HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional
sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
based in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
,
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
. The club's
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team is currently part of Germany's first division, the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
. VfB Stuttgart has won the national championship five times, most recently in 2006–07, the DFB-Pokal four times and the
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
a record two times. In the all-time Bundesliga table the club sits in fourth place. The football team plays its home games at the MHPArena, in the Neckarpark which is located near the Cannstatter Wasen, where the city's fall beer festival takes place. Second team side VfB Stuttgart II currently plays in the 3. Liga, which is the highest division allowed for a reserve team. The club's junior teams have won the national under 19 championships a record ten times and the national under 17 championships seven times. A membership-based club with over 100,000 members, VfB is the largest sports club in Baden-Württemberg and the eighth-largest football club in Germany. It has departments for fistball,
field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
,
track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
,
table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
, and football referees, all of which compete only at the amateur level. The club also maintains an
esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
department and a social department, the ''VfB-Garde''.


History


Foundation to WWII

''Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart'' was formed through a 2 April 1912 merger of predecessor sides ''Stuttgarter FV'' and ''FC Krone Cannstatt'' following a meeting in the Concordia hotel in Cannstatt. Each of these clubs was made up of school pupils with middle-class rootsHardy Grüne
Mit dem Ring auf der Brust
Vorwort S. 7
who learned new sports such as
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 ...
and football from English expatriates such as William Cail who introduced rugby in 1865.


FV Stuttgart

''Stuttgarter Fußballverein'' was founded at the Zum Becher hotel in Stuttgart on 9 September 1893. ''FV'' were initially a rugby club, playing games at Stöckach-Eisbahn before moving to Cannstatter Wasen in 1894. The rugby club established a football section in 1908. The team drew players primarily from local schools, under the direction of teacher Carl Kaufmann, and quickly achieved its first success; in 1909, they were runners-up to ''FSV 1897 Hannover'' in the national rugby final, losing 6–3. Rugby was soon replaced by association football within the club, as spectators found the game too complicated to follow. In 1909, ''FV'' joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (South German Football Association), playing in the second tier B-Klasse. In their second season ''FV'' won a district final against future merger partner ''Kronen-Klub Cannstatt'' before being defeated by ''FV Zuffenhausen'' in the county championship that would have seen the side promoted. They eventually advanced to the senior Südkreis-Liga in 1912.


Kronenclub Cannstatt

''Cannstatter Fußballklub'' was formed as a rugby club in 1890 and also quickly established a football team. This club was dissolved after just a few years of play and the former membership re-organized themselves as ''FC Krone Cannstatt'' in 1897 to compete as a football-only side. The new team joined the Süddeutschen Fußballverband (SFV) as a second division club and won promotion in 1904. ''Krone'' possessed their own ground, which still exists today as the home of TSV Münster. Following the 1912 merger of these two clubs, the combined side played at first in the Kreisliga Württemberg and then in the Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden, earning a number of top three finishes and claiming a title there in 1927. The club also made several appearances in the final rounds of the SFV in the late 1920s and early 1930s.


1930s and 1940s

In 1933, VfB moved to Neckar Stadium, the site of its current ground. German football was re-organized that same year under the
Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
into sixteen top-flight divisions called Gauligen. Stuttgart played in the Gauliga Württemberg and won division titles in 1935, 1937, 1938, 1940, and 1943 before the Gauliga system collapsed part way through the 1944–45 season due to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The club had an intense rivalry with Stuttgarter Kickers throughout this period. VfB's Gauliga titles earned the team entry to the national playoff rounds, with their best result coming in 1935 when they advanced to the final where they lost 4–6 to defending champions Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era. After a third-place result at the national level in 1937, Stuttgart was not able to advance out of the preliminary rounds in subsequent appearances.


Successes through the 1950s

VfB continued to play first division football in the Oberliga Süd, capturing titles in 1946, 1952, and 1954. They made regular appearances in the German championship rounds, emerging as national champions in 1950 and 1952, finishing as runner-up in 1953, and winning two DFB-Pokal titles in
1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
and 1958. The team which won four titles in eight years was led by Robert Schlienz who had lost his left arm in a car crash. Despite these successes, no player from the Stuttgart squad had a place in the team that won the
1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...
.


