VfL Neckarau
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VfL Neckarau is a German association football club from the district of Neckarau in the city of
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
, Baden-Württemberg. __TOC__


History


Foundation and early years

The current day club came out of a long string of mergers of predecessor sides. On 9 September 1907, ''Fuβball-Club Germania 1904'' and ''Fuβball-Club Allemannia 1905'' united to form ''Fuβball-Vereinigung 1907 Neckarau''. In 1921, ''FV'' in turn merged with the gymnastics clubs ''Turnverein 1884 Neckarau'' and ''Turnerbund Jahn Neckarau'' (which had formed its own football department in 1914), while playing in the
Kreisliga Odenwald The Kreisliga Odenwald (English: ''District league Odenwald'') was the highest association football league in the northern part of the German state of Baden and the southern part of the state of Hesse from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded wit ...
. The newly formed association was known as ''Verein für Leibesübungen 1884 Neckarau''. The following year ''Athletik-Sportverein Neckarau'' became part of the club, while earlier partner ''TV Jahn Neckarau'' became an independent club again in 1924.


Into the top flight

The first appearance by ''VfL'' on the national stage came with their participation in the regional Süddeutschland qualifying round for the German championship in 1927. They again took part in qualification play in 1929 and 1932, but came away unsuccessful each time. Following the reorganization of German football into 16 top-flight divisions 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 ...
in 1933, ''Neckarau'' became part of the
Gauliga Baden The Gauliga Baden was the highest football league in the German state of Baden from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the ''Gau Baden'' replaced the state ''Ba ...
(I). They remained in first-division play until the end of World War II in 1945. In 1939, the team narrowly missed demotion. Despite being beaten 2:0 by '' SpVgg Sandhofen'' in relegation play, they avoided being sent down when league reorganization expanded their division allowing ''VfL'' to stay up in the Gauliga Baden-Staffel Nord. They rebounded and took the division title in 1941, but were quickly eliminated from the national playoffs after a poor showing in their qualification group. They also made their only appearance in national cup play that year when they took part in the opening round of the Tschammerpokal, predecessor to today's German Cup (
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...
), where they were eliminated 0:4 by '' FV Metz''. From 1943 to 1945, ''VfL'' played as part of the combined wartime side ''Kriegspielgemeinschaft Neckarau'' alongside '' SpVgg Mannheim''.


Post war

Following the conflict, the club was re-established as ''VfL 1884 Mannheim-Neckarau''. The renewed association included the memberships of ''TV Jahn Neckarau'' and ''Arbeiter Turn- Sportverein Neckarau'', a worker's club which had been disbanded in 1933 as politically undesirable under the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
regime. The footballers captured the title in the Landesliga Nordbaden (II) in 1946 and advanced to first-division play in the
Oberliga Süd Oberliga () may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, replaced by the NOFV-O ...
. They fared poorly in their next two campaigns and were sent down in 1948. The following season, a vice-championship in the Landesliga was followed by a failed promotion attempt. ''VfL'' captured the division in 1950 and then beat '' TSG Ulm'' 3:0 to return to the Oberliga Süd (I). They struggled through the 50s, lasting only two seasons in the Oberliga before slipping through the Landesliga and into lower level play.
Fritz Balogh Fritz Balogh (16 December 1920 – 14 January 1951) was a German footballer who played as a forward. His first club was ''DSK Preßburg'' (Bratislava). In 1941, he joined Hertha BSC as a wartime guest player. After the Second World War, Balog ...
appeared for the national side in 1950 in their first international after World War II. The team resurfaced in the
Amateurliga Nordbaden The Amateurliga Nordbaden was the highest football league in the region of the North Baden Football Association and the third tier of the German football league system from its inception in 1945 to the formation of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg ...
(III) in 1957–58, capturing a title there, but failing in their bid to win promotion to second-tier competition. They remained in the Amateurliga until 1964, capturing the title there again in 1962, before crashing to a 15th-place finish and falling to the Landesliga Rhein-Nord (IV). ''Neckarau'' again rebounded and advanced to the Regionalliga Süd (II) to play a single season in 1968–69. After a second-place finish in the Amateurliga Nordbaden the next year, the club took part in the national amateur championship and advanced as far as the semifinals where they were put out by '' SC Jülich'' (1:0, 1:3). The club played in the Amateurliga Nordbaden (III) through the 70s and 80s, becoming a fourth-division side after league restructuring in 1978. ''VfL'' slipped to lower-tier play in 1990 and is currently part of the Landesliga Rhein-Neckar (VII) after spending some time in the Kreisliga Mannheim (VIII), now under the name of VfL Kurpfalz Mannheim-Neckarau.


Honours

The club's honours:


League

*
Gauliga Baden The Gauliga Baden was the highest football league in the German state of Baden from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the ''Gau Baden'' replaced the state ''Ba ...
(I) ** Champions: 1941 *
Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar The Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the northernmost part of Baden from 1927 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to ...
(I) ** Champions: 1929 *
Bezirksliga Rhein The Bezirksliga Rhein was the highest association football league in the northern part of the Germany, German state of Baden and the Bavarian region of Palatinate (region), Palatinate from 1923 to 1927, when the league was replaced by the ''Bezirks ...
(I) ** Champions: 1927 * Landesliga Nordbaden (II) ** Champions: 1946, 1950 * Landesliga Rhein-Nord (IV) ** Champions: 1965 *
Amateurliga Nordbaden The Amateurliga Nordbaden was the highest football league in the region of the North Baden Football Association and the third tier of the German football league system from its inception in 1945 to the formation of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg ...
(III) ** Champions: 1958, 1968 *
Verbandsliga Nordbaden The Verbandsliga Nordbaden is a German amateur football division administered by the Baden Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Baden state association, the Verbandsliga is currently a ...
(V) ** Champions: 1988 * Kreisliga Mannheim (VIII) ** Champions: 2011


Cup

*
North Baden Cup The North Baden Cup (German: ''Badischer Pokal'' or ''BFV-Pokal'') is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football. The winner of the competition gains entry to the first round of the German Cup. History The Cup was established in ...
** Winners: 1957, 1967


Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Fussball.de – Ergebnisse
Tables and results of all German football leagues * With the introduction of the
Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...
s in 1994 and the
3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.


References


External links


Official team site
*
Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
historical German domestic league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Neckarau Football clubs in Germany Football clubs in Baden-Württemberg Association football clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Germany Sport in Mannheim