top 5 companies in the state. Rhineland-Palatinate is Germanys leading producer of wine in terms of grape cultivation, of thirteen wine regions producing quality wine in Germany, six are located in Rhineland-Palatinate, with 65% to 70% of the production of wine grapes in Germany having their origin within the state. 13,000 wine producers generate 80% to 90% of the German wine export, traditional grape varieties and a wide range of varieties developed during the last 125 years are characteristic for the region. Classical white varieties are cultivated at 63,683 hectares and these comprise the famous Rieslings 14,446 hectares, Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner and Kerner. The share of red varieties grew constantly during the last decades, dornfelder, a new cultivar, is the leading red grape cultivated on 7,626 hectares, which is more than a third. Blauer Portugieser and Spätburgunder show also appreciable cultivated shares, the state supports the wine industry by providing a comprehensive consultancy and education program in the service supply centers of the land. The Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding is fully financed by the state, many well known new breeds, such as Morio-Muskat, Bacchus, Optima and Regent have been created in these institutes. The worldwide leader in sparkling wine production, producing 245 million bottles in 2006, is the renowned Schloss Wachenheim Group and this company is headquartered in Trier, with operations in several locations in Rhineland-Palatinate
10.
Football in Germany
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Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a system, with the Bundesliga and 2. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German football champion, additionally, there are national cup competitions, most notably the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup. The Germany national football team has won four FIFA World Cups and it also holds a record three UEFA European Championships. The Germany womens national team has won two FIFA Womens World Cups and a record eight UEFA European Womens Championships. Germany is the nation that has won both the mens and womens World Cup. In addition, Germany is the nation to have won the applicable regional/continental championship for both the mens and womens team. No team has more combined mens and womens World Cup championships, the first football match arguably took place in Braunschweig in 1874. Two schoolteachers, August Hermann and Konrad Koch, initiated the first match after Hermann had obtained a round football from England, in 1875, Koch published the first German version of the rules of football, although Kochs version of the game still closely resembled Rugby football. The Dresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany and it was founded in 1874 by Englishmen living and working around Dresden. In the following 20 years the game achieved a growing popularity, Football clubs were founded in Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe. On 28 January 1900, representatives from 86 football clubs from German-speaking areas in and outside the German Empire met in the restaurant Mariengarten in Leipzig, the founding meeting was led by E. J. Kirmse, chairman of the Leipziger Fussball Verband. Ferdinand Hueppe, representing the DFC Prag, was elected first president of the DFB, the first championship beyond municipal areas was held in 1898 from the Verband Sueddeutscher Fussball-Vereine, later affiliated with the DFB. The German national football team represents Germany in international football competitions since 1908 and it is controlled by the German Football Association DFB, the governing body of football in Germany. After the war, Germany was occupied in three states, the DFB and its team continued in what was called West Germany, while the Saarland and East Germany fielded separate teams for some years. The FIFA World Cup 1974 was staged in West Germany, meeting on 22 June 1974 in a politically charged match in Hamburg, East Germany beat West Germany 1–0, on a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser. Both German teams advanced to the second round anyway, the GDR team was eliminated there, while the DFB team eventually went on to win the tournament
11.
Bundesliga
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The Bundesliga, is a professional association football league in Germany and the football league with the highest average stadium attendance worldwide. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germanys primary football competition, the Bundesliga is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Seasons run from August to May, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played on weekdays. All of the Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup. A total of 54 clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding, FC Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga the most, winning the title 25 times. However, the Bundesliga has seen other champions with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries. The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963, the structure and organisation of the Bundesliga along with Germanys other football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga, the Bundesliga is composed of two divisions, the 1. Bundesliga, and, below that, the 2, Bundesliga, which has been the second tier of German football since 1974. Below the level of the 3, Liga, leagues are generally subdivided on a regional basis. For example, the Regionalligen are currently made up of Nord, Nordost, Süd, below this are thirteen parallel divisions, most of which are called Oberligen which represent federal states or large urban and geographical areas. The levels below the Oberligen differ between the local areas, the league structure has changed frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 1990s, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany, every team in the two Bundesligen must have a licence to play in the league, or else they are relegated into the regional leagues. To obtain a licence, teams must be healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations. As in other leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division. Bundesliga teams draw significantly greater levels of fan support, average attendance in the first league is 42,673 per game — more than twice the average of the 2. Greater exposure through television and higher attendance levels helps 1, Bundesliga teams attract the most lucrative sponsorships. Bundesliga teams develop substantial financial muscle through the combination of television and gate revenues, sponsorships and this allows them to attract and retain skilled players from domestic and international sources and to construct first-class stadium facilities
12.