Original Bundesligist

Due to disappointing results in international competition including the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cup, and in response to the growth of professionalism in the sport, the
German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...
(DFB) replaced the regional top flight competitions with a single nationwide professional league in 1963. Stuttgart's consistently solid play through the 1950s earned them a place among the 16 clubs that would make up the original
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
. As an amateur organisation, and due to proverbial Swabian austerity, the club hesitated to spend money, and some players continued to work in an everyday job. Throughout the balance of the decade and until the mid-1970s, the club would generally earn mid-table results. In
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
, the team qualified for the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
for the first time and advanced to the semi-finals of the 1974 tournament where they were eliminated by eventual winners
Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
(1–2, 2–2).


1975–2000: Era of president MV

VfB Stuttgart was in crisis in the mid-1970s, having missed new trends in football such as club sponsorship. Attempts to catch up with new levels of professionalism by spending money failed. Towards the end of the 1974–75 season, with the team in imminent danger of being relegated to Second Bundesliga, local politician Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder was elected as new president. However, a draw in the final game of the season meant that VfB would be ranked 16th and lose its Bundesliga status. The first season in the second league, considered the worst in its history, ended with VfB being ranked 11th, having even lost a home game against local rival
SSV Reutlingen SSV Reutlingen 05 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg. History The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was renamed SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club merged with 1. Schwimmv ...
in front of just 1,200 spectators. With new coach Jürgen Sundermann and new talents like Karlheinz Förster and Hansi Müller (1975/76-1981/82), the team built around Ottmar Hitzfeld scored one hundred goals in 1976–77 and thus returned to the top-flight after just two seasons. The young team were renowned for offensive and high-scoring play, but suffered from lack of experience. At the end of 1977–78, VfB was ranked fourth, but the average attendance of over 53,000 set the league record until the 1990s. In 1978/79 they finished second in the Bundesliga. They made another UEFA Cup semi-final appearance in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
and delivered a number of top four finishes on their way to their first Bundesliga title – the club's third national title – in the 1983/84 season, now under coach Helmut Benthaus. In 1986, VfB lost the DFB-Pokal final 2–5 to Bayern Munich. In the 1989 UEFA Cup Final, with Jürgen Klinsmann in their ranks, they lost out to Napoli (1–2, 3–3), where Diego Maradona was playing at the time. In 1991–92, Stuttgart clinched its fourth title, in one of the closest races in Bundesliga history, finishing ahead of
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
on goal difference. Internationally, they had been eliminated from UEFA Cup play that season ( 1991–92) after losing their second round match to Spanish side
Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...
(2–3). As national champions, the club qualified to play in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
in 1992–93, but were eliminated in the first round by Leeds United after a tie-breaking third match in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
which was required due to coach Christoph Daum having substituted a fourth non-German player in the tie's second leg. VfB did not qualify for any European competition again until 1997, by way of their third German Cup win, with coach Joachim Löw. They advanced to the 1998 European Cup Winners' Cup final, where they lost to Chelsea in what was the penultimate year of the competition. Only one player of the "magic triangle", captain Krassimir Balakov, remained after Giovane Élber and Fredi Bobic left. Löw's contract was not renewed, and he was replaced by Winfried Schäfer, who in turn was sacked after one season. Stuttgart's performance, however, fell off after this as the club earned just mid-table results over the next two seasons despite spending money on the transfer market and having veterans like Balakov.


2000–2007: The post-MV-era return to success

Due to high debts and the lack of results, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder finally resigned from VfB in 2000 to take over offices at the DFB,
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, and
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
. New president Manfred Haas had to renegotiate expensive contracts with players who seldom appeared on the field anyway. As in 1976, when Mayer-Vorfelder had taken over, the team had to be rebuilt by relying on talents from the youth teams. The VfB has Germany's most successful program in the German youth Championship. Coach Ralf Rangnick had started a restructuring of the team that won the Intertoto Cup, but the resulting extra strain of the UEFA Cup participation ended in narrowly escaping from relegation in
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
by clinching the 15th spot in the league table. Rangnick was replaced by Felix Magath. With players like Andreas Hinkel, Kevin Kurányi, Timo Hildebrand, and Alexander Hleb earning themselves the nickname "the young and wild", the club soon re-bounded and finished as Bundesliga runners-up in the 2002–03 season. In July 2003, Erwin Staudt became the new president of the club.


