FC Hansa Rostock
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| Full name | FC Hansa Rostock e.V. | ||
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| Founded | December 28, 1965 | ||
| Ground | Ostseestadion, Rostock | ||
| Capacity | 30,000 | ||
| Chairman | Dirk Grabow | ||
| Manager | Frank Pagelsdorf | ||
| League | Second Bundesliga | ||
| 2005-06 | 2. Bundesliga 10th | ||
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FC Hansa Rostock is a German football club of the 2. Bundesliga, based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They have emerged as the most successful of the former communist-era East German clubs, ahead of once dominant and history-rich sides from big cities such as Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig. The team recently ended a 10-year stay in the top-level Bundesliga.
History
Early years and life in the DDR
The club was founded on December 28, 1965, when the football department of SC Empor Rostock was made independent of their parent sports club under a government sanctioned program that created eleven "focus clubs" that would groom young talent and provide the East German (DDR) national team with a steady supply of highly skilled players.
SC Empor Rostock originally played as Empor Lauter in a small mining town in Saxony near the Czech border. Lauter was unexpectedly successful and in 1954 drew the attention of politician Harry Tisch who decided his city deserved a decent team to play in the newly completed Ostseestadion and simply ordered the club to Rostock over the futile protests of the locals. This was a common occurrence in East German football as clubs were regularly named and re-named, dismantled or shuffled from city to city at the whim of well-placed communist officials.
The footballers made the best of their new circumstances and went on to enjoy some measure of success through the rest of the 50's and on into the 60's. The transplanted side finished as East German vice-champions in three consecutive seasons of the DDR-Oberliga from 1962 to 1964 and made four appearances in the final of the East German Cup. Unfortunately, they were unable to come away with any sort of title. The club was re-named Hansa Rostock after its separation from SC Empor in 1965, in a tribute to the city's historic place in the Hanseatic League of north German port cities.
By the '70s the club was consistently finishing in the lower half of the league table and was relegated to the second division DDR-Liga, Staffel A for a single season on three different occasions late in the decade. They returned to form in the 80's and when the football leagues of the two Germanys were merged in 1991 after the re-unification of the country, Rostock won its first national championship in the last ever season of East German football, played out in the transitional NOFV Oberliga Nordost. They would also capture the last ever East German Cup with a 1:0 win over FC Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt.
United Germany and the Bundesliga
The club's timely success earned them a place in the Bundesliga, expanded from 18 to 20 teams for the 1991-92 season to accommodate two former East German teams, alongside Dynamo Dresden. Hansa was unable to stay up and was relegated after falling just a single point shy of the club ahead of them. Three seasons of tempering in the 2.Bundesliga would return the club to the top flight for the 1995-96 season. In ten years spent in the Bundesliga the team's best result would be a pair of sixth place finishes. In spite of frequent finishes in the bottom half of the league table, they would persist as the only former East German side able to consistently challenge the well-heeled clubs of the west.
Rostock had a very poor first half in the 2004-05 season, earning only a single win and five draws in 17 matches. They were unable to recover and at season's end were relegated, leaving the former DDR without a club in the top flight for the first time since re-unification. Like other East German teams they were the victims of a harsh economic reality as the wealthier, well-established western sides bought up the most talented eastern footballers as their clubs struggled to survive financially: Rostock's Stefan Beinlich and Oliver Neuville were just two players sent west for cash.
Honours
- East German champions: 1991
- East German vice-champions: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968
- East German Cup: 1991
- East German Cup finalists: 1955, 1957, 1960, 1967, 1987
- 2.Bundesliga champions: 1995
- German Indoor Champion 1998
Fans
- In a study, FC Hansa Rostock placed fourth in Germany – behind Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Schalke 04 – in terms of the number fans the club has. They currently claim about 3.8 million supporters as the most successful football team in Eastern Germany.
Stadium
The old Ostseestadion was built in 1954, with the participation of several hundred of the citizens of Rostock who helped for free. In 2001, the stadium was refurbished and can now accommodate 30,000 spectators.
Trivia
- Hansa Rostock's official anthem is FC Hansa, wir lieben Dich total (Hansa FC, We Totally Love You), recorded in 1995 by the veteran East German band the Puhdys.
- On December 1, 2002 Rostock became the first club to field six foreigners from the same country in a Bundesliga match (Prica, Lantz, Wibran, Jakobsson, Arvidsson and Person – all Swedes).
- In 2005, the club successfully sued three streakers who disrupted their 2003 match against Hertha Berlin, to recoup the €20,000 they were fined by the DFB for failing to maintain adequate security at their ground.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Famous former players
Hansa Rostock sent 21 players to the East German (DDR) national side, as well as a handful to the national team of a united Germany.
A number of Rostock's best players have been sold to other clubs as they struggle to adjust to rough and tumble capitalist western football.
- Victor Agali
- Jonathan Akpoborie
- Marcus Allbäck
- Sergej Barbarez
- Stefan Beinlich
- Olaf Bodden
- Andreas Jakobsson, 36 caps for Sweden
- Carsten Jancker, 30 caps and 10 goals for Germany
- Gerd Kische, 63 DDR caps
- Jari Litmanen, considered the finest footballer ever produced by Finland
- Oliver Neuville, 51 caps and 5 goals for Germany
- Martin Max
- Marko Rehmer
- Joachim Streich, a record 102 caps and 55 goals for East Germany