1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Paderborn
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Paderborn is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and born, the river Pader originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried. Paderborn was founded as a bishopric by Charlemagne in 795, although its history began in 777 when Charlemagne built a castle near the Pader springs. In 799 Pope Leo III fled his enemies in Rome and reached Paderborn, where he met Charlemagne and it was during this time that it was decided that Charlemagne would be crowned emperor. Charlemagne reinstated Leo in Rome in 800 and was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Leo in return, in 836, St. Liborius became the patron saint of Paderborn after his bones were moved there from Le Mans by Bishop Badurad. St. Liborius is commemorated in Paderborn every year in July with the Liborifest, the bishop of Paderborn, Meinwerk, became a Prince of the Empire in 1100. The bishop had several buildings built, and the area became a place for the emperors to stay. The city was taken by Prussia in 1802, then by the French vassal state Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813, native Friedrich Sertürner, a pharmacists apprentice in Paderborn, was the first to isolate morphine from opium in 1804. In 1930, the See of Paderborn was promoted to archdiocese, during World War II, Paderborn was bombed by Allied aircraft in 1944 and 1945, resulting in 85% destruction, including many of the historic buildings. After the city was reconstructed in the 1940s and 1950s, Paderborn became an industrial seat in Westphalia. The British Army has retained a significant presence in the area, Paderborn is situated at the spring of the Pader river, approximately 30 kilometres east of Lippstadt and approximately 50 kilometres south of Bielefeld on the Pader river. The hills of the Eggegebirge are located east of the city, the city of Paderborn consists of the following Stadtteile, Paderborn has a population of over 144,000, of which approximately 10% are students at the local university. Additionally, about 10,000 members or relatives of members of the British armed forces live within Westfalen Garrison, 60% of the population are Catholics, 20% Lutherans and 20% other. Paderborn is the headquarters of the former Nixdorf Computer AG, which was acquired by Siemens in the early 1990s, the company is now known as Wincor Nixdorf which is still located in Paderborn, but Siemens retains a considerable presence in the city. Paderborn has the largest computer museum in the world, the de, from 2001 to 2005 it hosted the RoboCup German Open. The town supports the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie for regular symphony concerts in the Paderhalle, the city is known today for its exhibitions in three museums, the Kaiserpfalz, The Diocesian Museum and the Art Museum - Städtische Galerie. The local baseball team, the Paderborn Untouchables, has won many German championships, and the local American Football team, in 2006 the Paderborn Baskets, the home basketball team of the city achieved the Bundesliga. The Paderborn Baskets played in the playoffs of the 2008-09 German basketball league, SC Paderborn 07 is a German football club based in Paderborn
7.
North Rhine-Westphalia
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North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne, four of Germanys ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, the state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens since 2010. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri. By the 8th century the Frankish dominion was established in western Germany. But at the time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, the Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes. Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military, Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the bank of the Rhine was resigned to France. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium, around 1 AD there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of the Germanic tribes who fought at this came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts and his Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück, Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern, Westphalia was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony, in 1180 Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa. The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only an area south of the Lippe River. Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years War
8.
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
9.
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
10.
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
11.
Referee (association football)
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In association football, the referee is the person responsible for enforcing the Laws of the Game during the course of a match. At higher levels of play the referee may also be assisted by an official who supervises the teams technical areas. Referees remuneration for their services varies between leagues, Referees are licensed and trained by the same national organisations that are members of FIFA. Each national organisation recommends its top officials to FIFA to have the honour of being included on the FIFA International Referees List. International games between national teams require FIFA officials, otherwise, the local national organisation determines the manner of training, ranking and advancement of officials from the youngest youth games through professional matches. The referees powers and duties are described by Law 5 of the Laws of the Game, as per Law 9 of the game, if during the game the ball hits the referee there is no stoppage in play. However the officials would be expected to position themselves such that this would be unlikely to occur. Modern day referees and their assistants wear a uniform consisting of a jersey, badge, shorts and socks, since then, most referees have worn either yellow or black, but the colours and styles adopted by individual associations vary greatly. For international contests under the supervision of FIFA, Adidas uniforms are worn because Adidas is the current sponsor, FIFA allows referees to wear five colours, black, red, yellow, green and blue. Along with the jersey, referees are required to wear shorts, black socks. The badge, which displays the referees license level and year of validity, is affixed to the left chest pocket. All referees carry a whistle, a watch, penalty cards, a wallet with pen and paper. Most are encouraged to have more than one of each on them in case they drop a whistle or a pen runs out, often, referees utilize two watches so that they can use one to calculate time lost for stoppages for the purposes of added time. In matches with goal-line technology, the referee will have on their person a device to receive the systems alerts, Referees use a whistle to help in match control. The whistle is sometimes needed to stop, start or restart play but should not be used for all stoppages, fIFAs Laws of the Game document gives guidance as to when the whistle should and should not be used. Overuse of the whistle is discouraged since, as stated in the Laws, the whistle is an important tool for the referee along with verbal, body and eye communication. Before the introduction of the whistle, referees indicated their decisions by waving a white handkerchief, the whistles that were first adopted by referees were made by Joseph Hudson at Mills Munitions in Birmingham, England. The Acme Whistle Company first began to mass-produce pea whistles in the 1870s for the Metropolitan Police Force, Referees in football are first described by Richard Mulcaster in 1581
12.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
13.
