BSG Stahl Brandenburg is a German association football club based in

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

History

The club was formed in 1950 as ''BSG Einheit Brandenburg'' and played its earliest seasons in the II division of

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

football. They took on the name ''BSG Stahl Brandenburg'' in 1955 to reflect the backing of the local steel company. With that support, the club was able to assemble competitive sides by offering attractive salaries to the castoffs of other teams. The strategy drew some capable players to their ranks and helped them develop a solid fan base. The side earned promotion to the

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the Allied-occupied G ...

for the 1984–85 season and played there until

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990. After a name change to ''BSV Stahl Brandenburg'' they spent the 1991–92 season in the 2. Bundesliga Nord. In 1993, with the closing of the local steel mill and the loss of their financial support, 'Stahl' was dropped from the team name. The club played in the tier three

NOFV-Oberliga Nord The NOFV-Oberliga Nord is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the northern states of the former East Germany and West Berlin. It covers the States of Germany, German states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania a ...

from 1992 to 1994, won the league and earned promotion to the new

Regionalliga Nordost The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football league system, German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany ...

. After a year at this level it dropped back to the Oberliga and down to the

Verbandsliga Brandenburg The Brandenburg-Liga (VI) (''formerly the Verbandsliga Brandenburg'') is the highest league for football teams exclusively in the German state of Brandenburg and at step six of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Lig ...

in 1996. By the end of the 90s they found themselves mired in financial difficulty. The club declared bankruptcy in 1998 and quickly re-formed as ''FC Stahl Brandenburg'', but continued to stumble. In 2002, in a desperate move to save something of the club, a merger with crosstown rival ''

Brandenburger SC Süd 05 Brandenburger SC Süd is a German association football club from the town of Brandenburg, in the federal state of the same name. The footballers are part of a larger sports club that also has departments for bowling, canoeing, cycling, swimming ...

'' to form ''FC Brandenburg'' was put into the works, but only went as far as the union of the clubs' youth sides. Fan protests from both sides – and more money problems – caused the merger to unravel the next year. On 1 June 2022, the club was renamed ''BSG Stahl Brandenburg'' and plays in the tier seven Landesliga as a lower table side.

Rugby department

During the East German era, the club also had a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

department, which now is separate club, the Stahl Brandenburg Rugby.

Honours

The club's honours: *

** Champions: 1994 ** Runners-up: 1993 * Brandenburg Cup ** Winners: 1994

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg, Stahl Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Brandenburg Sport in Brandenburg an der Havel Football clubs in East Germany Association football clubs established in 1950 1950 establishments in East Germany Works association football clubs in Germany 2. Bundesliga clubs