DFB-Pokal
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The DFB-Pokal or German Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and it is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. The DFB-Pokal is run by the German Football Association, and runs from August until June, the winner qualifies for the DFL-Supercup and the UEFA Europa League unless the winner already qualifies for the UEFA Champions League in the Bundesliga. The competition was founded in 1935, then called the Tschammer-Pokal, in 1937, Schalke 04 were the first team to win the double. The Tschammer-Pokal was suspended in 1944 due to World War II, in 1952–53, the cup was reinstated as the DFB-Pokal, named after the DFB, and was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. Bayern Munich have won the most titles with 18 wins, also being the incumbent title holders, fortuna Düsseldorf hold the record for most consecutive tournament game wins between 1978 and 1981, winning the cup in 1979 and 1980. The competition format has varied considerably since the inception of the Tschammer-Pokal in 1935, the DFB-Pokal begins with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2, Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the 3. Liga are automatically qualified for the tournament, of the remaining slots 21 are given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, the Verbandspokale. The three remaining slots are given to the three regional associations with the most mens teams and they may assign the slot as they see fit but usually give it to the runner-up in the association cup. Reserve teams like Borussia Dortmund II are not permitted to enter, the pairings for the DFB Cup are not entirely random as the teams are split into two pots of 32 teams each. One pot contains all the amateur teams including teams from the 3, liga and the teams just being promoted to the 2. The other pot contains the teams from the Bundesliga and the teams of the 2, Bundesliga who has not just been promoted. Therefore, in the first round of the cup each professional team plays an amateur team, since 1982, the amateur generally plays at home when facing a professional team. For the second round, the teams are divided into two pots according to the same principles. This time, the dont have to be of equal size, though. Amateur teams get paired with professional teams until one pot is empty, the remaining teams are then drawn from the nonempty pot with the team first drawn playing at home. For the remaining other than the final the teams are drawn from one pot
13.
DFL-Supercup
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The DFL-Supercup or German Super Cup is a one-off football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The DFL-Supercup is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga, in 1997, it was superseded by a league cup called DFB-Ligapokal. In 2008, although not officially sanctioned by the DFB, the match returned as the T-Home Supercup, featuring Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, the match was a one-year replacement for the DFB-Ligapokal, which was cancelled for one season, due to schedule crowding caused by UEFA Euro 2008. The Supercup was reinstated from the 2010–11 season at the general meeting of the German Football League on 10 November 2009. Since 2010, in contrast to the DFB-Supercup, if one wins the double. No extra time is played in the case of a draw after 90 minutes, below is a list of the Super Cup winners. Since 2010, if one wins the domestic double, then league runners-up are invited as the second team. The German champions met the cup winners several times without the match being officially recognized
14.
UEFA Champions League
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, the pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations top-level league. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition. In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, the eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competitions history, having won the tournament 11 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, followed by England, the competition has been won by 22 different clubs,12 of which have won it more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, Milan were the last holders to defend their title. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their title in the competition after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2016 final. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations, the first attempt to create a cup for national clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent, the tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949 and it was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season, the first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP, the inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid
15.
3. Liga
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Liga, is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2, Bundesliga and the semi-professional Regionalliga, which became the fourth division and initially consisted of three groups of 18 clubs playing separately. Liga is the highest division that a football clubs reserve team can play in, on 8 September 2006, the German Football Association, the DFB, announced the formation of the 3. It was originally anticipated that the name would be 3. Bundesliga, but the DFB chose 3, Liga instead, reflecting the fact that the league will be directly administered by the DFB, not by the German Football League DFL who runs both Bundesliga and 2. The first match of the 3, Liga was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden at the Steigerwaldstadion in Erfurt. Dynamo Dresden won the match 1–0, with Halil Savran scoring the goal in the closing stages of the first half. From its foundation in 2008 to 2013 the league had been operating on a financial loss, the 2013–14 season saw the league make a profit for the first time, being €4.9 million in the plus. This makes it the third-most economically successful professional league in all German sports, the teams which are not reserve teams of Bundesliga teams among the 20 teams in the league compete for promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, while the three teams are relegated to one of the five Regionalligen, Regionalliga Nord, Regionalliga Nordost, Regionalliga West, Regionalliga Südwest. If, however, a team is playing in the 3. Liga and the respective first team is relegated to the 3, Liga, the reserve team will be relegated to the Regionalliga regardless of its league position. At the end of the 2007–08 season, the two best non-reserve teams from each of the two divisions of the Regionalliga were promoted to the 2, the teams ranked third to tenth in both Regionalliga entered the new 3. Liga, joining the four teams relegated from the 2, Bundesliga to form the new 20-team league. Teams finishing 11th or lower in their Regionalliga remained where they were, on 18 May 2008, at the end of the 2007–082. Bundesliga season, four clubs were relegated from the 2, Bundesliga and became charter members of the 3. Liga, Kickers Offenbach, FC Erzgebirge Aue, SC Paderborn 07, on 31 May 2008, at the end of the 2007–08 Regionalliga seasons, clubs placing third through tenth in the Regionalliga Nord and the Regionalliga Süd also qualified for the new 3
16.
