1.
German Football Association
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The German Football Association is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the mens and womens national teams, the DFB headquarters are based in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League, organising the professional Bundesliga, Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members. From 1875 to the mid-1880s, the first kind of football played in Germany was according to rugby rules, later, association-style football teams formed separate clubs, and since 1890, they began to organise on regional and national levels. The DFB was founded on 28 January 1900 in Leipzig by representatives of 86 clubs, the vote held to establish the association was 62,22 in favour. Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may have voted only once, other delegates present did not carry their clubs authority to cast a ballot. The DFB consolidated the number of state-based German regional competitions in play for a single recognized national title for the season 1902/03. The German national team played its first game in 1908, before 1914, the German Empire was much larger than todays Germany, comprising Alsace-Lorraine and the eastern provinces. The borders of the associations were drawn according to suitable railway connections. Also, teams based in Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary, were eligible, as they were German Football clubs, thus, a German team from Prague was runner-up in the German championship. On the other hand, clubs of the Danish minority in Northern Schleswig refused to join the DFB and this area after World War I voted to join Denmark. Due to border changes imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, the DFB had to adopt its structure, the Saarland, Danzig, and the Memelland were detached from Germany and East Prussia was cut off from the main part by the Polish Corridor. The role of DFB and its representatives like Felix Linnemann under Nazi Germany was documented in 100 Jahre DFB, on a short general meeting on 9 July 1933 in Berlin, the DFB did so, at least formally. Later, the Hitler salute was made compulsory, Marxists and Jews were expelled, on the pitch, Germany had done well in 1934, but after a 0–2 loss in the 1936 Summer Olympics, with Adolf Hitler attending, the DFB and football fell from grace. Germany had made a bid to host the 1938 World Cup, following the Anschluss in March 1938 that made Austria part of Germany, the Austrian Football Association became part of the German federation. Four Germans represented West Europe in a FIFA friendly on 20 June 1937 in Amsterdam, during the war, Germany played international games until 1942. In the aftermath of World War II, German organisations were disbanded by the allies, FIFA decided in November 1945 to ban the no longer existing DFB from international competition, while the Austrian association was re-founded
2.
Karlsruher FV
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Karlsruher FV is a German association football club that plays in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Established on 17 November 1891, KFV was a member of the German Football Association in 1900. The team went on to capture the championship in 1910 with a 1–0 victory over Holstein Kiel. Folding in 2004, the club reformed in 2007, KFV co-founder Walther Bensemann established Internationalen FC Karlsruhe, the first football team in south Germany, in 1889. This club became part of KFV in 1894 and he also had a hand in founding the Frankfurter Kickers a predecessor side to Eintracht Frankfurt. As well, Bensemann established kicker, Germanys first football magazine, KFV was one of Germanys most successful sides in the years before the First World War. The club captured the South German title eight times from 1901 to 1912, leading to national final appearances in 1905,1910, KFVs championship was earned under the direction of English coach William Townley, a prominent figure in the early history of the game in Germany. KFV figures in the story of Germanys first national championship in 1903 which was won by VfB Leipzig in a 7,2 victory over DFC Prague. Prag was awarded a win by forfeit when their opponents failed to show and it has never been discovered who sent the telegram and people from Karlsruhe still search to this day to find who was responsible. Denied a place in the final, Karlsruhe did manage to arrange to challenge Leipzig the following year in a match representing the contest that might have been. KFV also played a key role in the national final of 1904. Beaten 1,6 by Britannia Berlin in a match played in Berlin. Ultimately, the DFB cancelled the final and the Viktoria trophy was not awarded that year, from 1908, the club played in the new Südkreis-Liga, which it won in 1910,1911 and 1912. In 1909, Phönix Karlsruhe, known today as Karlsruher SC, KFVs win the following year makes Karlsruhe one of only three cities in Germany that have been home to two or more national football champions. The others are Munich and Berlin, while playing for the national team in 1912, KFVs Gottfried Fuchs scored 10 goals in a contest against Russia to set a German international match record that still stands. KFV made its re-appearance after the First World War, first in the Kreisliga Südwest and then in the Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden, Gruppe Baden with the capture of the league championship in 1926. While they went on to dominate their division, the team was not able to make its way out of the South German league playoffs and back onto the national stage. From 1925 to 1931 Jimmy Lawrence, the record holding former Newcastle United goal keeper, in 1933, Karlsruher FV took up play in the Gauliga Baden, one of the sixteen first division leagues established in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich
3.