2003–04 Champions League

VfB qualified for their second Champions League appearance for 2003–04, beating
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and Rangers once and Panathinaikos twice to advance from the group stage as runners-up to Manchester United. They were then matched against Chelsea in the round of 16, falling 0–1 and 0–0 over two legs. Stuttgart continued to play as one of the top teams in the country, earning fourth and fifth place Bundesliga finishes in 2003–04 and 2004–05 respectively, and again taking part in the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, but without great success. In addition, coach Magath and several players left for another clubs: Kevin Kurányi for Schalke 04,
Philipp Lahm Philipp Lahm (; born 11 November 1983) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Full back (association football), full-back. Widely regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, Lahm was the longt ...
for Bayern Munich and Alexander Hleb for Arsenal. Halfway through the disappointing 2005–06 season, Giovanni Trapattoni was sacked and replaced by Armin Veh. The new coach was designated as a stop-gap due to having resigned from Hansa Rostock in 2003 to focus on his family and having no football job since 2004, save for coaching his home team FC Augsburg for one season. Supported by new manager Horst Heldt, Veh could establish himself and his concept of focusing on promising inexpensive players rather than established stars. Team captain, Zvonimir Soldo, retired, and other veterans left the team that slipped to ninth place and did not qualify for European competition for the first time in four years.


Bundesliga champions 2006–07

Despite early-season losses and ensuing criticism in 2006–07, including a 3–0 loss at home to 1. FC Nürnberg, Veh managed to turn the collection of new players like Mexicans Pável Pardo, and Ricardo Osorio, Brazilian Antônio da Silva and fresh local talents, including Mario Gómez, Serdar Tasci, and
Sami Khedira Sami Khedira (; ; born 4 April 1987) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a central midfielder. He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid CF, Re ...
, into a strong contender that led the league on 12 November 2006 for the first time in two years. Stuttgart established themselves among the top five and delivered a strong challenge for the Bundesliga title by winning their final eight games. In the penultimate week on 12 May 2007, Stuttgart beat VfL Bochum 3–2 away from home, taking the Bundesliga lead from Schalke 04 and at minimum securing a spot in the 2007–08 Champions League. After trailing 0–1 in the final match of the season against Energie Cottbus, Stuttgart came back to win 2–1 and claim their first Bundesliga title in 15 years. The victory celebrations in Stuttgart, totalling 250,000 people, even topped those of
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
's third place win over
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
in the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
. In addition, VfB had their first ever chance to win the
double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...
as they also reached the final of the German Cup for the first time since their victory there ten years former. Their opponents in the cup final in Berlin were 1. FC Nürnberg, a team that had beaten them twice by three goals in regular season, 3–0 and 4–1, and had last won the cup in 1962. With the game level at 1–1 in the first half, Stuttgart's scorer Cacau was sent off. Nürnberg gained a 2–1 lead early in the second half, but the ten men of VfB managed to fight back and equalize. In the second half of extra time, however, with both teams suffering from exhaustion and the humid conditions, Nürnberg scored the winning goal.


2007 to 2018: Decline and two relegations


2007–08 UEFA Champions League

The 2007–08 UEFA Champions League draw on 30 August 2007 paired the German champions with Spanish giants
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, French champions
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and Scottish Old Firm side Rangers. Like in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League season, Stuttgart's 2007–08 European campaign started with a match at Ibrox Park in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
against Rangers. It ended in a 2–1 defeat. The second match at home against Barcelona was likewise lost, 0–2, as well as the third match, against Lyon at home, with the visitors coming out 2–0 winners from two-second-half strikes. Five defeats and just one win (over Rangers) meant the early exit on the European stage. In the league, they managed to finish in sixth place after a poor start. New German international star Mario Gómez scored 19 goals. Subsequently, UEFA Cup qualification was ensured in the summer by succeeding in the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup.