1954 FIFA World Cup
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The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946, the tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game. The tournament was won by West Germany, who defeated Hungary 3–2 in the final, Switzerland was awarded the tournament unopposed on 22 July 1946, the same day that Brazil was selected for the 1950 World Cup, in Luxembourg City. The hosts and the champions qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places,11 were allocated to Europe, scotland, Turkey and South Korea made their World Cup debuts at this tournament. Austria appeared for the first time since 1934, Turkey would not participate at a finals again until the 2002 competition, while South Koreas next appearance would be in 1986. The third and fourth teams from 1950, Sweden and Spain. In a shock result, Spain was eliminated by Turkey, after the two countries had tied a series, Turkey progressed by drawing of lots. German teams were allowed to qualify again, after having been banned from the 1950 FIFA World Cup, West Germany qualified against fellow Germans from the Saarland, while East Germany had not entered, cancelling international football games after the East German uprising of 1953. Argentina declined to participate for the third World Cup in succession, the 1954 tournament used a unique format. The sixteen qualifying teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, each group contained two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were scheduled for each group, each pitting a team against an unseeded team. This contrasts with the usual round-robin in which team plays every other team. Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw, the two teams with the most points from each group progressed to the knockout stage. If the first and second placed teams were level on points, lots were drawn to decide which team would top the group. However, if the second and third placed teams were level on points and it turned out that two of the four groups required play-offs, and the other two required drawing of lots between the two top teams. The play-offs were between Switzerland and Italy, and Turkey and West Germany, in matches the unseeded teams repeated earlier victories against the seeds to progress. In the other two groups, lots were drawn to determine the teams, resulting in Uruguay and Brazil finishing above Austria and Yugoslavia
17.
Westkreis-Liga
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The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Kreisliga Pfalz, Kreisliga Saar and Kreisliga Hessen in 1919. The league was formed in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany in the early 1900s, in its second year, the league expanded to nine clubs, now spanning a wider area and including clubs from Mannheim and Darmstadt. In 1909-10, the played in an unchanged format, but was reduced to eight clubs for the next season. In the last pre-First World War season, 1913–14, with the SpVgg Metz, the war starting in August 1914 meant an end to the league, no championship was played in 1914-15 at all. In the following three seasons, regional leagues operated, like before 1908, a Westkreis championship as well as a Southern German one was played, but no national title games were held. With the end of the war in November 1918, football came to a once more. Lorraine ceased to be a part of Germany and the German football league system, new leagues started to operate from 1919 and in the parts of the Westkreis still with Germany, the Kreisliga Pfalz, Kreisliga Saar and Kreisliga Hessen were formed. The Westkreis was one of the regions as football was concerned in this era, taking out no Southern German championships at the time. 1 In 1909, FC1900 merged with FC Palatia and FC Bavaria to form FV Kaiserslautern, in 1929, this club merged with SV Phönix to form 1. 2 In 1911, FG Union 97 merged with FC Viktoria 97,3 SpVgg Metz players formed Cercle Athlétique Messin in 1919, which evolved to become FC Metz in 1932. com
18.
Kreisliga Saar
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The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar in 1923. The league was named after the Saar River, with the outbreak of the First World War, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level. With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Westkreis championship was played in 1918-19, the league winners of the Kreisligas advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season, with the league being expanded to ten clubs for the later, in 1921-22, the Kreisliga Saar was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners played a final to determine the Saar champion, which in turn advanced to a Rheinhessen-Saar championship final against the Hessen champion. In 1923, a reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse. The best four teams each from the Kreisliga Hessen and Saar were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar, the four clubs from Saar were, Borussia Neunkirchen FV Saarbrücken 1. FC Idar SV Trier 05 The clubs from the Kreisliga Saar were not particularly successful in this era, Borussia Neunkirchen did however reach the final of the Southern German Championship in 1922, to lose 2-1 after extra time to FC Wacker München. com
19.
Kreisliga Pfalz
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The Kreisliga Pfalz was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Rhein in 1923, with the outbreak of the First World War, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level. With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Westkreis championship was played in 1918-19, the league winners of the Kreisligas advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season, with the league expanding to ten clubs for the later, in 1921-22, the Kreisliga Pfalz was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners played a final to determine the Pfalz champion, which in turn advanced to a Rhein championship final against the Odenwald champion. In 1923, a reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse. The best four teams each from the Kreisliga Odenwald and Pfalz were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Rhein. com
20.
Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar
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The Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the northernmost part of Baden from 1927 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933, the league was formed in 1927, from the clubs of the Bezirksliga Rhein and the southern half of the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar. The clubs from the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar which did not become part of the new league were added to the new Bezirksliga Main-Hessen instead. The league operated from the start in two divisions, the Rhein-division, named after the river Rhein and the Saar-division, named after the river of Saar. The first played with eleven, the second with ten clubs in its first season 1927-28, a Bezirksliga final was not played. The second and third placed team in each division qualified for another round, the leagues were reduced to nine teams each in the following season but remained unchanged in modus otherwise. For the 1929-30 season, both divisions operated on a strength of eight teams, a system that also applied in the following season. In the 1931-32 season, both expanded in strength to ten teams. The Southern German finals were also reorganised with the top two teams from each division advancing to the Northwest finals group, in its last season, 1932–33, both divisions operated on a strength of ten clubs. With the rise of the Nazis to power, the Gauligas were introduced as the highest football leagues in Germany, in the region, the Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen replaced the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar as the highest level of play. The clubs from Mannheim however entered the new Gauliga Baden while the teams from Trier went to the Gauliga Mittelrhein
21.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
22.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
23.
Kickers Offenbach
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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 established local clubs including Melitia, Teutonia, Viktoria, Germania. From 1921 to 1925 they were united with VfB1900 Offenbach as VfR Kickers Offenbach until resuming their status as a separate side, since 2012, Kickers Offenbachs stadium has been the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium. The club became one of the members of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909. In post-First World War Germany, Kickers played in the Kreisliga Südmain, 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 level of play in the following seasons. In the early 1940s the Gauliga Südwest had been split into the Gauliga Westmark and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, by 1944, Allied armies were rolling through Germany and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau did not play the 1944–45 season. The club found itself in the new Regionalliga Süd 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 its one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2,1 German Cup victory over 1, however, the end of the 1971 season would find Kickers Offenbach at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal. Receiving no help from league officials, Canellas began gathering evidence of how widespread the payoffs were, the club central to the scandal – Arminia Bielefeld – would not be punished until the following season, too late to save Offenbach. The scandal had a negative effect on the young league. One outcome of the affair was the further evolution of German football, salary restrictions were removed. Bundesliga also became a professional league, for the players it meant that having ones club sent down no longer also meant losing ones status as a paid professional. Kickers immediately returned to top level, the best finish was 7th in 1972–73 season. They were leaders for 5 rounds and beat Bayern Munich 6–0 in 1974–75 season and they relegated to second level in 1975–76 season. Kickers would spend the next seven years in the division 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 they recovered themselves only to be denied a license in 1989 and be sent back down again
24.
FC Schalke 04
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The 04 in the clubs name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, as of December 2015, the club has 140,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the sixth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports, founded in 1904, Schalke has won seven German championships, five DFB-Pokals, one DFL-Supercup and one UEFA Cup. Since 2001, Schalkes stadium is the Veltins-Arena, Schalke was ranked as the seventh-best football team in Europe by UEFAs 2015 UEFA club rankings. In terms of operating income, Schalke possesses the seventh-highest operating income of any club at $64.4 million or £38.2 million. Schalke also generates the 14th-highest revenue of any club, at $265.6 million or £157.8 million. In May 2014, Schalke 04 were ranked by Forbes magazine as the 14th-most valuable football club, at £355 million or $599 million, the club was founded on 4 May 1904 as Westfalia Schalke by a group of high school students and first wore the colours red and yellow. The team was unable to gain admittance to the Westdeutscher Spielverband, in 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league, they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry. This arrangement held up until 1915 when SV Westfalia Schalke was re-established as an independent club, the separation proved short-lived and the two came together again in 1919 as Turn- und Sportverein Schalke 1877. The new club won its first honours in 1923 as champions of the Schalke Kreisliga, in 1924, the football team parted ways with the gymnasts again, this time taking the club chairman along with them. They took the name FC Schalke 04 and adopted the now familiar blue, the following year, the club became the dominant local side, based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball. This system would become famous as the Schalker Kreisel. In 1927, it carried them into the top-flight Gauliga Ruhr, onto the league championship, the popular club built a new stadium, the Glückauf-Kampfbahn, in 1928, and acknowledged the citys support by renaming themselves FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. However, the ban had little impact on the popularity, in their first game after the ban against Fortuna Düsseldorf, in June 1931. The clubs fortunes begun to rise from 1931 and they made a appearance in the 1932 German championship. The year after, the club went all the way to the final and this league saw Schalkes most successful decade in their history, from 1933 to 1942, the club would appear in 14 of 18 national finals and win their league in every one of its eleven seasons. Schalkes first national title came in 1934 with a 2–1 victory over favourites 1, the next year, they successfully defended their title against VfB Stuttgart with a 6–4 win. The club missed the 1936 final, but would make appearances in the match in each of the next six years
25.
