Spielvereinigung
Greuther Fürth e. V. is a professional football club from the north Bavaria
German city of Fürth, which neighbours the larger city of Nürnberg. The origins
of the club come from the formation of the football section of Turnverein 1860
Fürth on September 23rd 1903.
This was primarily
a gymnastics club, with the footballers breaking away in November 1906 as SpVgg
Fürth after citing a lack of support from their parent club. The team
participated in the regional Ostkreisliga, becoming divisional champions in
1912,1913 and 1914.
A fierce
local rivalry had already been forged with neighbours 1. FC Nürnberg by the
time Fürth reached the south German Süddeutsche in a bid to qualify for the
national championships.
In 1910 the
club opened their own home; originally titled Sportplatz am Ronhofer Weg
gegenüber dem Zentral-Friedhof and later to become Sportpark Ronhof. By 1914
the club had become the largest in the country.
Fürth went
on through the rounds to become German champions in 1914 after VfB Leipzig were
defeated 3-2 after extra time in the final at Victoria 96-Platz in Magdeburg in
front of 6,000 fans. Karl Franz netted a couple, with Fritz Weicz scoring the
other under English coach William Townley.
The club
continued to be a prominent force after World War One finishing as national
runners-up after losing the 1920 final 2-0 to 1. FC Nürnberg in Frankfurt. A
second Süddeutsche Meisterschaft followed in 1923, before further glory arrived
at Ronhof.
Fürth were
crowned as German champions for a second time in 1926 as 40,000 spectators
flocked to the Waldstadion in Frankfurt to see Hertha BSC beaten 4-1 thanks to an
own goal and efforts from Lony Seiderer, Karl Auer, Willy Ascherl.
Townley had moved
on to be replaced at the helm by Hans Krauß as a third national championship
was celebrated in 1929. Hertha were overcome once again, this time 3-2 at Club-Stadion
im Zabo in Nuremberg.
A crowd of
50,000 saw Heinrich Auer, Georg Frank and Karl Rupprecht score for Fürth. The
club was boosted on August 27th 1929, as another local club FC Schneidig Fürth
joined forces at Ronhof with ‘Kleeblätter’ (Shamrocks).
Under the rule
of the Third Reich football in Germany was organised into sixteen top flight
Gauligen. Fürth were placed in Gauliga Bayern without too much success, aside
from a divisional title in 1935.
The team
enjoyed a few fruitful runs in Tschammer-Pokal, the forerunner of the DFB
Pokal, German Cup. Following World War Two, German football was divided into
five top flight Oberligen. Fürth were relegated from Oberliga Süd to Landesliga
Bayern in 1947-48.
The club
recovered and won promotion at the first attempt before becoming Oberliga Süd
champions in 1949-50. VfB Stuttgart ended any dreams of a fourth German title
in the semi-finals of the national championships.
Two SpVgg
players, Karl Mai and Herbert Erhardt became World Cup winners in 1954 as
Germany lifted the trophy against Hungary. Fürth remained in the top tier until
the formation of the national Bundesliga in 1963. The club didn’t qualify as
one of the sixteen members.
The club was
placed in Regionalliga Süd, finishing in third position in 1966-67. 2.
Bundesliga was formed in 1974, with Fürth becoming founder members in the Süd
division. In 1978-79 the team finished in fourth place, but generally ended in a
mid-table position.
The second
tier became just one division from 1981-82 with SpVgg being relegated to the Bayernliga
at the completion of the 1982-83 campaign, despite the goals of Wolfgang
Metzler.
A fourth
place finish came in 1985-86 thanks to the goals of Manfred Kastl and Siegfried
Susser. However, the team was relegated to Landesliga Bayern-Mitte in 1986-87
to the fourth level of German football.
The Bayern-Mitte
title was won in 1990-91, going on to a third place ending in the Bayernliga
the following season. A runners-up berth in 1992-93 led to a play-off round, from
where Fürth failed to progress toward promotion.
However, a
place in the reorganised third tier Regionalliga Süd was secured for the
1993-94 season. Financial troubles blighted the club at the time forcing SpVgg
to sell Sportpark Ronhof to a local businessman and pay rent to remain.
Club
President Edgar Burkhart arranged a deal with the President of successful local
club TSV Vestenbergsgreuth for the clubs to merge at in the summer of 1996 to
become form SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
TSV
Vestenbergsgreuth, formed in 1974 went out in style, defeating German champions
Bayern München 1-0 in the DFB Pokal of 1994-95 at the Frankenstadion in Nürnberg
in Bayern’s first competitive game under manager Giovanni Trapattoni.
TSV
Vestenbergsgreuth didn’t compete in senior football after the merger with Fürth
until the 2006-07 season when they began again in the tenth tier A-Klasse
Erlangen/Pegnitzgrund-Gruppe 3 from their Am Schwalbenberg home.
Both clubs
were competing in Regionalliga Süd at the time of the merger with the squad
being immediately strengthened. The team finished runners-up to 1. FC Nürnberg,
winning promotion to 2. Bundesliga with the goals of Frank Türr giving the fans
plenty to cheer in 1996-97.