Post-championship seasons 2008–12

The 2008–09 season, like the one before it, got off to a bad start. After matchday 14 in November, VfB was only 11th in the table and as a result, Armin Veh was sacked and replaced by Markus Babbel. After exiting the German Cup after a 1–5 thrashing from Bayern Munich in January, prospects improved considerably and the team ended third in the table, with second place just being missed after a loss to Bayern on the last matchday. That meant the chance of making the Champions League again. Internationally, VfB mastered the group stages of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, but lost to Cup defenders Zenit Saint Petersburg in the round of the last 32 in February. Stuttgart went into the 2009–10 season with Mario Gómez leaving for Bayern Munich, just as Pavel Pogrebnyak arrived from Zenit Saint Petersburg and Alexander Hleb returning on loan from Barcelona. On the European level, Stuttgart started the season with a huge success by qualifying for the group stage of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. Stuttgart entered that competition for the third time in six years (after 2003 and 2007) by defeating Romanian side Politehnica Timișoara in the Champions League play-off round on 18 and 26 August 2009. VfB were then drawn into Group G against Spanish side Sevilla, Scottish champions Rangers, against whom they had also been drawn against in their previous two Champions League Group stage appearances, and Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni. With two wins (one each against Rangers and Unirea), three draws (one each against all opponents) and a loss (to Sevilla) they managed second spot in the group, thus qualifying for the round of the last 16, where they had to face title holders Barcelona in late winter. After a 1–1 home draw, Stuttgart were eliminated after a 4–0 loss at Camp Nou. In the 2009–10 DFB-Pokal, they did not proceed further than the last 16 either, losing to second-tier side SpVgg Greuther Fürth. That defeat came in the course of a disappointing first half of the 2009–10 Bundesliga. As a consequence of slipping to 16th spot in December, young coach Markus Babbel was fired after matchday 15 and replaced by the more experienced Swiss Christian Gross. Under his tenure, VfB improved their situation domestically as well as internationally before the winter break. During that break, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Jan Šimák and Ludovic Magnin left the club;
Cristian Molinaro Cristian Molinaro (; born 30 July 1983) is an Italian professional football official and a former full-back. He works as a technical director for club Venezia. He represented the Italy national team. Club career Early career Molinaro starte ...
was loaned out from Juventus. In the later half of the season, the team – as in the 2008–09 season – were the best performing side of the second half of the Bundesliga, and under Gross they climbed into the upper half of the table and, eventually managed to secure European football for the following season by qualifying for the Europa League. The 2010–11 season was a mediocre one—after again spending the first half of the season almost always in the relegation zone (17th and 18th spot), with Christian Gross being fired and interim coach Jens Keller taking over for the rest of the first leg, Bruno Labbadia was hired as new coach in January and managed to save VfB from relegation. Eventually, the team finished 12th after a decent second-half performance. In July 2011, Erwin Staudt did not participate again in the election of the president and Gerd E. Mäuser was elected as president. In the following 2011–12 season, they managed to constantly climb up the table; this was especially thanks to a long unbeaten streak in the spring. Subsequently, VfB qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Key players during that season were Martin Harnik, who scored 17 goals, as well as winger Gōtoku Sakai and forward Vedad Ibišević, who both came to Stuttgart in January 2012. With effect from 3 June 2013, Gerd E. Mäuser announced his resignation as president of VfB Stuttgart. On 2 July 2013, the supervisory board of the club named Bernd Wahler as the candidate for the presidential elections. On 22 July 2013, Wahler was elected by 97.4% of the votes cast. After barely avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga in the 2014–15 season, Stuttgart were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga in the 2015–16 season after finishing in 17th place, having been unable to lift themselves out of the bottom three positions until the end of the season. Following matchday 13, a home match against FC Augsburg and their second consecutive 4–0 loss, Stuttgart decided to terminate Alexander Zorniger's contract and appointed Jürgen Kramny as their manager for an indefinite period. After Stuttgart were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, Wahler resigned as president on 15 May 2016. Kramny was subsequently sacked as coach. On 17 May 2016, Jos Luhukay was announced as the new head coach. In July 2016, Jan Schindelmeiser became the sporting director and member of the executive board. Head coach Luhukay resigned on 15 September 2016 and was replaced by Hannes Wolf. At the end of the season, Stuttgart returned to the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
as the 2. Bundesliga champions. On 22 December 2017, after nearly 10 years since his departure, Bundesliga title winning striker Mario Gomez returned to the team from fellow Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg, The team made a solid return season to the Bundesliga, finishing in 7th place. However, they slumped to 16th the following season, eventually ending up relegated via play-offs against Union Berlin.