Saarland
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The Saarland is one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. With its capital at Saarbrücken, it has an area of 2,570 km², in terms of both area and population size – apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg – it is Germanys smallest state. Prior to its creation as the Territory of the Saar Basin by the League of Nations after World War I, until then, some parts of it had been Prussian while others belonged to Bavaria. The inhabitants voted to rejoin Germany in a referendum held in 1935, from 1947 to 1956 the Saarland was a French-occupied territory separate from the rest of Germany. Between 1950 and 1956, Saarland was a member of the Council of Europe, in 1955, in another referendum, the inhabitants were offered independence, but voted instead for the territory to become a state of West Germany. From 1920 to 1935, and again from 1947 to 1959, Saarland is the result of a regulation of the treaty of Versailles and was created in 1919. Prior to this creation, there never existed a comparable administrative unit or a feeling of togetherness, the region of the Saarland was settled by the Celtic tribes of Treveri and Mediomatrici. The most impressive relic of their time is the remains of a fortress of refuge at Otzenhausen in the north of the Saarland, in the 1st century BC, the Roman Empire made the region part of its province of Belgica. The Celtic population mixed with the Roman immigrants, the region gained wealth, which can still be seen in the remains of Roman villas and villages. Roman rule ended in the 5th century, when the Franks conquered the territory, for the next 1,300 years the region shared the history of the Kingdom of the Franks, the Carolingian Empire and of the Holy Roman Empire. The region of the Saarland was divided into small territories. Most important of the rulers were the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. It was not the king of France but the armies of the French Revolution who terminated the independence of the states in the region of the Saarland, after 1792 they conquered the region and made it part of the French Republic. While a strip in the west belonged to the Département Moselle, the centre in 1798 became part of the Département de Sarre, after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the region was divided again. Most of it part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Another part in the east, corresponding to the present Saarpfalz district, was allocated to the Kingdom of Bavaria, a small part in the northeast was ruled by the Duke of Oldenburg. On 31 July 1870, the French Emperor Napoleon III ordered an invasion across the River Saar to seize Saarbrücken, the first shots of the Franco-Prussian War 1870/71 were fired on the heights of Spichern, south of Saarbrücken. The Saar region became part of the German Empire which came into existence on 18 January 1871, in 1920 the Saargebiet was occupied by Britain and France under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
26.
Fritz Walter
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Friedrich Fritz Walter was a German footballer. He usually played as an midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the German national team, he made 61 caps and scored 33 goals, Walter was exposed to football early with his parents working at the 1. By 1928 he had joined the Kaiserslautern youth academy, and he made his first team debut at 17, Walter debuted with the German national team in 1940 under Sepp Herberger, and scored a hat-trick against Romania. Walter was drafted into the forces in 1942, however. When the Soviets arrived they in general took all German prisoners back to a Gulag in Soviet Union where life expectancy was about five years. Fortunately, one of the Hungarian prison guards had seen Walter playing for Germany, upon his return in 1945, Walter, who by now suffering from malaria, again played for Kaiserslautern, leading them to German championships in 1951 and 1953. Sepp Herberger recalled him to the team in 1951. He was captain of the West German team that won their first World Cup in 1954, ironically, given the intervention of the Hungarian guards during the war, that win came over Hungary. He and his brother, Ottmar Walter, became the first brothers to play in a World Cup winning team. Walter received his last cap during the semi-final against Sweden in the 1958 World Cup, suffering an injury ended his international career. The home stadium of FC Kaiserslautern was renamed the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in 1985, Fritz Walter was named an honorary captain of the German football squad in 1958. The other four are Uwe Seeler, Franz Beckenbauer, Lothar Matthäus, Walter died in Enkenbach-Alsenborn on 17 June 2002, aged 81. It was his dream to see the World Cup 2006 in his town Kaiserslautern as the town had not been selected in the tournament of 1974. But on the year anniversary of his death on 17 June 2006, the United States played Italy in Kaiserslautern. Today people may visit the Fritz Walter Haus in the town of Enkenbach-Alsenborn approx, in November 2003, to celebrate UEFAs 50th anniversary, the German Football Association selected him as its Golden Player of the past 50 years. During the eighties and nineties, there was another successful Bundesliga striker called Fritz Walter, although he had no relationship to the great Kaiserslautern captain, sports fans jokingly called him Fritz Walter junior. Walters wife of five decades was Italia Walter, a woman from Italy and this is because he, as many other soldiers, had contracted malaria during the war, thus rendering him unable to stand the heat of the sun
27.
