rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
from
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, currently playing in the
Rugby-Bundesliga
The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation.
The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, t ...
. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...
.
The club has three German rugby union championship finals-appearances to its name, having lost the title game in 1974, 1979 and 1994, but has never won the championship.Die Deutschen Meister der Männer ''DRV'' website, accessed: 1 April 2010
In 2014 and 2015 the club won the finals of DRV-CUP and became CUP-champions for ninety-six years in a row.
History
''HTV'', formed in 1846, has always stood in the shadow of the other, more successful, rugby clubs in Heidelberg, like SC Neuenheim,
Heidelberger RK
The Heidelberger Ruderklub (Heidelberger RK or HRK for short) is a German rowing club and rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga.
The club is one of only two professional rugby clubs in Germany, the other bei ...
,
RG Heidelberg
The RG Heidelberg (''german: Rudergesellschaft Heidelberg'', literally "Heidelberg Rowing Club") is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers the sport of rowing.
...
and
TSV Handschuhsheim
The TSV Handschuhsheim is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like association football, handball and tennis.
History
The club was formed in 18 ...
. It only came to prominence in national rugby when it reached the 1974 final, which was lost 9-15 to
SV 08 Ricklingen
The SV 08 Ricklingen is a German rugby union club from the Ricklingen suburb of Hanover. The team plays in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, the second tier of German rugby. After having formed an on-the-field union with DSV 78 Hannover from 2003 to 2009 ...
.
The club made a return to the national final in 1979, this time losing to SC Germania List. After an era of little success, the team reached the German championship final for a third time in 1994, this time losing to
TSV Victoria Linden
The TSV Victoria Linden is a German rugby union club from the Linden suburb of Hannover, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports, such as triathlon and athletics.
The club is Germany's record ...
.
''HTV'' declined after this and dropped to
2nd Rugby-Bundesliga
The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third ti ...
level, from where it unsuccessfully tried to return. With the reorganisation of the German league system in 2001, the reduction of the
Rugby-Bundesliga
The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation.
The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, t ...
to a single division, the task of promotion became even harder and ''HTV'' dropped to the mid-field of the league.
The club played the 2008-09 season as a combined team with the reserve side of SC Neuenheim, as ''SG Heidelberger TV/SC Neuenheim II'' but despite this finished last in the league and was relegated to the third-division Rugby-Regionalliga. From there, the club hoped to make a quick return to the second division.
After a year in the Regionalliga, HTV entered the new 3rd Liga South/West for the 2010-11 season, won the championship there and earned promotion back to the 2nd Bundesliga. A second-place finish behind Frankfurts reserve team in 2012 allowed the club promotion to the Bundesliga, with the league being expanded from ten to 24 teams. HTV finished sixth in their group in the 2012-13 season and failed to qualify for the championship round, instead entering the second tier DRV-Pokal, where it came second in the south/west division. The club advanced to the final where it lost 42-10 to
TSV Handschuhsheim
The TSV Handschuhsheim is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like association football, handball and tennis.
History
The club was formed in 18 ...
.
The club once more qualified for the play-offs to the DRV-Pokal in 2013–14, where it received a bye for the first courtesy to coming first in the south-west division of the competition and advanced to the final against RC Rottweil which it won 11–5. In the 2014–15 season the club once more finished first in the south-west division of the DRV-Pokal and defeated RC Rottweil 30–12 in the final of the DRV-Pokal. With the reduction of the Rugby-Bundesliga from 24 to 16 teams HTV was relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga.
Recent seasons of the club:
* Until 2001, when the single-division Bundesliga was established, the season was divided in autumn and spring, a ''Vorrunde'' and ''Endrunde'', whereby the top teams of the Rugby-Bundesliga would play out the championship while the bottom teams together with the autumn 2nd Bundesliga champion would play for Bundesliga qualification. The remainder of the 2nd Bundesliga teams would play a spring round to determine the relegated clubs. Where two placing's are shown, the first is autumn, the second spring. In 2012 the Bundesliga was expanded from ten to 24 teams and the 2nd Bundesliga from 20 to 24 with the leagues divided into four regional divisions.