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1. FC Nürnberg

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1. FC Nürnberg is a German football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria. It was founded on May 4th, 1900 by a group of eighteen young men who had gathered at the local pub called the "Bürenhütte" to assemble a side committed to playing football rather than rugby, one of the other new "English" games becoming popular at the time. Today's club offers its members boxing, handball, hockey, rollerblading and ice skating, swimming, skiing, and tennis.

Contents

History

Rise of \"Der Club\"

By 1909 the team was playing well enough to lay claim to the South German championship. After World War I, Nürnberg would gradually turn their success into dominance of the country's football. In the period from July 1918 to February 1922 the team would go unbeaten in 104 official matches. As early as 1919 they came to be referred to simply as "Der Club" in recognition of their skill and of their style on and off the field, and would go on to become one of the nation's most widely recognized and popular teams.

Nürnberg faced SpVgg Greuther Fürth in the first national championship held after the end of World War I and beat the defending champions 2:0. That would be the first of five titles Der Club would capture over the course of eight years. In each of those wins they would shutout their opponents.

The 1922 final was contested by Nürnberg and Hamburger SV but never reached a conclusion on the pitch. The match was called on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at 2:2. The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called at 1:1 when Nürnberg was reduced to just seven players and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) awarded the win to Hamburg, but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship – which they grudgingly did. Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.

After the Glory Years

1. FCN's dominance was already being to fade when they captured their final trophy of the era in 1927 as the game began to evolve into a more quickly paced contest which did not suit their slower, more deliberate approach. While they continued to field strong sides, other clubs rose to the forefront of German football. In 1934, they lost in the final to Schalke 04 a club that would go on to become the strongest side in the era of football under the Third Reich. Nürnberg would capture national titles just before and after World War II in 1936 and 1948 in the first post-war national final, and would also take the Tschammerpokal, the forerunner of today's German Cup, in 1935 and 1939.

Into the Modern Era

In 1961, 1. FCN captured their eighth national title and appeared in a losing effort in the following year's final. Some consolation was to be had in the team capturing its second German Cup in 1962. Their strong play made them an obvious choice to be amongst the sixteen teams selected to the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, formed in 1963. Der Club played as a mid-table side through the league's early years until putting on a dominating performance in 1968 in which they sat atop the league table from the fifth week of play on to the end of the season on their way to their first Bundesliga title. They promptly went on to the ignominy of being relegated the next year as coach Max Merkel decided his veteran team was too old and so rid the club of its existing players in favour of a dozen newcomers.

It would take the club nine years to recover and return from an exile in the Regionalliga Sud/2.Bundesliga Sud that included several failed efforts in the promotion rounds. 1. FCN returned to the Bundesliga for a year in 1978, but played to a 17th place finish and were relgated again. They immediately played their way back to the top flight, but since then their Bundesliga peerformances have been stumbling ones, characterized by finishes well down the league table and occasional relegation for a season or two. Their best recent result was a fifth place finish in 1988.

In the mid-90's Nürnberg had financial problems that led to their being penalized 6 points in the 1995-96 season while playing in the 2.Bundesliga. The club was relegated to Regionaliga Sud (III) as a consequence. Improved management saw the club undo their reverses and return to the upper league.

However, in 1999, FCN suffered what was arguably the worst meltdown in Bundesliga history. Going into the last game of the season, they were in 12th place, three points and five goals ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt who were sitting in 16th place and seemingly headed to relegation. Nürnberg was closing out the season with an what looked to be an easy home game against SC Freiburg who were also facing relegation. Frankfurt was up against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, last season's champions who were in a fight for a UEFA Cup spot.

The stage was set for an improbable outcome. Nürnberg lost 1:2 with Frank_Baumann missing a chance to score in the last minute. Every other FCN rival won, including Frankfurt, who whipped FCK 5:1 with three late tallies - this put them ahead on goals scored and sent FCN crashing to 16th place and into a shock relegation. FCN was not relegated because they had fewer points than Frankfurt, nor because of a lower goal differential, but on the third tie-breaker - fewer goals scored.

1. FCN rebounded and currently plays in the Bundesliga but still find themselves flirting with relegation from season to season. However, they have comfortably avoided relegation in the 2005-06 season finishing 8th in the Bundesliga.

Honours

Der Club boasted the title of Deutscher Rekordmeister as holder of the most championships for over sixty years (although occasionally having to share the honour with Schalke) before being overtaken by Bayern Munich in 1987.

Germany honours its Bundesliga champions by allowing them to display the gold stars of the "Verdiente Meistervereine" – one star for three titles, two stars for five, and three stars for ten. However, currently only titles earned since 1963 in the Bundesliga are officially recognized. Despite winning the national title nine times, Nürnberg – the country's second most successful side – is not entitled to sport any championship stars.

Stadium

"Der Club" plays in the Frankenstadion, which until recently accommodated 46,700 spectators (34,700 seats). The stadium was built in 1928 and was known as Stadion der Hitler-Jugend from 1933 to 1945. Originally having a capacity of 40,000 spectators, it was expanded in 1965 to hold 65,000 and subsequently hosted the 1967 Cup Winners final between Bayern Munich and Rangers won 1:0 by the German side.

The facility was refurbished for the 1974 World Cup and another recently completed renovation allowed it to seat 45,000 for matches of the 2006 World Cup: Frankenstadion was the site of four preliminary round matches and one Round of 16 contest.

Team trivia

Famous players

2006/07 Squad

Squad change during 06/07 season

In: Out:

External links

German Bundesliga Football Clubs (2006-07)
Alemannia Aachen | Arminia Bielefeld | Bayer Leverkusen | Bayern Munich
VfL Bochum | Borussia Dortmund | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Eintracht Frankfurt
Energie Cottbus | Hamburger SV | Hannover 96 | Hertha BSC Berlin | 1. FSV Mainz 05
1. FC Nürnberg | FC Schalke 04 | VfB Stuttgart | Werder Bremen | VfL Wolfsburg
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