Berliner SV 1892
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Berliner SV1892 is a German association football club from the district of Wilmersdorf, Berlin. BSV1892 is one of the countrys oldest clubs and was a member of the DFB in 1900. The club was managed in 1914 by the Hall of Famer Steve Bloomer, the club also operates a rugby union department, Berliner SV92 Rugby, which, in 1948, reached the German rugby union championship final. The team first appeared in the top flight competition in 1899. In July 1914, after retiring as a player, England national football team, however within three weeks of arriving the First World War broke out and Bloomer found himself interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in the Spandau district of Berlin. BTuFC Britannia was scheduled to appear in the 1904 national final against VfB Leipzig, however, the match was never played. Britannia had earlier defeated Karlsruher FV6,1 in a game played in Berlin, KFV protested the result because the match had not been played at a neutral venue as required under league rules. The DFB cancelled the match which was to be held in Kassel. After World War I the club merged with BFC Fortuna and dropped its name association with wartime foe Britain to become Berliner Sport Verein 92, the team played as a mid-table side in the Verbandsliga Berlin-Brandenburg/Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg throughout the 20s and into the early 30s. After the re-organization of German football into sixteen top flight divisions under the Third Reich in 1933, during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, their field, BSV92 Field, hosted some of the handball games while the stadium itself hosted the track cycling events. They won divisional titles in 1936 and 1938, and won the Danzig Pokal in 1939, in each case the club was unable to advance beyond the preliminary round of the national playoffs. BSV was re-formed as SG Wilmersdorf and resumed playing in the Berlin league in 1945 and they won Gruppe A and then took the league title in a four-team playoff. The Berlin league became the Oberliga Berlin the next season and Wilmersdorf earned two consecutive second-place finishes. The club took on its old name for the 1948–49 season, the team did not seriously challenge again through the late 1950s and early 1960s. When the Bundesliga, Germanys new professional league, was formed in 1963. 1974 brought the beginning of a slide that would see the team descend through the Amateurliga Berlin to the Landesliga Berlin by the end of the decade, by the turn of the millennium BSV was playing seventh division football in the Bezirksliga Berlin. Today the team plays in the Kreisliga Berlin A, Staffel 2, thorball or torball was a German word in use in the 1890s and early 1900s for the sport of cricket. Several early clubs playing the new English games of football, rugby, the term never caught on and did not enter into common usage, soon being abandoned by sports clubs
4.
Brandenburg football championship
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The Brandenburg football championship was the highest association football competition in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, including Berlin, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power, German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it, at the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more, with the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether, the Prussian province of Brandenburg was largely identical to what is now the federal state of Brandenburg, except for the areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, which are now part of Poland. Berlin was separated politically from the province in 1881 and significantly enlarged in size through the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, clubs from city of Berlin were part of, and indeed, dominated the Brandenburg football championship. The outcome of the First World War and change of Prussia to a Free State had little influence on the competition as, unlike other regions of Germany, Brandenburg did not lose any territory. In the late 1890s, a number of football associations were formed in the Berlin and Brandenburg region. Separate workers and faith-based competitions active in Berlin were also absorbed into the new leagues, the Verband Deutscher Ballspielvereine, a Berlin-based association of German football clubs was formed on 11 September 1897. In May 1902, it was renamed as the Verband Berliner Ballspielvereine to reflect its geographical alignment, in April 1911, the two associations merged to form the Verband Brandenburgischer Ballspielvereine. In 1933, after the rise of the Nazis to power, the Brandenburg football championship was first played in 1898, when eight clubs competed in a league format for it. The number of games played by each team varied greatly but the top four clubs each played nine games with the top three ending up on equal points. To determine the champion, a two leg decider was played between Britannia Berlin and BFC Preussen with the former winning both games and earning its first league title. In its second edition, only six clubs participated, all from the city of Berlin, because of the top two teams finishing on equal points, a final had to be played once more, this time BFC Preussen coming out the winner. Expanded to nine clubs for 1900, the champion won the Brandenburg title outright at this edition. The finals were held in a two leg format but because each team won one game, a match had to be held to decide the winner. For 1903, the returned to a single division format. Additionally, the league received some competition with the March football championship being introduced, organised by the rival Märkischer Fußball-Bund
5.