The return
to the second tier heralded a couple of finishes around midway in the table,
with Arie van Lent finishing as top scorer in 1998-99. The team continued to gradually
progress, coming in fifth in 2001-02 with Rachid Azzouzi leading the scoring
charts.
Sportpark
Ronhof had been renamed the Playmobil Arena in a sponsorship deal and had
received its first redevelopment for several decades with new stands and the
inauguration of the first set of floodlights.
Another
local club, Tuspo Fürth joined forces with SpVgg Greuther Fürth in July 2003 as
strikers Petr Ruman and Marcus Feinbier did the business on the pitch. Three repeated
fifth place finishes were achieved as Christian Eigler and Christian Timm weighed
in with the goals.
Stefan
Reisinger was top scorer in the 2007-08 as Fürth finished sixth. Sami Allagui
was the Kleeblätter hero for the next couple of seasons as the team continued
to plug away. A fourth place finish in 2010-11 was a taster of greater things
to come.
Greuther
Fürth won promotion to the top flight in 2011-12 as they were crowned as 2.
Bundesliga champions as Olivier Occéan and Christopher Nöthe proved too much
for opposing defenders under head coach Mike Büskens.
A new South
Stand was built for the demands of top flight football. Unfortunately, the
spell would only last one season. Büskens was replaced by Frank Kramer but the
team finished in bottom place completing just four victories.
The team and
club regathered and ended the 2013-14 season in third place leading to a play-off
with Hamburger SV, who triumphed on aggregate by virtue of an away goal in the
second leg at the re-sponsored Trolli Arena as Kosovan striker Ilir Azemi led
the way.
Büskens was
reappointed as head coach to take over from Kramer in February 2015 as Greuther
dropped down the table at Ronhof’s latest guise; Stadion am Laubenweg, which
became Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer from the summer of 2015.
The goals of
Sebastian Freis took SpVgg to ninth place in 2015-16 before Stefan Ruthenbeck
took over team affairs. Serdar Dursun netted ten times the following season as
the side ended in ninth position.
Janos Radoki
had succeeded Ruthenbeck in November 2016, lasting until the following August
before being replaced by Damir Burić, whose side finished disappointingly just
above the relegation zone.
SpVgg
Greuther Fürth will play in 2. Bundesliga in the 2018-19 season.
My visit
SpVgg
Greuther Fürth 0 Hamburger SV 0 (Thursday 27th September 2018) 2.
Bundesliga (att: 14,965)
I’d taken
advantage of a week off work by enjoying a bit of cricket before heading to
Germany for three days. The previous evening I’d been to see Fortuna Düsseldorf
go down 2-1 at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
It had been
an early start by train south, but the stunning views along the Rhine Valley
more than compensated. It took me back to the towns of my first foreign
adventure back in October 1989. It looked just as beautiful as the sun came up.
Unfortunately,
it seems that the driver was also enjoying the vista as we arrived late into
Mainz meaning that I’d missed my connection. I took an SBahn on the advice of
the Bahn App on my phone, changing at Frankfurt Airport.
That would
have been Plan B if I’d realised just how far it was between the suburban and
inter city platforms. It meant a run, OK jog, over several hundred metres. I
caught the Munich bound service in the nick of time, getting me to Nuremburg
around 1pm.
By now I was
hungry, so I went for some comfort food in the form of goulash soup and an
apple strudel at the station. The forecourt had some unsavoury characters
gathered as I attempted to make some plans. I chose to check into my hotel and
have a siesta.
The Hotel
Continental was not anywhere near the list of my best hotels visited, but it
did the job. I woke after a couple of hours and caught a tram to Doku-Zentrum
to take in some beauty as well as dark history.
The Kongresshalle
looked stunning on a sunny warm afternoon, as did the view over Grosser
Dutzendteich lake. I walked along the impressive Große Straße, which was to be
the main thoroughfare around Hitler’s little empire of showgrounds in the city.
Families
walked, jogged and enjoyed the facilities. It is fantastic that somewhere so
evil has been adapted and used for recreational purposes, with many of the half
built marching grounds and arenas bulldozed after the War.
I was
listening to a brilliant last session of the County Cricket season live from The
Oval as Essex just got over the line to end the unbeaten record of champions
Surrey. I was happy in several ways with my day!
The walk
took me past Max-Morlock-Stadion, thankfully renamed to honour a city legend
and to show that fan power can work. Opposite was Arena Nürnberger Versicherung,
home to concerts, basketball and Nürnberg Ice Tigers ice hockey side.
Finally, I walked
to the platform in Zeppelinfeld, where Hitler preached to the naïve. Lest we
never forget. It was then time to head to Frankenstadion station for a train
back to town. A large KFC later it was time to head to Fürth.
The match
wasn’t kicking off until 8.30pm for TV coverage. This was such a game that fans
across the country were protesting against at all midweek games for the first
twenty minutes. They were sick of increased ticket prices, commercialisation by
the German DFB.
