Fortuna Düsseldorf


GERMAN CHAMPION 1933
GERMAN CUP 1979, 1980

The club was founded back in 1895 as Turnverein Flingern, but they came to their senses in 1912 and called themselves Fortuna 1911. (Yeah, I know it was 1912, but what's a year among friends?) They quickly established themselves as a western powerhouse, and culminated several decent seasons with winning the German championship in 1933, and also providing 8 starters on the national squad against Belgium the same year.

The 1933 championship was interesting, as Fortuna lost to powerful Schalke 0-1 in the Western regional finals. However, from that point on, they advanced through the playoffs without having a goal scored on them. They beat Gleiwitz (9-0), Arminia Hannover (3-0), Eintracht Frankfurt (4-0), and then finally whipped Schalke (3-0) in a rematch.

After WWII, the successes were more modest, but in 1966 they had a one year appearance in the Bundesliga. They made it back in 1971, but this time with more staying power,making the DFB Cup finals three staright years, winning in both 79/80.They also lost 3-4 to FC Barcelona in the final of the Euro Cupwinners Cup in 1979. This solid run lasted until 1987, when they again took the drop. Since then Fortuna has been the quintessential elevator club, up and down and all around.

In 1998-99, they stunk. And were relegated deservedly. Of course, Duesseldorf has done this once before, and then bounced all the way back to the Bundesliga. The club was never in the race for promotion the next season, but qualified easily for the combined Regionalliga. Here they sucked, but had their sorry ass saved when both Wilhelmshaven and Leipzig were denied 3rd division license by the DFB. However, nothing could save them next season, and in 2002 they went down to the 4th division for the first time in history. However, one expect the club to rebuild and start the climb back up the ladder. In 2009, they returned to the 2nd level. Some 51,000 fans watched the final match (against Werder Bremen II no less), where a 1-0 victory ensured promotion from the new 3.Liga.

Fullname Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V.
City Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 571,000 (2002)
Address Flinger Broich 87, 40235 Düsseldorf
Phone: (0211) 238010. Fax: (0211) 232771. Open M-F 900-1730.
e-mail: fortuna@fortuna-duesseldorf.de
Colors White jersey, vertical red stripes, black trim. White shorts, white socks with red band.
Nickname
Stadium Paul-Janes-Stadion. Capacity: 7,300 (2,200 seats)
From 1972-2001, Fortuna played in the Rheinstadion. Capacity: 56,000 (45,000 seats). This park had been built for the 1974 World Cup in the traditional mode of massive stadium with track and field. With the decline in Fortuna's fortunes, tiny "crowds" graced the Rheinstadion, which became increasingly embarassing. The Rheinstadion was blown up in 2002, and a new stadium is intended to take it's place.
Tickets Not too difficult, but the park is small. Euros 7-20 (2002).
Supporters It's a bit tough, since the Düsseldorfers are a bit of the namby-pamby yuppy types. Actually, for a club that seems to struggle with support, they seem to do a lot of close work with fan clubs and the Fan-Projekt. Nevertheless, don't expect their fans to commit suicide because they lost a game.
Friends
Foes Lots of regional rivalries, as it depends on which division they play in. The hottest seem to be with M'gladbach, Köln and Wuppertal.
Heroes 25 German internationals. The best was the lgendary Paul Janes (71 caps, 1932-42). Toni Turek was keeper for the 1954 World Cup. Erich Juskowiak had 30 caps in the 1950s. From more recent times, Klaus Allofs had 21 caps for Fortuna and another 35 for others from 1978-88.
Zeroes
Beer Diebels. The city is famous for it's Alt. Gatzweiler is another popular brew. However, you could also add Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi, given the large Japanese presence in Germany's only Japantown...
Pub Grub
The Net Official site at www.fortuna-duesseldorf.de . The fanzine Comeback is online, at www.duesseldorf.de/Comeback .

1963-64	(II)	Regionalliga West	3rd
1964-65	(II)	Regionalliga West	3rd
1965-66	(II)	Regionalliga West	1st
1966-67	(I)	Bundesliga		17th
1967-68	(II)	Regionalliga West	6th
1968-69	(II)	Regionalliga West	4th
1969-70	(II)	Regionalliga West	4th
1970-71	(II)	Regionalliga West	2nd
1971-72	(I)	Bundesliga		13th
1972-73	(I)	Bundesliga		3rd
1973-74	(I)	Bundesliga		3rd
1974-75	(I)	Bundesliga		6th
1975-76	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
1976-77	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
1977-78	(I)	Bundesliga		5th
1978-79	(I)	Bundesliga		7th
1979-80	(I)	Bundesliga		11th
1980-81	(I)	Bundesliga		13th
1981-82	(I)	Bundesliga		15th
1982-83	(I)	Bundesliga		9th
1983-84	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1984-85	(I)	Bundesliga		15th
1985-86	(I)	Bundesliga		14th
1986-87	(I)	Bundesliga		17th
1987-88	(I)	Bundesliga		5th
1988-89	(I)	Bundesliga		1st
1989-90	(I)	Bundesliga		9th
1990-91	(I)	Bundesliga		12th
1991-92	(I)	Bundesliga		20th
1992-93	(II)	2.Liga			21st
1993-94	(III)	Am.Oberliga Nordrhein	1st
1994-95	(II)	2.Liga			3rd
1995-96	(I)	Bundesliga		13th
1996-97	(I)	Bundesliga		16th
1997-98	(II)	2.Liga			7th
1998-99	(II)	2.Liga			18th
1999-00	(III)	Regionalliga West/SW	6th
2000-01	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	16th
2001-02	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	17th
2002-03 (IV)	Oberliga Nordrhein	8th
2003-04	(IV)	Oberliga Nordrhein	1st
2004-05	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	8th
2005-06	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	5th
2006-07	(III)	Regionalliga Nord	10th
2007-08 (III)   Regionalliga Nord	3rd
2008-09 (III)   3.Liga			2nd
2009-10	(II)	2.Liga			4th
2010-11 (II)    2.Liga			7th
2011-12 (II)    2.Liga

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