1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig
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The team won the 2015-16 NOFV-Oberliga Süd and qualified for the 2016–17 Regionalliga Nordost, where it will face former East German champions FC Carl Zeiss Jena and BFC Dynamo. The club was formed on 26 May 1896 out of the department of gymnastics club Allgemeine Turnverein 1845 Leipzig. The union lasted until 2 May 1900 when the two went their separate ways again. VfB Leipzig was one of the original eighty-six teams that came together in the city in 1900 to form the German Football Association and they were immediately successful at their chosen sport and made their way to the first German national championship final held in 1903. Their opponents were DFC Prag, an ethnically German side from Prague, the DFB had invited German clubs of this sort from other countries in order to boost numbers in their new national association. DFC Prag had made their way to the final under circumstances that had allowed them to playing a single playoff game. Arriving in Hamburg for the match, the heavily favoured Pragers took themselves off on a pub crawl the night before the contest. The contest against was delayed half an hour as officials scrambled to find a football that was in good condition, the host, FC93 Altona Hamburg, provided a new ball and eleven minutes in, DFC Prag scored the first goal. Leipzig played themselves into another final appearance in 1904, but the match was never contested, a protest by FV Karlsruhe over their disputed semi-final with Britannia Berlin was never resolved and the DFB called off the final only hours before its scheduled start. There would be no champion that year, the following season Leipzig found themselves unable to cover the expense of travelling to participate in their scheduled first round playoff match and so were eliminated from that years competition. They did, however, go on to raise the Viktoria again in 1906 and 1913, in the period leading up to World War II, VfB was unable to repeat their early success. After the re-organization of German football leagues under the Third Reich in 1933, while they earned good results within their own division, they were unable to advance in the playoff rounds. In 1937, they captured the Tschammerpokal, known today as the German Cup, in a match against FC Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era. The club, like most other organizations in Germany, including sports, club members reconstituted the team in 1946 as SG Probstheida under the auspices of the occupying Soviets. In 1963 Leipzigs two most important clubs – SC Rotation and SC Lokomotive Leipzig – were put together resulting in two new sides being founded – SC Leipzig and BSG Chemie Leipzig. East German football went through a general re-organization in 1965, creating football clubs as centres of high-level football, FC Lokomotive Leipzig, while rivals Chemie Leipzig continued as a Betriebssportgemeinschaft, or a company team. Lok earned a clutch of East German Cups with victories in 1976,1981,1986 and 1987 against failed appearances in the Cup final in 1970,1973 and 1977. They also won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1966 and made an appearance in the 1987 final of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup falling 0,1 to Johan Cruijffs Ajax Amsterdam after a Marco van Basten goal
6.
Central German football championship
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The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, with the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945, ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether. The number of states in the Thuringia region formed the new state of that name, with the exception of Coburg. In late 1900, the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspiel Vereine followed, three month later, the Verband Dresdner Ballspiel-Vereine was formed in Dresden, in August 1903, the Verband Chemnitzer Ballspielvereine was formed in Chemnitz and, last, the Verband Plauener Ballspielvereine came into existence in Plauen. In 1933, all of those were disbanded by the Nazis, the Central German football championship was first played in 1902, but little is known about the first year other than the final. The championship was staged as a competition with a one-leg final at the end. Regional champions were determined to establish who the clubs for the Central German championship were. In 1903, in the year of the competition, a German football championship was established. The team, VfB Leipzig achieved distinction by becoming the first German champions, defeating DFC Prag 7-2 in the final and establishing Central Germany as an early power house of German football. VfB became the dominant side in the pre-First World War era of the competition, also winning another German title in 1906 and 1913 and making a losing appearance in the 1911 and 1914 final. No other club from Central Germany enjoyed a form of success. From 1903, three teams took part in the championship, the champions of the Leipzig, Dresden and Magdeburg region and this was expanded to four teams when the champion of the Chemnitz area joined the Central German championship. From 1908, seven teams competed in the finals, making it necessary to establish a quarter-final round. In 1910, the competition was expanded to nine teams, the year after to twelve, in its last pre-war season,1914,21 clubs participated, making a qualifying round necessary. In 1913, a different system was used, splitting the region in two according to their playing strength. The winners of the two met in a final, which was predictably won by the team from the stronger group
7.
SV Victoria 96 Magdeburg
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Viktoria 96 Magdeburg was a German football club playing in the Cracau district of Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt. The club was founded under the name Victoria on 26 June 1896 by twelve ninth-graders of Magdeburgs Guericke-Realschule, soon renamed Magdeburger Fußball-Club Viktoria von 1896, the club played association football exclusively by September 1897. This makes it the citys first football club, on 12 September 1897, Schüler-Victoria, as the club was also called, played their first competitive association football match against the reserve team of Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg. The match ended in a clear 6–3 win for Victoria 96, Victoria 1896 became well known among the countrys football pioneers and soon began to receive payments to make appearances against other clubs. Victoria was a member of the Ring Magdeburger Ballspielvereine, but this was replaced by the Verband Magdeburger Ballspielvereine that was founded in 1900. On 26 December 1900, MFC Victoria 1896 became a member of the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspielvereine. Alongside local rival Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg, the club was a member of the German Football Association at Leipzig in 1900. In 1905 the local Magdeburg league merged with the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspielvereine, the club played in the Gau Mittelelbe and continued their winning ways with six league titles between 1906 and 1917. Despite this record they were unable to make a return to the national stage, the club grew rapidly at this time and by 1920 had 728 members. Several new sports were adopted with track-and-field and watersports being especially popular, in 1912 the name was changed from Magdeburger FC Victoria 1896 to Sportverein Viktoria 96 Magdeburg and a new logo was introduced. Over the next years the club produced a number of outstanding athletes who became known as they won several national and international titles. The football team, however, became simply a regional side. In 1933 German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen new top-flight divisions known as Gauligas, Viktoria 96 qualified for play in the Gauliga Mitte where they played until a last place finish and bankruptcy in 1937 drove them out of first division football. The team merged with Männer-Turnverein 1860 Neustadt the following year to form VfL1860 Viktoria Neustadt which was disbanded at the end of World War II in 1945. However, the club had a revival in 2008, but was expelled from league play for failing to pay their fees during the 2008–09 season. The home ground of the club was the Sportplatz am Gübser Damm and it was opened in 1912 in front of 1,500 spectators with a friendly match against Hertha BSC. The stadium hosted the German championship final on 31 May 1914 in a contest that saw SpVgg Fürth beat VfB Leipzig 3,2 in extra time. After the bankruptcy of Viktoria 96 in 1937 the Allianz insurance company became the new owner of the stadium, the stadium was totally destroyed in heavy bombardments by Allied air forces in 1944
8.
