VfL Bochum


Bochum is one of the oldest sports clubs in Germany, having been founded in 1848. (Actually they cheated, since they didn't get around to founding Bochumer TV until 1849. But they advertised in for members 1848). However, until 1911, with the founding of the soccer section, they only practiced worthless sports. The merged with another club in 1919 to form TuS Bochum 1848. That remained until 1938. The Nazis apparently didn't like the idea of multiple Bochum clubs, so they forced a merger of TuS 1848 with Germania, and VfL was born.

They have never won anything, both have always been noted for their scrappy play and fighting spirit since their promotion to the top flight in 1971. They remained for over 20 straight seasons. However, in the last few years they have really bounced around like a yoyo.

1998-99 continued the downward trend. After about half of season of decent results, Bochum started to slip into the danger zone, and once they got there, they basically gave up. Hello 2.Liga. But once again, their stay was short lived. Collapsing after a quick start, the team pulled itself together and sailed through the 2.Liga, qualifying with a couple of games to spare. But the elevator ride continued, as they were too crap and finished the 2000 season dead last in the Bundesliga. But they didn't remain in the doldrums. They bounced back quickly, and in 2004 qualified for the UEFA-Cup, after one of their best seasons ever. But by selling their top players, they essentially doomed themselves and got back on the elevator.

Full Name Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft e.V.
City Bochum (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 390,000 (2002). v
Address Castroper Straße 145, Postfach 10 28 22, 44728 Bochum
Phone: (0234) 951818 Fax: (0234) 951895
e-mail: info@vfl-bochum.de
Colors Usually rather sane, blue shirt with white trim, blue shorts, white socks. However starting 97-98, they decided they needed to join the "Rainbow coalition", as undoubtedly some of their bureaucrats visited San Francisco. So they added red, orange, green, yellow, and purple hortizontal bars on the jersey. They looked like clowns. Sanity has since prevailed, and they're back to traditional blue.
Stadium Ruhrstadion Capacity: 32,645 (16,756 seats)
Tickets Range from 25 Euros for the best seats, down to 8 Euros for standing room. (2003/04). You can write to the office for tickets, and the box office at the stadium is open M-F 10:00am-6:00pm. You can also order online.
Supporters The official web site trumpets "the best fans in the Bundesliga", which is laughable. But VfL does have strong fan support, and at least 60 official fan clubs. Averaged 27,000 in 2004.
The official fan rep can be contacted at e-mail: fanbeauftragter@vfl-bochum.de
Friends If I'm not mistaken, there is actually fan sympathy with Bayern München, which is unique among German (non-Bayern) soccer fans.
Foes Enemies with basically all other Ruhr clubs.
Heroes A few German internationals, such as Darius Wosz, Josef Tenhagen. Not capped, but goal scoring forward Hans Walitza was key in the early 70s in Bochums rise into the Bundesliga.
Zeroes
Beer Fiege, a local brewery. They have a Stammhaus on Bongardstraße that supposedly has decent food. This is what you'll be drinking at the stadium. There is a beer/supporters club with it's own website www.fiege-fanatics.de. Another popular local brew is Vest. In the late 1990s, Kronen, a Dortmunder beer, was an official sposnor at one time, but apparently the Bochumers decided they were a Trojan Horse...
Pub Grub If you're not catching a bite at the stadium, head for the city center, which has several places to choose from.
The Net The official site is www.vfl-bochum.de

1963-64	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	2nd
1964-65	(III)	Amateurliga Westfalen	1st
1965-66	(II)	Regionalliga West	12th
1966-67	(II)	Regionalliga West	4th
1967-68	(II)	Regionalliga West	5th
1968-69	(II)	Regionalliga West	3rd
1969-70	(II)	Regionalliga West	1st
1970-71	(II)	Regionalliga West	1st
1971-72	(I)	Bundesliga		9th
1972-73	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
1973-74	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1974-75	(I)	Bundesliga		11th
1975-76	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1976-77	(I)	Bundesliga		15th
1977-78	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1978-79	(I)	Bundesliga		8th
1979-80	(I)	Bundesliga		10th
1980-81	(I)	Bundesliga		9th
1981-82	(I)	Bundesliga		10th
1982-83	(I)	Bundesliga		13th
1983-84	(I)	Bundesliga		15th
1984-85	(I)	Bundesliga		9th
1985-86	(I)	Bundesliga    	 	9th
1986-87	(I)	Bundesliga		11th
1987-88	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
1988-89	(I)	Bundesliga		15th
1989-90	(I)	Bundesliga		16th
1990-91	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1991-92	(I)	Bundesliga		15th
1992-93	(I)	Bundesliga		16th	
1993-94	(II)	2.Liga			1st	
1994-95	(I)	Bundesliga		16th
1995-96	(II)	2.Liga			1st
1996-97	(I)	Bundesliga		5th
1997-98	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
1998-99	(I)	Bundesliga		17th
1999-00	(II)	2.Liga			2nd
2000-01	(I)	Bundesliga		18th
2001-02	(II)	2.Liga			3rd
2002-03	(I)	Bundesliga		9th
2003-04	(I)	Bundesliga		5th
2004-05	(I)	Bundesliga		16th
2005-06	(II)	2.Liga			1st
2006-07	(I)	Bundesliga		8th
2007-08	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
2008-09 (I)     Bundesliga		14th
2009-10	(I)	Bundesliga		17th
2010-11 (II)    2.Liga			3rd	Lost promotion playoff to M'Gladbach
2011-12 (II)    2.Liga


(c) Abseits Guide to Germany : www.abseits-soccer.com