2006 FIFA World Cup
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The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, Germany and it was the second time that Germany staged the competition, and the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title and they defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers. The final attracted an audience of 715.1 million people. The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994,2002, as the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich and it involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier, Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco. Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the least votes, the first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000, and the final round was held on 7 July 2000, which Germany won over South Africa. Accusations of bribery and corruption have marred the success of Germanys bid from the very beginning, on the very day of the vote, a hoax bribery affair was made public, leading to calls for a re-vote. Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey, who had initially backed England, had then been instructed to support South Africa following Englands elimination and he abstained, citing intolerable pressure on the eve of the vote. Just a week before the vote, the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, daimlerChrysler invested several hundred million Euro in Hyundai, while one of the sons of the companys founders was a member of FIFAs executive committee. Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea, whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi, the sum of 6.7 million Euro was later demanded back by Dreyfus. In order to retrieve the money, the Organizing Committee paid an aquivalent sum to the FIFA, allegedly as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony, the DFB announced they would consider seeking legal action against Der Spiegel. During a press conference on 22 October 2015, Nierbach repeated his stance, according to Niersbach, the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter, with the money being provided by Dreyfus. On the same day, FIFA contradicted Niersbachs statement, saying, By our current state of knowledge, the following day, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying, saying, It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application. According to Zwanziger, the 6.7 million Euros went to Mohamed Bin Hammam, on 22 March 2016 it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid
14.
VfR Aalen
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Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e. V. commonly known as simply VfR Aalen, is a German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, table tennis. The clubs greatest success came in 2011–12 when it finished second in the 3, Liga and earned promotion to the 2. The club was founded on 8 March 1921 out of the department of the gymnastics club MTV Aalen and has led a largely unremarked existence as a lower division side. In 1939, Aalen was promoted to the first division Gauliga Württemberg and they played there until 1945, typically finishing in the lower half of the table. After the war the club was joined by Boxclub Aalen in 1950 and they went on to the third tier Landesliga Württemberg and in 1951 captured the title in what had become the Amateurliga Württemberg. After a single appearance in the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1951–52 they returned to play in the III. The club slipped to fifth division play in the late 1970s for a couple of seasons before recovering itself, at the turn of the millennium Aalen managed an advance to the third division Regionalliga Süd and played at that level as a mid-table side from 1999 onwards. A fourth-place finish in 2007–08 qualified them for the new 3rd Liga and they were immedadiately relegated after just one season, but captured the Regionalliga title in 2011, and returned to third tier play. A second-place result in 2011–12 earned the promotion to the 2. After two good seasons in the league the club finished last in the league in 2014–15 and was relegated, following relegation the club experienced financial difficulties and was initially unable to provide coverage for the required €5.6 million for a 3. Liga licence but was able to apply for one. It deregistered its reserve team, VfR Aalen II, playing in the fifth tier Oberliga, in December 2016, the club filed for bankruptcy while competing in the 2016-17 season, leading to a nine point-deduction decided by the DFB on 10 March 2017. As of 26 January 2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The team plays its matches in the Scholz-Arena – popularly known as the Rohrwang – which has a capacity of 11,183. Work was undertaken to upgrade the facility to accommodate Aalens promotion to the Regionalliga and it now includes 4,773 seats, new lighting, playing field improvements, and other features that bring the venue to the standard required for second division football. ‡ Denotes title 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
15.