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
9.
KSV Hessen Kassel
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KSV Hessen Kassel is a German association football club based in Kassel, Hesse. The club was founded as FC Union 93 Kassel in 1893, in 1919, fusion with VfK Kassel created SV Kurhessen Kassel. It was as Kurhessen that the club joined the Gauliga Hessen and they were relegated at the end of the 1935–36 season and made their way back in 1938, but continued to perform poorly, narrowly missing relegation in subsequent seasons. They earned their best result in 1942 in the newly formed Gauliga Kurhessen, after the war, SVKK was one of a number of clubs merged to form the Gründung der Sportgruppe Süd, an association active in a number of sports. This club became VfL Kassel in 1946, and finally, merged with Kasseler SV Kassel in November 1947 to become todays KSV Hessen Kassel, Kassel quickly established themselves as a stolid, but largely unremarked, second tier side. A first place Regionalliga finish in 1964 saw them unsuccessfully in the promotion rounds for the Bundesliga. The club continued to play tier II ball until the mid 70s when their performance dropped them to Amateur Oberliga Hessen until the start of the decade brought an advance to the 2. Bundesliga. Through the 80s, the team flirted with promotion to the senior circuit, in 1985 the club just missed being promoted, a loss to Nurenburg in the last game of the season against wins by three other clubs in the hunt saw Kassel left behind. Those runs at the Bundesliga in the 80s, alongside an advance to the final of the German Cup in 1991. The club was bankrupted in 1993 and the side set off on its own as FC Hessen Kassel. In 2007–2008 they failed to qualify for the new 3, liga, remaining in the Regionaliga Süd, now tier four. They came close to promotion once more in 2010–11 but narrowly failed finishing third, at the end of the 2011–12 season the club was grouped into the new Regionalliga Südwest, which replaced the Regionalliga Süd in the region. In 2012–13 the club won the championship of the new league. Die Löwen lost their play-off tie for promotion to the 3, liga over two legs to Holstein Kiel who finished the 2012–13 season as champions of Regionalliga Nord. Kassel lost the first game of the tie away at the Holstein-Stadion in Kiel 2–0, in the return leg in Kassel, the club lost 2–1 at the Auestadion in front of 17,000 fans. The following season the club was not able to challenge for the championship, the clubs honours, ‡ Won by reserve team Recent managers of the club, The recent season-by-season performance of the club, With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier, in 2012, the number of Regionalligas was increased from three to five with all Regionalliga Süd clubs except the Bavarian ones entering the new Regionalliga Südwest
10.
Eintracht Duisburg 1848
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Eintracht Duisburg is a German sportsclub from the city of Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1848 it is one of the countrys oldest sport associations and it was these two sides that fused to create todays club on 24 July 1964. Duisburger SV was one of the most successful sides of football in western Germany. The team was formed out of Duisburger TfE on 22 March 1900 on the initiative of Gottfried Hinz, who would later go on to become president of the German Football Association. Between 1900 and 1913 SV made regular appearances in the playoffs, twice advancing to the semi-finals. The club played as a side into the late 20s winning a total of ten West German championships between 1904 and 1927. After their final championship the club faded from prominence and they did not re-appear in upper tier football until after World War II when they advanced to play in the Oberliga West in 1949. Generally a mid-table side, the clubs best result was a finish in 1957 and, except for a short period from 1951 to 1954. A last-place result that ensured the team would not be part of the newly formed sixteen-team Bundesliga, Germanys first professional league. The origins of TuS Duisburg 48/99 go back to the founding in 1899 of Duisburger Fussball Klub, in 1903, this club merged with SV Viktoria 1893 to create Duisburger SV Viktoria 1899. They were joined in 1921 by five-month-old Turn-Borussia Duisburg thereby becoming TuS, TuS 48/99 then made its own appearance in the Gauliga earning a second place finish in the 1936–37 season, only a single point behind division winners TSV Fortuna Düsseldorf. The following season TSV and TuS were directed by Nazi sport authorities to merge to play as TuS Duisburg 48/99 and this team struggled, several times narrowly missing relegation, until another second place result in 1942. World War II had a significant impact on German football often leading to the merger of teams weakened in the conflict, in 1943 the wartime side KSG SpV/48/99 Duisburg was created out of TuS 48/99 and Duisburger SpV. This combined club captured the title before going out in the second round of the national playoffs to the eras powerhouse FC Schalke 04. The following year the Gauliga Niederrhein collapsed as Allied armies advanced into Germany, DSV and TuS re-emerged as separate sides after the war. The club again earned a second result in 1957, this time behind eventual national champions Borussia Dortmund. By the late 70s the combined club had fallen to the Landesliga Niederrhein and by the turn of the millennium they were toiling in the Kreisliga B Duisburg
11.