Ottmar Walter
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Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter was a German footballer. He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1 and they also played together for the Germany national football team in the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Walter scored four goals in the tournament as West Germany won their first ever World Cup title, in total, Walter earned 20 caps and scored 10 goals for Germany. FC Kaiserslautern he scored unequaled 336 goals in 321 league and cup matches, Walter debuted in the first team at the age of 18 in 1942 as an outside left in a 7–1 rout of 1. FC Kaiserslautern against SV Waldhof Mannheim, during World War II, Walter was drafted into the Kriegsmarine and suffered heavy injuries in his right knee. After several operations, he was forced to end his career in 1958, born in Kaiserslautern, Walter and his two brothers Fritz and Ludwig all joined local club,1. After making his debut for the club in 1942 he was posted to Kiel, by the late-1940s, Walter was the center forward of 1. Like his brother Fritz, he treated the ball elegantly and was also pacy, as a center forward he also often moved to the wing. After the end of his career, he concentrated on operating a gas station which he had taken at rent in 1954 and this happened in 1969 and in consequence of this Walter tried to commit suicide. However, he survived and later described that attempted suicide as a panic reaction, later Walter found a job as an employee of the city of Kaiserslautern
28.
Germany national football team
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The Germany national football team is the mens football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900, ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany. Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team, the official name and code Germany FR was shortened to Germany following the reunification in 1990. Germany is one of the most successful teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups. They have also been three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and a further four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976, Germany is the only nation to have won both the mens and womens World Cups. At the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany earned the highest Elo rating of any football team in history. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas, the current manager of the national team is Joachim Löw. Germanys first championship title was won in Switzerland. At that time the players were selected by the DFB, as there was no dedicated coach, the first manager of the Germany national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher from Mannheim, who served in the role from 1926 to 1936. After a poor showing at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in 1937 he put together a squad which was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf in recognition of their 8–0 win over Denmark in the then German city of Breslau, Lower Silesia. In the 1938 World Cup that began on 4 June, this united German team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland and that early exit stands as Germanys worst World Cup result. During World War II, the team played over 30 international games between September 1939 and November 1942, when national team games were suspended, as most players had to join the armed forces. After the Second World War, Germany was banned from competition in most sports until 1950, the DFB was not a full member of FIFA, and none of the three new German states — West Germany, East Germany, and Saarland — entered the 1950 World Cup qualifiers. The Federal Republic of Germany, which was referred to as West Germany, with recognition by FIFA and UEFA, the DFB maintained and continued the record of the pre-war team. Switzerland was once again the first team that played West Germany in 1950, West Germany qualified for the 1954 World Cup. The Saarland, under French control between 1947 and 1956, did not join French organisations, and was barred from participating in pan-German ones and it sent their own team to the 1952 Summer Olympics and to the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. In 1957, Saarland acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, in 1949, the communist German Democratic Republic was founded
29.
SV Werder Bremen
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Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. commonly known as Werder Bremen, is a German sports club located in Bremen in the northwest German federal state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The club was founded in 1899 and has grown to 40,400 members and it is best known for its association football team. Bremens football club has been a mainstay in the Bundesliga, the top league of the German football league system, Bremen have won the Bundesliga championship four times and the DFB-Pokal six times. Their latest Bundesliga championship came in 2004, when they won a double, Bremen have also had European success, winning the 1992 European Cup Winners Cup. Since 1924, Werder Bremens stadium is the Weserstadion, Werder Bremens coach Viktor Skrypnyk was dismissed in September 2016. Werder Bremen has a rivalry with Hamburger SV, another Bundesliga club in northern Germany, the club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of 16 vocational high school students who had won a prize of sports equipment. The students took the name from the seldom-used regional German word for river peninsula. The predecessor to Bremen, known as SV Werder, played its first ever match on 10 September 1899 against ASC1898 Bremen coming away with a 1–0 victory, in 1900, FV Bremen was represented at the founding of the German Football Association at Leipzig. The club then enjoyed some success, fielding competitive sides. They became the first club to charge spectators a fee to attend their games, in April 1914, the club became a department of Allgemeiner Bremer Turnverein 1860 and was briefly known as Sportabteilung Werder des ABTV. The relationship was short-lived, however, and the club went its own way again less than two months later, steady growth after World War I led the club to adopt other sports and, on 19 January 1920, change their name to the current Sportverein Werder Bremen. Football remained their primary interest, so much so that in 1922, the team made regular appearances in year-end NFV qualification round play through the 1920s and on into the early 1930s, but did not enjoy any success. German football was re-organized under the Third Reich in 1933 into 16 first division known as Gauligen. The club scored its first real successes, capturing titles in 1934,1936, and 1937. The shape of the Gauligen changed through the course of World War II and in 1939, SV played in the Gauliga Niedersachsen/Nord where they captured a fourth title in 1942. As the war overtook the country, the Gauligen became progressively more local in character, the Gauliga Niedersachsen/Nord became the Gauliga Weser-Ems and then the Gauliga Weser-Ems/Bremen over the next two years. Werders 1944–45 season was cut short after just two matches, like other organizations throughout Germany, the club was disbanded on the order of the occupying Allied authorities after the war. They re-constituted themselves on 10 November 1945 as Turn- und Sportverein Werder 1945 Bremen, the team played in the Stadtliga Bremen, and after capturing the title there, participated in the northern German championship round, advancing to the quarter-finals
30.