German football league system
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The top three professional levels contain one division each. Below this, the semi-professional and amateur levels have progressively more parallel divisions, teams that finish at the top of their division at the end of each season can rise higher in the pyramid, whilst those that finish at the bottom find themselves sinking further down. In theory it is possible for even the lowest local amateur club to rise to the top of the system, on top of the system sit the level 1 Bundesliga and the level two 2. Bundesliga, both organized by the professional German Football League, the two top flights then are followed by the level three 3. Liga, the lowest full professional division in Germany, held by the German Football Association itself, for Bavaria, the Bavarian Football Association, a member state association of the Southern German Football Association, runs their top division under their own jurisdiction. Starting at level five, the various fully amateur divisions are usually governed by the 21 state associations, after each season, the winners of the Bundesliga are crowned German football champions. The bottom two Bundesliga teams are relegated to 2, Bundesliga, whereas the best two teams of the second level promote to the top flight. Additionally, the third-last ranked team of Bundesliga and the third-best ranked team of 2, Bundesliga play a promotion/relegation playoff for the final spot in the next Bundesliga edition. Bundesliga teams are relegated to 3, liga, whereas the best two teams of the third level promote to the second flight. Additionally, the third-last ranked team of 2, Bundesliga and the third-best ranked team of 3. Liga play a playoff for the final spot in the next 2. The bottom three teams of 3, the two regional bodies Southwestern Regional Football Association and Southern German Football Association share the jurisdiction on the Regionalliga Südwest. As an exception to the promotion rules within the German league system. Instead the five division winners along with the runner-up of the Regionalliga Südwest enter a playoff for three promotion spots to the 3. The champions enter a promotion playoff along with the winners of the four other Regionalliga divisions, the champions enter a promotion playoff along with the winners of the four other Regionalliga divisions and the Regionalliga Südwest runner-up for three promotions to the 3. The champions enter a promotion playoff along with the winners of the four other Regionalliga divisions, the champions and the runner-up enter a promotion playoff along with the winners of the four other Regionalliga divisions for three promotions to the 3. By rule, the champions and the runner-up will not face each other in the promotion playoffs, mostly in line with the geographical borders of the 16 German states, amateur football is organised by 21 state football associations. Three states are subdivided into more than one state football association, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is subdivided into three state associations, these being Middle Rhine, Lower Rhine and Westphalia
16.
Regionalliga
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The Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the tier of the system in 1994. Upon introduction of a new nationwide 3, liga in 2008, it was demoted to the fourth level of the pyramid. From the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 until the formation of the 2, bundesligas, Süd and Nord became the second tier of German Football and the Regionalligas ceased existing for the next 20 years. In 1994, the Regionalligas were re-introduced, this time as the tier of German Football. There were initially four Regionalligas, Regionalliga Süd, Regionalliga West/Südwest, Regionalliga Nord, Regionalliga Nordost, Between 1994 and 2000, Bundesliga was regulated without much continuity. It was a rule, as becoming champion of a division did not automatically mean promotion for that team. The champions of the South and West/Southwest divisions were promoted, however. The champions of the North and Northeast divisions had a play-off to decide who would get the promotion spot. This rule was justified because there are clubs in the southern part of Germany than the north. This led to clubs in the Southern division being geographically further north than some northern clubs. The champions and the runners-up of both divisions were promoted to the 2, in 2008, the Regionalliga was demoted to become the fourth tier of football in Germany after the introduction of a new nationwide 3. This may lead to teams assigned to an other than their geographical one. An example for this is BV Cloppenburg, who was assigned to the Western division for the 2008–09 season despite being located in Niedersachsen, in October 2010, yet another reform of the Regionalligas was decided upon. The number of leagues were now to be expanded to five, with the defunct Regionalliga Nordost to be reestablished and a Regionalliga Bayern to be established. Also, the Regionalliga West would lose the clubs from the south west to a new league, formed out of those clubs, the new system is due to come into operation in the 2012–13 season. It was also decided to limit the number of teams per Regionalliga to seven
17.
FC Bayern Munich
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Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. commonly known as FC Bayern München, FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by Franz John, although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, overall, Bayern has reached ten European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their fifth title in 2013 as part of a continental treble. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 26 titles and has won 8 of the last 12 titles and they have traditional local rivalries with 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with Borussia Dortmund since the mid-1990s, since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Bayern has played its home games at the Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played at Munichs Olympiastadion for 33 years, the team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the white and blue flag of Bavaria. In terms of revenue, Bayern Munich is the biggest sports club in Germany, as of November 2016, Bayern has over 284,000 members. There are more than 4,000 officially-registered fan clubs with over 314,000 members, the club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis and senior football with more than 1,100 active members. FC Bayern is ranked second in the current UEFA club coefficient rankings, FC Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all rivals, including a 15–0 win against FC Nordstern. In the following years, the club won some trophies and in 1910–11 Bayern joined the newly founded Kreisliga. The club won league in its first year, but did not win it again until the beginning of World War I in 1914. In the years after the war, Bayern won several regional competitions before winning its first South German championship in 1926, an achievement repeated two years later. Its first national title was gained in 1932, when coach Richard Little Dombi Kohn led the team to the German championship by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final, the advent of Nazism put an abrupt end to Bayerns development. Club president Kurt Landauer and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country, many others in the club were also purged. Bayern was taunted as the Jews club, while local rival 1860 Munich gained much support, josef Sauter, who was inaugurated 1943, was the only NSDAP member as president. As some Bayern players greeted Landauer, who was watching a friendly in Switzerland lead to continued discrimination, Bayern was also affected by the ruling that football players had to be full amateurs again. In the following years, Bayern could not sustain its role of contender for the national title, after the war, Bayern became a member of the Oberliga Süd, the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time
18.