Western German football championship
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The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. It is not to be confused with the German championship in what was referred to as West Germany from 1949 to 1990. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, with the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945, ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether. For the two Prussian provinces, this meant that the Kingdom was replaced with the Free State of Prussia. On 23 October 1898, the Rheinischer Spielverband was formed, initially without the clubs from the region around Kassel, in 1900, the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband was formed, which, in 1907, was renamed Westdeutscher Spielverband. The Western German football championship was first contested in 1903 and won by the Cölner FC1899 and it consisted of three clubs, one each from Essen, Cologne and Mönchengladbach, then spelled München-Gladbach, and was determined in a group stage with home-and-away games. The winner of this first competition did not take part in the first edition of the national German championship, to qualify for the Western German championship, a club had to take out the title in its regional competition or league. As more football clubs were formed in Germany, the number of leagues increased, the second edition was played out in the same modus and its champion was permitted to enter the national finals for the first time. A round of deciders was necessary to determine the Western champion as all three sat on equal points. In 1906, the championship was expanded to four clubs with a once more being necessary to determine the champion. In 1907, the system to determine the Western champion was altered to a knockout modus with six clubs participating, increased to seven for the following year and eight in 1909. The Duisburger SV in turn was a powerhouse of western football. The last pre-First World War season,1914, saw a return to the finals being played as a league with home-and-away games, five clubs were meant to compete but Düsseldorfer SV was deemed to have been determined to late as local champions and it was barred from participating. In 1914-15, football in Germany had come to an almost complete halt, as it became clear, that the war would last longer than anticipated, local competitions restarted in 1915. In most regions of Germany, like the South, the championships were restarted from 1915 onwards but in the West, a Western German Championship was not played again until 1920. As a consequence of the lost war, a strip of land along the German - Belgian border was awarded to the later, with the cities of Eupen and these were the only territorial changes within the area of the Western championship
12.
Southern German football championship
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The Southern German football championship was the highest association football competition in the South of Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power, German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it, at the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more, with the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether, the Süddeutsche Fußball-Verband, the Southern German Football Association was formed in Karlsruhe on 17 October 1897, three years before the German Football Association was formed. It originally was named Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine, one of the leading figures and driving force in the Southern German football was Walther Bensemann, founder of the kicker sportmagazin, a position he retained until the Nazis rise to power. The other driving force behind football in the south of Germany was Friedrich William Nohe, the association was formed by eight clubs, those being, Karlsruher FV Phönix Karlsruhe Fidelitas Karlsruhe 1. FC Pforzheim FC Heilbronn FG96 Mannheim FC Hanau 93 Germania 94 Frankfurt The SFV originally covered a larger area. With the interception of the German football championship in 1903, the Southern German championship functioned as a tournament for it. Nevertheless, it enjoyed a high value of status. The competition went through a number of changes throughout its live time, from this season onwards, the competition also grew in size. Previously, only a few selected clubs from cities like Frankfurt, Mannheim and Karlsruhe had taken part, in its early years, competition was very localised and patchy, with a handful of clubs dominating play. After the end of the First World War, the region of Alsace-Lorraine once more part of France. The semi-final winners then entered the Southern German final, the number of leagues remained the same for the 1922 edition but now league winner and runners-up both qualified for a knock-out round to determine the champion. In 1923, the league winners again were the only once qualified and the ten teams played a round first. After the 1923 season, the German league system was reorganised and streamlined, only the champion would then move on to the German championship. In the following season, only the five winners would compete for the southern title. For the 1926 edition, the modus remained unchanged apart from the Southern German cup winner also entering the finals tournament, in 1927, the modus again remained unchanged
13.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
14.
