SV Waldhof Mannheim
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| Full name | Sportverein Waldhof Mannheim 07 e.V. | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Waldhof Buben (The Waldhof Boys) | ||
| Founded | 1907 | ||
| Ground | Carl-Benz-Stadion | ||
| Capacity | 27,022 (15,014 seats) | ||
| Chairman | Klaus-Rüdiger Geschwill | ||
| Manager | Bernhard Trares | ||
| League | Regionalliga Südwest | ||
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SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over 2,400.
History
The club was founded 1907 and played in the second division of the Westkreis-Liga just before the First World War. Waldhof became part of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1919 and won this league in 1920 and 1921. In each of those two seasons, the club failed to advance in the Southern German championship because it was grouped with all-powerful 1. FC Nürnberg at the time. The club took out a Bezirksliga Rhein championship in 1924 before joining the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar in 1927, where it won five out of the next six division titles without ever performing particularly well in the Southern championship.
Its enjoyed its best performances in the Gauliga Baden, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established through the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. Waldhof dominated the division through the 30s and into the early 40s by capturing the title five times and consistently finishing well up the table. They were unable, however, to translate that into success at the national level. Their best result came in 1940 when they went out in a semi-final match against FC Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era, before settling for fourth place after losing a consolation round match to Rapid Vienna.
After World War II, Waldhof picked up play in the Oberliga Süd where they earned mid-table results until being relegated to the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1954. They bounced up and down between first and second division play until the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, in 1963. The next season saw them in the tier II Regionalliga Süd alongside local rivals VfR Mannheim. A string of unimpressive results finally led to relegation in 1970 to the Amateurliga Nordbaden (III).
Support from a new sponsor, snack chip maker Chio, revived the team and helped their return to the second division where they played as SV Chio Waldhof Mannheim from 1972 to 1978. They continued to play as a middling side there until an unexpected breakthrough to the Bundesliga in 1983. Waldhof spent seven seasons competing at the top flight until a 17th-place finish saw the club relegated at the end of the 1989–90 season. They delivered another seven seasons as a decent 2. Bundesliga club until slipping to the Regionalliga Süd for two seasons in 1997–99. A merger with VfR Mannheim was considered in 1998 but the club walked away from a deal at the last minute. Their return to the 2.Bundesliga in 1999 after a season long struggle with Kickers Offenbach was cut short in 2003 when financial irregularities saw the German Football Association deny the team a license, dropping them to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV). Another attempt at a merger with VfR failed that same year. The club played in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg until 2007–08, when a third-place finish allowed them qualification for the Regionalliga.
After coming fourth in the Regionalliga Süd in 2008–09, the club was moved across to the Regionalliga West in 2009–10 in an effort to balance out the three Regionalligas.[1]
After just two seasons in the Regionalliga, Waldhof again had their license withdrawn in 2010 and were demoted back to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, now the fifth level of German football, despite having finished clear of the relegation zone on the pitch with the league's smallest budget. Waldhof Mannheim spent only one year in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg, winning this league in 2010-11 and advancing directly back to the Regionalliga. On 11 June 2011 they defeated FV Illertissen 6-0 in their final season match to clinch promotion and also set a new fifth-division attendance record, with 18,312 spectators seeing the match. It surpassed the previous record, the 2009 Leipzig derby, by more than 3,000 spectators.[2]
At the end of the 2011-12 season the club was grouped into the new Regionalliga Südwest, which replaced the Regionalliga Süd in the region. Waldhof won the league in 2015–16 but lost to Sportfreunde Lotte in the promotion round and had to remain in the Regionalliga.
Current squad
- As of 19 February, 2018
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve team
The SV Waldhof II, historically also referred to as SV Waldhof Amateure, rose to the tier-IV league Verbandsliga Nordbaden in 1986 and remained there until gaining promotion to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg in 2001. After two seasons in the Oberliga with good results, the team had to be withdrawn due to the forced relegation of the first team. In the 2007–08 season, the team narrowly missed out on Verbandsliga promotion when it finished second on equal points to the SV Sandhausen II.[3]
Honours
The club's honours:
League
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Cup
Youth
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- ‡ Won by reserve team.
Recent managers
Recent managers of the club:[4][5]
| Manager | Start | Finish |
| Uwe Rapolder | 29 March 1997 | 12 November 2001 |
| Walter Pradt | 12 November 2001 | 3 December 2001 |
| Andy Egli | 6 December 2001 | 10 September 2002 |
| Walter Pradt | 11 September 2002 | 2 April 2003 |
| Stefan Kuntz | 3 April 2003 | 26 May 2003 |
| Viktor Olscha | 27 May 2003 | 30 June 2004 |
| Eugen Hach | 1 July 2004 | 3 November 2004 |
| Maurizio Gaudino | 4 November 2004 | 6 January 2005 |
| Slavko Petrović | 7 January 2005 | 22 December 2005 |
| Massimo Morales | 23 December 2005 | 30 June 2006 |
| Steffen Menze | 1 July 2006 | 20 September 2007 |
| Alexander Conrad | 21 September 2007 | 30 June 2009 |
| Walter Pradt | 1 July 2009 | 30 June 2010 |
| Reiner Hollich | 1 July 2010 | 2 April 2013 |
| Andreas Clauß | 3 April 2013 | 30 June 2013 |
| Kenan Kocak | 1 July 2013 | 2 July 2016 |
| Gerd Dais | 7 July 2016 | 16 October 2017 |
| Michael Fink | 16 October 2017 | 3 January 2018 |
| Bernhard Trares | 4 January 2018 | Present |
Recent seasons
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[6][7]
SV Waldhof Mannheim
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SV Waldhof Mannheim II
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- With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier.
Key
| ↑ Promoted | ↓ Relegated |
Stadium
SV Waldhof plays its home games at the Carl-Benz-Stadion, which holds 27,000 and opened in 1994.[8]
References
- ^ Der SVW spielt im Westen Template:De icon kicker sportmagazin, published: 15 June 2009, accessed: 30 June 2009
- ^ Sebert will "absolut regionalligataugliche" Spieler Template:De icon kicker.de, published: 14 June 2011, accessed: 15 June 2011
- ^ Fussball.de: Table of the Landesliga Rhein/ Neckar accessed: 17 July 2008
- ^ Waldhof Mannheim .:. Trainer von A-Z Template:De icon weltfussball.de, accessed: 17 April 2018
- ^ Gerd Dais neuer Trainer bei Waldhof Mannheim Template:De icon swr.de, accessed: 17 April 2018
- ^ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv Template:De icon Historical German domestic league tables
- ^ Fussball.de - Ergebnisse Template:De icon Tables and results of all German football leagues
- ^ Carl-Benz-Stadion Template:De icon weltfussball.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
External links
- Official website
- Abseits Guide to German Soccer
- SV Waldhof Mannheim at Weltfussball.de
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables Template:De icon
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| National | |