Oberliga Westfalen
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The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was replaced by the NRW-Liga. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the tier of the German football league system. The league was formed in 1978 as a highest level of play for the region of Westphalia, the main reason for the creation of this league was to allow its champion direct promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord rather than having to go through a promotion play-off. The league was created from nine clubs from the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Nordost, the SC Herford was relegated from the 2. Bundesliga Nord to the new league, the league was founded as the Amateur-Oberliga Westfalen, but from 1994 the name was shortened to Oberliga Westfalen. With the introduction of the unified 2nd Bundesliga in 1981, direct promotion for the Oberliga champions became impossible again because there were eight of them competing for four promotion spots. The champion of the Oberliga Westfalen had to compete with the winner and the runner-up of the Oberliga Nord, upon creation of the Regionalligas in 1994, the champions of the Oberligas were directly promoted again, however the Oberligas slipped to fourth tier in the German football league system. However, the Sportfreunde Siegen, based in the south of the region. With the creation of the 3rd Liga in 2008 the Oberliga Westfalen was replaced by the NRW-Liga, the Oberliga Westfalen ceased to exit after 30 seasons. Its clubs were split up over three league levels, the first four teams were promoted to the new Regionalliga West, clubs from place five to eleven went to the new Oberliga while the bottom seven teams were relegated to the Verbandsligas. The league was reintroduced in 2012 after the NRW-Liga was disbanded again
19.
Regionalliga Nord
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The Regionalliga Nord is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga Nordost, Regionalliga Südwest. Until the introduction of the 3, Liga in 2008 it was the third tier. From 1963 to 1974, a Regionalliga Nord existed as the tier of the German football league system. Previous to the introduction of the four Regionalligas, the leagues below the second division were the Oberligas and those ten Oberliga champions had to go through a promotion play-off rather than being directly promoted. The champions of the Regionalligas Nord and Nordost however had to play-off for a spot in the 2nd Bundesliga from 1996 to 2000, the winner of this contest was promoted, the loser faced the runners-ups of the Regionalligas Süd and West/Südwest for another spot in the second division. The Regionalliga Nord was direct continuation of the Oberliga Nord, which was disbanded in 1994 in favour of the Regionalliga, fourteen out of sixteen Oberliga Nord clubs qualified for the new league, only the bottom two teams were relegated to the two new Oberligas. To replace the Oberliga Nord below the Regionalliga, two new leagues were formed, those being the Oberligas Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein and this two leagues were in turn disbanded in 2004 when the Oberliga Nord was reformed. FC Union Berlin of this became only the second Regionalliga side to reach a German Cup final. With the league changes in Germany in 2008, the Oberliga Nord was again disbanded and this required a promotion play-off for this league winners as there were not five promotion spots available for their region. No changes were made in the NOFV region were the two Oberligas Nord and Süd will remain, unlike the old Regionalliga, the new one allowed reserve teams to compete in it. After six seasons, in 2000, the number of Regionalligas was reduced from four to two, only the Regionalligas Süd and Nord survived. The clubs of the two were spread according to their geographical location. Only the teams placed two to six were permitted to remain in the league, the league champion, VfL Osnabrück, was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga and all clubs from place seven to eighteen were relegated to the Verbandsligas. The league was expanded to nineteen teams and fourteen clubs from the 2nd Bundesliga, Regionalliga West/Südwest, with the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 and of a third Regionalliga, the Regionalliga West, the league became the fourth tier of German football. The clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia left the league again and joined the new Regionalliga West, the sixth placed team played-off with the five Verbandsliga winners from this region for one more place in the Regionalliga. The three best teams from the NOFV-Oberliga Nord and Süd each and a winner of the two fourth placed teams. The following 18 teams fulfilled the various criteria and were granted a license for play in the new Regionalliga Nord for the 2008-09 season
20.