Penalty kick (association football)
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A penalty kick is a method of restarting play in association football, taken from 11 metres out from the goal, on the penalty mark. Penalty kicks are performed during normal play and they are awarded when a foul that is punishable by a direct free kick is committed within the offending players own penalty area. Similar kicks are made in a penalty shootout in some tournaments to determine which team is victorious after a drawn match, in practice, penalties are converted to goals more often than not, even against world class goalkeepers. This means that penalty awards are often decisive, especially in low-scoring games, the referee gives the ball to the non-offending team. The goalkeeper must stand on the line between the post until the ball is kicked. Lateral movement is allowed, but the keeper is not permitted to come off the goal line by stepping or lunging forward until the ball is in play. When the goalkeeper indicates to the referee that they are ready, once the shooter has started their approach to the ball, they are not permitted to interrupt it. The ball must be stationary before the kick, and must be struck forwards, violation of these rules will result in a re-kick. After the penalty is taken properly, the ball may be played by any player except the one who executed the penalty kick. The kicker may not play the ball again until it has touched or played by another player on either team. For penalties taken near the end of time, play may be extended so that the penalty kick may be taken. A two-man penalty, or tap penalty, occurs when the penalty-taker, instead of shooting for goal, taps the ball slightly forward so that a team-mate can run on to it and shoot. The team-mate, like all other players, must be at least ten yards from the penalty mark when the ball is initially kicked and this strategy depends on the element of surprise, so that the team-mate can reach the ball ahead of any defenders. There is no requirement for the penalty taker to shoot for goal, the first recorded tap penalty was taken by Jimmy McIlroy and Danny Blanchflower of Northern Ireland against Portugal on 1 May 1957. Another was taken by Rik Coppens and André Piters in the World Cup Qualifying match Belgium v Iceland on 5 June 1957, arsenal players Thierry Henry and Robert Pirès failed in an attempt at a similar penalty in 2005, during a Premier League match against Manchester City at Highbury. Lionel Messi tapped a penalty for Luis Suárez as Suárez completed his hat-trick on 14 February 2016 against league opponents Celta De Vigo, in the case of a player repeatedly infringing the laws during the penalty kick, the referee may caution the player for persistent infringement. Note that all offences that occur before kick may be dealt with in this manner, as with a direct free kick, the kicker may not touch the ball a second time, until another player has touched the ball. Another example of an infringement is when a player will run up, stop directly at the ball and this gives the goalkeeper no chance at saving it, and the result of this would be a free kick for the opposing team
15.
Duisburg
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Duisburg is a German city in the western part of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an independent metropolitan borough within Regierungsbezirk Düsseldorf, with the worlds biggest inland harbor and its proximity to Düsseldorf Airport, Duisburg has become an important venue for commerce and steel production. In the early Middle Ages it was a court of the Franks. Like many other cities, todays Duisburg is a result of numerous incorporations of surrounding towns and it is the fifteenth-largest city in Germany and the fifth-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia with 486,855 residents at the end of 2013. The city is renowned for its steel industry, the last remaining coal mine closed down in the summer of 2009, but Duisburg had never been a coal-mining center to the same extent as other places in the Ruhr region. All blast furnaces in the Ruhr are now located in Duisburg, in 2000 49% of all hot metal and 34. 4% of all pig iron in Germany was produced here. It also has a brewery, the König Brauerei, located in Duisburg-Beeck. The University of Duisburg-Essen, with 39,000 students, ranks among the 10 largest German universities, Duisburg is located in the Lowland Rhine area at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr and near the outskirts of the Bergisches Land. The city spreads along both sides of these rivers, the following cities border Duisburg, Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Ratingen, Düsseldorf, Meerbusch, Krefeld, Moers, Rheinberg, and Dinslaken. Duisburg therefore could mean fortified place in the floodplain, another interpretation assumes that the name is derived from the Old German duis which means hill. Duisburg could mean something like castle on the hill, thus, a place on a hill overlooking the Rhine, that could refer to the area of the present Town Hall. Duisburggau was also the name of the medieval Gau on the Lower Rhine, a legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the namesake Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca.2395 BC. There is nothing to any historical basis for such an early founding of Duisburg. Latest archaeological studies show that the present-day market-place was already in use in the first century and it has been the major central trading place of the city since the 5th century. The city itself was located at the Hellweg, an important medieval trade route, the Romans already guarded the ford. 420, The Franks usurp the Roman settlement and recolonize the old part of the town,883, The Normans conquer Duisburg and stay for the winter. Due to the towns favorable geographic position a palatinate was built, Duisburg became a member of the Hanseatic League. Around 1000 the river Rhine moved westward from the city and this put an end to the citys development as a trading town and it soon grew into a quiet rural city
16.
Hannover 96
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Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96, Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German association football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. Hannover 96 play in the 2, Bundesliga, the second tier in the German football league system. Hannover 96 was founded in 1896, Hannover have won two German championships and one DFB-Pokal. Hannover 96 has a rivalry with VfL Wolfsburg and Eintracht Braunschweig. The club was founded on 12 April 1896 as Hannoverscher Fußball-Club 1896, upon the suggestion of Ferdinand-Wilhelm Fricke and their initial enthusiasm was for athletics and rugby, football did not become their primary interest until 1899. Most of the membership of Germania 1902 Hannover became part of 96 in 1902, in 1913, they merged with Ballverein 1898 Hannovera to become Hannoverscher Sportverein 1896. Hannoverscher FCs colours were black-white-green, but they played in blue, the newly united team kept black-white-green as the club colours, but they chose to take to the field in red, giving the team the nickname Die Roten. The teams third jersey is in the official colours. HSV continued to field strong sides and make national level appearances on into the 1920s, under the Third Reich, German football was re-organized into 16 top-flight leagues in 1933 and Hannover became part of the Gauliga Niedersachsen. They appeared in the final rounds in 1935 and sent representatives to the national side the next year. They won their first national championship in 1938 in what was one of the biggest upsets in German football history when they beat Schalke 04, the two sides played to a 3–3 draw before Hannover prevailed 4–3 in a tension filled re-match. In 1942, the moved to the newly formed Gauliga Braunschweig-Südhannover. Like most other German organizations, the club was dissolved after World War II by occupying Allied authorities. A combined local side was assembled in August 1945 and the month a mixed group of players from Hannover 96. HSV was later formally re-established as Hannoverscher SV on 11 November 1945 before re-adopting its traditional name on 27 April 1946, the club resumed league play in 1947 in the first division Oberliga Nord and was relegated, but quickly returned to the top-flight in 1949. Hannover 96s next appearance in a final would not come until 1954 when they soundly defeated 1. The beaten side included five of the players who would go on later that year to win Germanys first World Cup in a surprise victory known as the Miracle of Bern. In 1963, the Bundesliga, Germanys new professional football league, Hannover played in the Regionalliga Nord that season, but earned promotion to the senior circuit in the following year
17.