Eintracht Frankfurt
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The club was founded in 1899 and have won one German championship, four DFB-Pokals and one UEFA Cup. Since 1925, their stadium has been the Waldstadion, which since 1 July 2005, has been called Commerzbank-Arena for sponsorship reasons, both clubs were founding members of the new Nordkreis-Liga in 1909. In turn, Frankfurter FV joined the gymnastics club Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861 to form TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861 in 1920. 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. Eintracht picked up where left off after World War II, playing as a solid side in the first division Oberliga Süd. Eintracht lost 3–7 to Real Madrid in a final that was widely regarded as one of the best football matches ever played. The side continued to play football and earned themselves a place as one of the original 16 teams selected to play in the Bundesliga, Germanys new professional football league. Eintracht played Bundesliga football for 33 seasons, finishing in the top half of the table for the majority of them and 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 avoided relegation on several occasions. In 1984, they defeated MSV Duisburg 6–1 on aggregate, FC Saarbrücken 4–1 on aggregate, in two-game playoffs. Eintracht finally slipped and were relegated to 2, at the time that they were sent down alongside 1. FC Kaiserslautern, these teams were two of four sides that had been in the Bundesliga since the leagues inaugural season. It looked as though they would be out again in 1998–99, FC Nürnberg unexpectedly lost at home to give Eintracht the break they needed to stay up. The club was plagued by financial difficulties again in 2004 before once more being relegated, between 1997 and 2005, Eintracht has bounced between the top two divisions. The 2010–11 season ended with the clubs 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. After seven games without scoring a goal, coach Michael Skibbe was doubted, the change, however, did little to change Eintrachts fortunes, as the club achieved only three draws out of the last seven games and were subsequently relegated on the 34th matchday. One year later, Eintracht defeated Alemannia Aachen 3–0 on the 32nd match day of the 2011–12 season, in 2015–16, Eintracht had the 19th-highest attendance in Europe, ahead of such prominent clubs as Atlético Madrid, Celtic and Paris Saint-Germain. The club has enjoyed success in competition outside the Bundesliga
31.
Hamburger SV
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Hamburger Sport-Verein e. V. commonly known as Hamburger SV, Hamburg or HSV, is a German sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department. HSVs football team has the distinction of having played continuously in the top tier of the German football league system since the end of World War I. It is the team that has played in every season of the Bundesliga since its foundation in 1963. HSV has won the German national championship six times, the DFB-Pokal three times and the League Cup twice. The teams most successful period was from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s when, in addition to several domestic honours, they won the 1976–77 European Cup Winners Cup and their outstanding player was German national star Felix Magath. To date, HSVs last major trophy was the 1986–87 DFB-Pokal, HSV play their home games at the Volksparkstadion in Bahrenfeld, a western district of Hamburg. The club colours are blue, white and black but the home kit of the team is white jerseys. The teams most common nickname is die Rothosen, as it is one of Germanys oldest clubs, it is also known as der Dinosaurier. HSV have rivalries with Werder Bremen, with whom they contest the Nordderby, and Hamburg-based FC St. Pauli, HSV is notable in football as a grassroots organisation with youth development a strong theme. The club had a team in the Womens Bundesliga from 2003 to 2012, other club departments include badminton, baseball, basketball, bowling, boxing, cricket, darts, hockey, golf, gymnastics, handball and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation exercises. These departments represent about 10% of the club membership, HSV is one of the biggest sports clubs in Germany with over 70,000 members in all its departments and stated by Forbes to be among the 20-largest football clubs in the world. This was the first of three clubs merged on 2 June 1919 to create HSV in its present form. HSV in its club statute recognises the founding of SC Germania as its own date of origin, the other two clubs in the June 1919 merger were Hamburger FC founded in 1888 and FC Falke Eppendorf dating back to 1906. The merger came about because the three clubs had been weakened by the impact of the First World War on manpower and finance. SC Germania was formed originally as a club and did not begin to play football until 1891. SC Germania had its first success in 1896, winning the Hamburg-Altona championship for the first of five times, Hamburger SC1888 was founded by students on 1 June 1888. It later had links with a team called FC Viktoria 95 and. SC Germania and Hamburger SC1888 were among 86 clubs who founded the Deutscher Fußball-Bund in Leipzig on 28 January 1900, FC Falke was founded by students in Eppendorf on 5 March 1906 but it was never a successful team and played in lower leagues
32.