FIFA eligibility rules
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In the 20th century, FIFA allowed a player to represent any national team, as long as the player held citizenship of that country. FIFA has used its authority to overturn results of competitive matches that feature ineligible players. FIFAs eligibility rules also demand that in mens competitions, only men are eligible to play, historically, it was possible for players to play for different national teams. For example, Alfredo di Stefano played for Argentina and Spain, di Stefanos Real Madrid team-mate Ferenc Puskás also played for Spain after amassing 85 caps for Hungary earlier in his career. Other 20th century examples of players officially representing more than one country – excluding those resulting from changes to geopolitical borders e. g. e, fixtures not recognised by FIFA as full internationals. These caps are not officially recognised due to a dispute between FIFA and the Colombian Football Federation at the time, the first player to do so was Antar Yahia, who played for the France under-18s before representing Algeria in qualifiers for the 2004 Olympic Games. In March 2004, FIFA amended its policy on international eligibility. An emergency FIFA committee ruling judged that players must be able to demonstrate a connection to a country that they had not been born in. Defender Nikola Vujadinović, for example, would be eligible to play for the teams of Serbia or Montenegro. In June 2009, FIFA Congress passed a motion that removed the age limit for players who had played for a countrys national team at youth level to change national associations. This ruling features in Article 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes, thiago Motta has three caps for Brazil in matches deemed friendlies for Brazil and now represents Italy. Mehdi Carcela-González was born and raised in Belgium, and won two caps for Belgium in official friendly matches before switching to his nation of Morocco in 2011. Diego Costa represented Brazil in 2 friendlies before switching his allegiances to Spain in 2013, apostolos Giannou represented Greece in a friendly in 2015, before switching his allegiances to Australia, making his debut for the latter in March 2016. A FIFA Players Status Committee is responsible for making such judgements, FIFA takes punitive action against teams that field ineligible players. In August 2011, FIFA expelled Syria from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification process following the appearance of George Mourad in a qualification match against Tajikistan. Mourad had made friendly match appearances for Sweden earlier in his career, after the game, a protest was lodged by their opponents Vanuatu, on the basis that Wynne was not an eligible player. As Wynne was 20 years old, it was impossible for him to have lived in New Zealand for five years after the age of 18. This protest was upheld by the Oceania Football Confederation, resulting in New Zealand being disqualified, there are 25 FIFA member associations that share a common nationality with at least one other FIFA member association
21.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
22.
Goalkeeper (association football)
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Goalkeeper, often shortened to keeper or goalie, is one of the major positions of association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport, the goalkeepers primary role is to prevent the opposing team from successfully moving the ball over the defended goal-line. This is accomplished by the moving into the path of the ball. Within the penalty area goalkeepers are able to use their hands, goalkeepers usually perform goal kicks, and also give commands to their defence during corner kicks, direct and indirect free kicks, and marking. Goalkeepers play an important role in directing on field strategy as they have a view of the entire pitch. If an attacker on the opposing team obstructs the keeper from catching or saving the ball, for example, in a corner, it will normally be a free kick. If a goalkeeper is injured or sent off, a goalkeeper has to take their place. In order to replace a goalkeeper who is sent off, a team usually substitutes an outfield player for the backup keeper and they then play the remainder of the match with nine outfield players. Goalkeepers often have longer playing careers than players, many not retiring until their late thirties or early forties. This can be explained by noting that goalkeepers play a physically demanding position that requires significantly less running. For example, Peter Shilton played for 31 years between 1966 and 1997 before retiring at the age of 47. Because only one player can play in goal and the position is so specialised many professional teams on average especially at the highest level have one player as first-choice for many years, for example Gianlugi Buffon has played as first choice keeper for Juventus for more than 15 years. Petr Cech prior to his move to Aresnal was first choice keeper for Chelsea between 2004 and 2015, the squad number for a first choice goalkeeper is generally number 1. Although this is common, some goalkeepers now wear other numbers when in goal, association football, like many sports, has experienced many changes in tactics resulting in the generation and elimination of different positions. Goalkeeper is the position that is certain to have existed since the codification of the sport. The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes from Richard Mulcaster in 1581, the earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from Cornish Hurling in 1602. One of these is appointed by lots, to the one side, there is assigned for their guard, a couple of their best stopping Hurlers. Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the early 16th century, for example, in John Days play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, Ill play a gole at camp-ball
Günther Rybarczyk (1993–2001)
Pavel Dochev (2003–2005)
Jos Luhukay (2005–2006)