Hamburg
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Hamburg, officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the European Union. It is the second smallest German state by area and its population is over 1.7 million people, and the wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region covers more than 5.1 million inhabitants. The city is situated on the river Elbe, the official long name reflects Hamburgs history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a sovereign state. Prior to the changes in 1919, the civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten. Though repeatedly destroyed by the Great Fire of Hamburg, the floods and military conflicts including WW2 bombing raids, the city managed to recover and emerge wealthier after each catastrophe. On the river Elbe, Hamburg is a port and a global service, media, logistics and industrial hub, with headquarters and facilities of Airbus, Blohm + Voss, Aurubis, Beiersdorf. The radio and television broadcaster NDR, Europes largest printing and publishing firm Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of Germanys oldest stock exchange and the worlds second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. The city is a fast expanding tourist destination for domestic and international visitors. It ranked 16th in the world for livability in 2015, the ensemble Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2015. Hamburg is a major European science, research and education hub with several universities and institutes and its creative industries and major cultural venues include the renowned Elbphilharmonie and Laeisz concert halls, various art venues, music producers and artists. It is regarded as a haven for artists, gave birth to movements like Hamburger Schule. Hamburg is also known for theatres and a variety of musical shows. St. Paulis Reeperbahn is among the best known European entertainment districts, Hamburg is on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, between Continental Europe to the south and Scandinavia to the north, with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the north-east. It is on the River Elbe at its confluence with the Alster, the city centre is around the Binnenalster and Außenalster, both formed by damming the River Alster to create lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two neighbouring islands Scharhörn and Nigehörn, in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, are also part of Hamburg. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land region, neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburgs highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at 116.2 metres AMSL. Hamburg has a climate, influenced by its proximity to the coast
18.
Leipzig
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Leipzig is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. With a population of 570,087 inhabitants it is Germanys tenth most populous city, Leipzig is located about 160 kilometres southwest of Berlin at the confluence of the White Elster, Pleisse, and Parthe rivers at the southern end of the North German Plain. Leipzig has been a city since at least the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The city sits at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, Leipzig was once one of the major European centers of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing. Leipzig became an urban center within the German Democratic Republic after the Second World War. Leipzig later played a significant role in instigating the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, through events which took place in, Leipzig today is an economic center and the most livable city in Germany, according to the GfK marketing research institution. Since the opening of the Leipzig City Tunnel in 2013, Leipzig forms the centerpiece of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland public transit system, Leipzig is currently listed as Gamma World City and Germanys Boomtown. Outside of Leipzig the Neuseenland district forms a lake area of approximately 300 square kilometres. Leipzig is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means settlement where the linden trees stand, an older spelling of the name in English is Leipsic. The Latin name Lipsia was also used, the name is cognate with Lipetsk in Russia and Liepāja in Latvia. In 1937 the Nazi government officially renamed the city Reichsmessestadt Leipzig, the common usage of this nickname for Leipzig up until the present is reflected, for example, in the name of a popular blog for local arts and culture, Heldenstadt. de. Leipzig was first documented in 1015 in the chronicles of Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg as urbs Libzi and endowed with city, Leipzig Trade Fair, started in the Middle Ages, became an event of international importance and is the oldest remaining trade fair in the world. During the Thirty Years War, two battles took place in Breitenfeld, about 8 kilometres outside Leipzig city walls, the first Battle of Breitenfeld took place in 1631 and the second in 1642. Both battles resulted in victories for the Swedish-led side, on 24 December 1701, an oil-fueled street lighting system was introduced. The city employed light guards who had to follow a schedule to ensure the punctual lighting of the 700 lanterns. The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig between Napoleonic France and a coalition of Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden. It was the largest battle in Europe prior to the First World War, in 1913 the Monument to the Battle of the Nations celebrating the centenary of this event was completed. The railway station has two entrance halls, the eastern one for the Royal Saxon State Railways and the western one for the Prussian state railways
19.