2019–present: Re-emergence

Stuttgart appointed Thomas Hitzlsperger as the sporting CEO, and in April they appointed Sven Mislintat as the sporting director, coming from
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
and Arsenal. In July 2019, Stuttgart was relegated to the second division, and started to rebuild the team. In mid-season, December 2019, former coach Tim Walter was fired and Pellegrino Matarazzo was signed. After one season, Stuttgart returned to the Bundesliga after finishing second in the 2019–20 2. Bundesliga season. Stuttgart stayed in the Bundesliga in the 2020–21 season, finishing in ninth place in the league. In the 2021–22 season, the team narrowly avoided relegation; a last-minute-win against 1. FC Köln on the last match day guaranteed them a spot in the first league for a third consecutive season. In the 2022–23 season, Stuttgart managed to stay in the Bundesliga for a fourth consecutive season, but again only very closely, with Stuttgart finishing in 16th place and only qualifying for the next season thanks to successful play-offs. The 2023–24 season for Stuttgart has been one of the most successful ones of the club's history. Stuttgart was frequently called "the surprise team of the season". In Bundesliga, they played their best season ever based on the number and rate of victories. They remained in 3rd place of the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
for most of the matchdays, only behind Leverkusen and Bayern, until they surpassed Bayern Munich on the final matchday to finish as Bundesliga runners-up. It was the club's best performance since winning the league in 2007. They also reached the quarter-finals in the DFB Pokal, where they defeated 1. FC Union Berlin and
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
before losing to eventual winners
Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...
3–2. Strikers Serhou Guirassy and Deniz Undav were among the top goalscorers worldwide, with Guirassy even breaking the all-time Stuttgart record of most goals in a season despite missing some games. Deniz Undav, Alexander Nübel, Chris Führich, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Waldemar Anton were nominated for the preliminary squad of the Germany national team for the UEFA Euro 2024, a club record high for number of players ever selected from the club in a major tournament. The club began 2024–25 season with a heartbreaking 4–3 shootout loss in the 2024 DFL-Supercup to Leverkusen after a 2–2 draw in regular time, a competition they qualified in lieu of finishing 2nd in the league the previous season. They were not unable to repeat the heroics of last time, as the club finished in 9th, even setting a miserable club record of six straight defeats in Bundesliga home games. They finished 26th in the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League league phase, missing out on knockout playoffs after a 4–1 defeat to PSG on final matchday. Their Champions League campaign included a memorable 1–0 away win against
Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
. However, the club still qualified for Europe as they broke an 18-year long trophy drought by winning the 2024–25 DFB-Pokal, winning 4–2 against third-tier side Arminia Bielefeld in the final, thus qualifying for 2025–26 UEFA Europa League and for hosting the newly renamed Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against league winners Bayern Munich in the 2025 edition.


Kits

*Current sports brand: Jako. * Home uniform: White shirt with a horizontal red stripe, white shorts and white socks. * Alternative uniform: Red shirt, red shorts and red socks. * Third uniform: Dark green or yellow shirt, dark green or yellow shorts and dark green or yellow socks.


Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors


Crest

File:FV Stuttgart.svg, Badge of Stuttgarter FV 93 (1893–1912) File:Kronen-Club Cannstatt.jpg, Badge of FC Krone Cannstatt (1897–1912) File:VfB-Stuttgart (Logo1912).png, Badge of VfB Stuttgart (1912–1949) File:VfB Stuttgart Logo.svg, Badge of VfB Stuttgart (1994–2014) File:VfB Stuttgart 1893 Logo.svg, Badge of VfB Stuttgart (1949–1994, 2014–)


Stadium

The home ground of VfB Stuttgart is the MHPArena which was originally built in 1933. It lies close to the River Neckar on Bad Cannstatt's Mercedesstraße near the new Mercedes-Benz Museum and
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
factory. After being renovated several times, the stadium was able to hold a maximum capacity of 55,896 spectators (50,000 for international matches). For the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
, the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion (its original name) was one of the venues for the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
, hosting five preliminary round matches, a first knockout round match (
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
vs.
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
) and the third place play-off (
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
vs.
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
). From the 2008–09 season, the stadium was named the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, starting with a pre-season friendly against Arsenal on 30 July 2008. The stadium recently went through extensive restructuring and rebuilding as it was being converted into a pure football arena. In 2011, the capacity was increased to 60,449.