The train
took around fifteen minutes, leaving me plenty of time to have a look around.
My pal Carl Ellis had been for a game and said that courtesy buses took fans to
the stadium. He thought it was from the main station.
There was some
outside, but they were marked for visiting fans. I most certainly didn’t want
to be part of any police escort. Instead I decided to look for a suitable bar
on one of my Apps. I was pointed in the direction of a bar in a nearby park,
but it was closed.
Gustav-Schickedanz-Straße
from the station and the car park at the end, along with Königstraße was packed
with stalls and rides getting ready for what I later discovered to be Michaelis-Kirchweih.
This was the
oldest fair in Bavaria, going back nine hundred years. The vendors and stall
holders were in preparation for its opening a couple of days later. It appeared
that one or two may be trying their luck later in the evening.
Königstraße
took me to the main Rathaus area of what was a pretty city. The stalls finished
with the wide pavement further along looking to have fans sat outside bars
enjoying pre- match beers. Some fans stood opposite waiting for the buses to
the stadium.
This was
ideal. I entered Zum Schlawiener, a busy SpVgg fan pub where I enjoyed large sized
bottles of locally brewed Gruner Vollbier and Zirndorfer from a nearby town.
Both were excellent, and even better at just €2.20 a bottle!
I decided to
head towards the stadium just in case anything went wrong on one of the free
buses, which rather conveniently dropped us right outside Cafe-Bar RUINE, which
although full of fans, also had plentiful quick serving staff. It’d have been
rude to blank such an invitation!
The bar was
on Erlander Straße, from where it was just a short walk down an alley to Laubenweg,
with the stadium on the other side of the road. Various souvenir, food and beer
stands were along the pavement.
Despite it
being well before kick-off time I decided to enter the stadium to have a look
and hopefully grab a decent place on the Nordkurve. I’d paid €17 plus a rather
steep €10 surcharge for overseas posting, but I wanted to be guaranteed entry
for this big game as both sides both were around the promotion places.
After one grumpy
steadfast refusal, a second steward was most accommodating in allowing me
inside the East Stand to take photos of the area I was going to stand in. The
arena was fans friendly out the back with a beer garden and easy access, though
it could have done with some extra toilets.
Beer was
priced at €3.90, which was a hike, but still reasonable. Under the terracing
there was a combination of fans stalls and refreshments. Free programmes and
flyers about the protests were handed out.
The stadium showed
signs of being put together bit by bit. My stand was a separate covered
terrace. The far end Südkurve was higher and a combination of standing and family
seating going around the east corner.
The East Stand was impressive but didn’t look fully complete as it stopped near the far
end eighteen yard box and blocked some views in the adjoining terrace. It had
been badly planned. The North Stand was a separate seated structure.
Experience
told me to try and get a place near the end of a terrace as it wouldn’t be so
crowded. It gave me a view of the whole pitch and a decent elevation. The fans
around me were friendly and I had a ledge for my jacket and scarf on a pleasant
evening.
The Fürth players
went through some excellent warm ups and practise moves as I enjoyed the work
of the stadium DJ. Perhaps this was now the norm, but I was usually in a
stadium bar or nearby pub when teams go through the drills?
The Hamburg
fans had travelled in force, filling their allocation as well as some home
seats. As ever, there was no hint of any bother. The first twenty minutes of
the game was a cagey affair, played out to polite applause before the fans
ended their protest and turned up the volume.
Fürth’s Maximilian
Wittek fired in a free kick that came back off the bar with keeper Julian
Pollersbeck well beaten in the second minute. The rest of the period was
scrappy. You can see a short video of the twenty minute mark here.
The hosts
were the better side in those early stages. Hamburg were in their first season
of second tier football after several escapes from relegation and were not
finding it easy; having been thumped 5-0 at home to Jahn Regensburg in their
previous game.
Hamburg were
kicking towards their support after the break. They had the better of the play
with Khaled Narey and Vasilije Janjicic having efforts on goal. The hosts were
pushed further back and were fortunate when substitute Jann-Fiete Arp missed
from close range.
Fürth
pressed a little more in the closing stages. The referee didn’t adhere himself
to the locals, although I thought he was more than generous on occasions by not
pulling up Maximilian Sauer for what looked suspiciously like several foul
throws.
Neither side
could break the deadlock, but I’d still enjoyed myself; having grabbed another
beer at the interval to enjoy on the terraces. Just how have Germany got it
right with regards to fans culture. Perhaps it’s because the fans demand it?
Within ten
minutes I was back on one of the buses from the same place and deposited at
Rathaus to take the UBahn back to Lorenzkirche in the heart of Nuremberg. It
was around 11.30pm but still time for a couple of nightcaps.
The friendly
waiter at Barfüßer Brewery sorted me with a large dunkel as I took in the old
disused pub signs that had been brought over from the UK. It’s always sad when
a pub closes, but its good when its heritage is remembered.
Finally I
crossed the road to Finnegan's Harp Irish Pub for a pint of Warsteiner to round
off a brilliant long day. The hotel décor meant very little to me as I was soon
sound asleep.