Kassel
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Kassel is a city located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the Kreis of the same name and has 200,507 inhabitants in December 2015. The former capital of the state of Hesse-Kassel has many palaces and parks, including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel is also known for the documenta exhibitions of contemporary art. The citys name is derived from the ancient Castellum Cattorum, a castle of the Chatti, Kassel was first mentioned in 913 AD, as the place where two deeds were signed by King Conrad I. The place was called Chasella and was a fortification at a crossing the Fulda river. A deed from 1189 certifies that Cassel had city rights, in 1567, the Landgraviate of Hesse, until then centered in Marburg, was divided among four sons, with Hesse-Kassel becoming one of its successor states. Kassel was its capital and became a centre of Calvinist Protestantism in Germany, strong fortifications were built to protect the Protestant stronghold against Catholic enemies. Secret societies, such as Rosicrucianism flourished, with Christian Rosenkreutz’s work Fama Fraternitis first published in 1617, in 1685, Kassel became a refuge for 1,700 Huguenots who found shelter in the newly established borough of Oberneustadt. Landgrave Charles, who was responsible for this act, also ordered the construction of the Oktagon. In the early 19th century, the Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel and they collected and wrote most of their fairy tales there. At that time, around 1803, the Landgraviate was elevated to a Principality, shortly after, it was annexed by Napoleon and in 1807 it became the capital of the short-lived Kingdom of Westphalia under Napoleons brother Jérôme. The Electorate was restored in 1813, having sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War to gain supremacy in Germany, the principality was annexed by Prussia in 1866. The Prussian administration united Nassau, Frankfurt and Hesse-Kassel into the new Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, Kassel ceased to be a princely residence, but soon developed into a major industrial centre, as well as a major railway junction. Henschel & Son, the largest railway locomotive manufacturer in Germany at the end of the century, was based in Kassel. In 1870, after the Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III was sent as a prisoner to the castle of Wilhelmshohe above the city, during World War I the German military headquarters were located in the castle of Wilhelmshohe. In the late 1930s Nazis destroyed Heinrich Hübschs Kassel Synagogue, the most severe bombing of Kassel in World War II destroyed 90% of the downtown area, some 10,000 people were killed, and 150,000 were made homeless. Most of the casualties were civilians or wounded soldiers recuperating in local hospitals, Karl Gerland replaced the regional Gauleiter, Karl Weinrich, soon after the raid. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Kassel at the beginning of April 1945, post-war, most of the ancient buildings were not restored, and large parts of the city area were completely rebuilt in the style of the 1950s
20.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
21.
Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
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The Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an archive of football-related information from around the world. This enterprise according to its founders was created in January 1994 by three regulars of the Rec. Sport. Soccer Usenet newsgroup, Lars Aarhus, Kent Hedlundh, and Karel Stokkermans. It was originally known as the North European Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation, today the RSSSF has members and contributors from around the world, and has spawned seven spin-off projects to more closely follow the leagues of that projects home country. The spin-off projects are dedicated to Albania, Brazil, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Romania, Uruguay and Venezuela. This enterprise was for years closely tied with the newsgroup RSS. Weighting in vain for Fifas ranking aficionados, Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation RSSSF Charter Best of RSS
22.
German football championship
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The German football champions are the annual winners of the highest association football competition in Germany. The history of the German football championship is complex and reflects the turbulent history of the country through the course of the 20th century. Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the format was based on a knockout competition. Since 1963, the finisher in the Bundesliga has been recognized as the national champion. Championship play was suspended twice, from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, Following World War II, Germany was occupied by the victorious Allies and two German football competitions emerged when the country was divided as a result. Following the reunification of the country in 1990, the two football competitions were merged and a single national championship was restored. Bayern Munich hold the record for the most championships with 24, all, Dynamo Berlin claimed 10 titles in the former East Germany, winning these championships in consecutive seasons. The history of the German football championship is complex and reflects the turbulent history of the country through the course of the 20th century. Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the format was based on a knockout competition. Since 1963, the finisher in the Bundesliga has been recognized as the national champion. Championship play was suspended twice, from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, Following World War II, Germany was occupied by the victorious Allies and two German football competitions emerged when the country was divided as a result. Following the reunification of the country in 1990, the two football competitions were merged and a single national championship was restored. Bayern Munich hold the record for the most championships with 26, all, Dynamo Berlin claimed 10 titles in the former East Germany, winning these championships in consecutive seasons. The new English game of football quickly caught on in late 19th-century Germany, the earliest attempt at organizing some form of national championship came in 1894 when city champions Viktoria 89 Berlin invited FC Hanau 93 to play a challenge match. The Hanauers were unable to afford the cost of the trip, in 2007, the 1894 final was replayed and Viktoria were crowned the official 1894 champions. The formation of the DFB helped establish for the first time a clear divide between association football and its close cousin, to qualify for the German championship finals, a club had to win one of the regional championships, which, in some cases, predate the national one. The two strongest regions, South and West were also allowed to send their third-placed team and this system of regional championships was abolished in 1933 by the Nazis and superseded by the Gauliga system. Key Under the Nazis, German sports competitions were consolidated for political reasons, clubs whose leanings were unpalatable to the regime as leftist or faith-based were either banned or their memberships dispersed through forced mergers with other ideologically acceptable clubs
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