Rivalries, friendships and cooperations

The longest rivalry of VfB is the city rivalry with Stuttgarter Kickers (''Die Roten''/''Reds'' against ''Die Blauen''/''Blues''). However, the respective first teams of the two clubs have not played each other since Kickers were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga in 1992. Thus, this derby has increasingly been overtaken in importance by the Baden-Württemberg-Derby between VfB and Karlsruher SC. In this derby, old Badenese-
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
ian animosities are played out. The rivalry with Bavarian side Bayern Munich ("Süd-/South Derby") is mainly one-sided, as VfB fans maintain animosity towards Bayern for buying some of Stuttgart's best players and coaches in recent years, such as Giovane Élber, Felix Magath, Mario Gómez, and Benjamin Pavard. Regional friendships exist between VfB and the South
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
side SSV Reutlingen 05 (the "little brother" of VfB) as well as with North Württembergers SpVgg Ludwigsburg but also with Heidenheim FC Heidenheim. On a national level, supporters groups of VfB used to be closely connected with those of Energie Cottbus, 1. FC Saarbrücken,
Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...
and
Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
. All of these supporter group friendships have been discontinued by today or are only maintained by few supporter groups. Current ultras friendships are with the ultras of SSV Reutlingen 05 and Italian club
Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...
. In 2005, a cooperation treaty between VfB and Swiss Super League side St. Gallen was signed, with particular emphasis on the youth sectors of both clubs.


Honours


National

* German Championship/
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
** Champions:
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
,
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...
, 1983–84, 1991–92, 2006–07 ** ''Runners-up'':
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
,
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
, 1978–79, 2002–03, 2023–24 * 2. Bundesliga ** Winners: 1976–77, 2016–17 ** ''Runners-up'': 2019–20 * DFB-Pokal ** Winners: 1953–54, 1957–58, 1996–97, 2024–25 ** ''Runners-up'': 1985–86, 2006–07, 2012–13 * DFB/DFL-Supercup ** Winners:
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
** ''Runners-up'':
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
* DFL-Ligapokal ** ''Runners-up:''
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
,
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...


International

*
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
** ''Runners-up'': 1988–89 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup ** ''Runners-up'': 1997–98 *
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
** Winners:
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, 2002 (shared record)


Pre-season

* Fuji-Cup **Winners: 1989 * Uhrencup **Winners: 2010


Regional

* Oberliga Süd ** Winners: 1945–46, 1951–52, 1953–54 * 2nd Bundesliga Süd ** Winners: 1977 * Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden ** Winners: 1926–27, 1929–30 * Gauliga Württemberg ** Winners: 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1942–43


Reserve team

* German amateur champions: 1962–63, 1979–80


Youth

* German Under 19 championship ** Champions: 1972–73, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2002–03, 2004–05 (record) ** ''Runners-up'': 1971–72, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2018–19 * Under 19 Bundesliga Division South/Southwest ** Champions: 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2018–19 * Under 19 Juniors DFB-Pokal ** Winners: 1996–97, 2000–01, 2018–19, 2021–22 ** ''Runners-up'': 2001–02 * German Under 17 championship ** Champions: 1985–86, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2012–13 ** ''Runners-up'': 1987–88, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2021–22 * Under 17 Bundesliga Division South/Southwest ** Champions: 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2021–22


European record

:''Scores and results list Stuttgart's goal tally first.''


Club management


Players


Current squad


Out on loan


Past players


Notable former players

In the year 2012, for the 100th anniversary of the merger of FV Stuttgart and Kronen-Klub Cannstatt, the supporters voted for ''Jahrhundert-Elf'', the "Centenary Eleven":


Records


Coaches


Current coaching staff


Management since 1920

Managers of the club since 1920:


Bundesliga positions

The season-by-season performance of the club since 1963 (Bundesliga era):Fussball.de – Ergebnisse
Tables and results of all German football leagues ;Key


References


External links

*
HefleswetzKick
– VfB Stuttgart team and history site
f-archiv – The German Football Archive
historical German football league tables
eufo.de
– European football club profiles

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuttgart, Vfb Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Baden-Württemberg Football in Stuttgart Multi-sport clubs in Germany Association football clubs established in 1893 1893 establishments in Germany Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf 19th-century establishments in Württemberg S Bundesliga clubs 2. Bundesliga clubs