Otto Rehhagel
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Otto Rehhagel is a German football coach and former football player. Along with Helmut Schön, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Udo Lattek and Hennes Weisweiler, Rehhagel is one of only two persons, the other one being Jupp Heynckes, who, as player and as manager combined, has participated in over 1000 Bundesliga matches. In the Bundesliga, he holds the records for the most victories, most draws, most losses, and his teams have scored the most goals and conceded more than any other. Rehhagel began his career with local club TuS Helene Altenessen in 1948 before moving to Rot-Weiss Essen, after the start of the Bundesliga for Hertha BSC. He played 201 games in the Bundesliga, as a player, Rehhagel was known as a tough-as-nails defender. In 1974, he took charge of Kickers Offenbach, but failed to make an impact as a manager. Most famously, while in charge of Borussia Dortmund in 1978, he suffered a historic, record-setting 12–0 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach, in 1980, Rehhagel won his first trophy as a manager, when his Fortuna Düsseldorf side won the German Cup. Rehhagel managed Werder Bremen from 1981 to 1995, during these 14 golden years for the club, Rehhagel transformed Werder from a small minnow into a powerhouse, dazzling spectators with powerful up-tempo play and a smothering defence. In the mid-eighties, Rehhagel often fell just short of success and had a string of second places, in that time, his nickname was Otto II or Vizeadmiral. In this period, Rehhagel produced a host of stars, such as Rudi Völler, Karlheinz Riedle, Dieter Eilts, Marco Bode, Mario Basler, Hany Ramzy, Andreas Herzog. His stint with Werder Bremen is the second longest consecutive occupation as a manager ever in the Bundesliga. It was only surpassed by Volker Finke of Freiburg After 14 golden years at Werder Bremen, Rehhagel left to manage former hated rivals, Bayern Munich. Prior to Rehhagels arrival, Bayern had a disappointing, but financially lucrative season in 1994–95, in the summer of 1995, Bayern spent a lot of money, buying Jürgen Klinsmann, Andreas Herzog, and others, and Rehhagel was brought in as manager to replace Giovanni Trapattoni. It was widely expected that Munich would steamroll the opposition in 1995–96, but from Day 1, Rehhagel clashed with the team, Rehhagel injected new energy into the team, which saw Kaiserslautern comfortably getting back into the top-flight in 1997, winning the second division by 10 points. Prior to the start of the 1997–98 season, Kaiserslautern were seen as horses for a place in the UEFA Cup. Rehhagel finished with a record of 87 wins,39 draws, Rehhagels first match in charge was in October 2001, a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Finland, which ended in a 5–1 away defeat. As a result, he rebuilt the squad, and in October 2003, after a 1–0 win over Northern Ireland, Greece qualified automatically for Euro 2004, ahead of Spain and Ukraine. Ranked 150–1 outsiders, they nevertheless defeated host nation Portugal, holders France and the more fancied Czech Republic on the way to the final
33.
PSV Eindhoven
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The Philips Sport Vereniging, abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven is a sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its football department, which plays in the Eredivisie. Along with Ajax and Feyenoord, PSV is one of the big three clubs that have dominated the Eredivisie. The club was founded in 1913 as a team for Philips employees, PSVs history contains two golden eras revolving around the UEFA Cup victory in 1978 and the 1987–88 European Cup victory as part of the seasonal treble in 1988. The team has won the Eredivisie 23 times, the KNVB Cup nine times, currently, PSV is 28th on the UEFA club coefficients ranking. Since its foundation, it has played in the Philips Stadion and has upheld its club colours and its elaborate connection with Philips can be witnessed in its sponsoring, shared technology and board member ties. Fans have named themselves boeren, taking pride in Eindhovens status of being a provincial city, to serve the need for activities with Philips employees, the company founded its own football team in 1910, the Philips Elftal. Its ground was the Philips Sportpark, located on the location as the present day stadium. Financial turmoil and worker strikes led to a demise of the team and in 1913, its successor emerged, Philips Sport Vereniging. It was the day that Philips organized celebrations and sports competitions in light of the defeat of the French in the Napoleonic Wars. It was not until 1916, however, that the department switched its name from Philips Elftal to PSV. Because of World War I, the first possibility to enter a league was in the 1915–16 season, the clubs first ever match was a 3–2 defeat against Willem II Reserves on 19 September 1915. The team did achieve promotion that season to a newly created Third Division of the Brabantian FA, under the guidance of coach Wout Buitenweg, PSV were promoted in 1918 and 1921 as well, eventually reaching the Eerste Klasse. The team was relegated in 1925, but its stint in the Second Division only lasted one year when PSV were promoted again, since 1926, PSV has always played in the highest possible domestic league. That year, defender Sjef van Run was brought in and a year later Jan van den Broek joined PSV, behind the scenes, Frans Otten became chairman of the entire PSV sports union. He was responsible for bringing the club to a new level with new accommodations, after winning the district league in 1929, PSV entered the championship play-offs. In that competition, it won six out of eight matches, a 5–1 win against Velocitas from the city of Groningen meant that PSV was crowned league champions for the first time. In the following three years, PSV won the league every year, but it could not win the play-offs until 1935
