SpVgg Greuther Fürth

GERMAN CHAMPION 1914, 1926, 1929

This storied club hadn't really seen the good days since the Weimar Republic.

Fuerth is a young club that has very old roots.

This new club was really only founded in 1996, as the old SpVgg Fürth (founded 1903, German champ 1914, 1926, 1929) and the village club TSV Vestenbergsgreuth did the "fusion" and became SpVgg Greuther Fürth

The original club was founded back in 1903, and soon made soccer quite successful in the club and region. Coached by Englishman Sir William Towley, Spvgg won it's first title in 1914, defeating VfB Leipzig in double overtime. However, it was during the Weimar Republic days that Fürth had it's best years. In 1923, they made it to the semi-finals. In 1926, they won the "Viktoria", by defeating Hertha BSC 4-1. The next year, Hertha knocked them out in the semifinals. In 1929, once again they met and defeated Hertha in the finals (3-2). The last hurrah was 1931, when - you guessed it - Hertha knocked them out. (Ironically, the other Franken based club, rivals 1.FC Nürnberg, also had their greatest success in this period, winning 5 titles during the Weimar years.) Fürth remained a power until the Nazi-era, when they were a strong, but never top club. After the war, they contined to remain OK, but never really threatened to break into the top flight.

Most of the famed players in Fuerth's history played either in the early years or the 1950s, when two players, Karl Mai and Herbert Erhardt were on the German World Cup winning squad of 1954. Erhardt was the most decorated Fürther, with some 49 caps while playing for the club. Overall, some 21 Fürth players were capped for Germany. However, the most famous SpVgg Fuerth alum is probably Henry Kissinger, who was a long time member before emigrating to the United States.

After a long stay at the 2nd Division-level, in the 1980s things began to unravel, and the club slipped into obscurity. By the time of the merger, the club had recovered from the worst, but was still struggling.

TSV Vestenbergsgreuth

This small village team had some remarkable success for it's short life. Actually, the club, founded in 1974, still exists, but all the soccer players left to join SpVgg Fürth in the merger of 1996. Aside from some suprisingly decent league results, their main claim to fame was a sensational 1-0 DFB-Cup win over Bayern Müchen in 1995, clearly one of the largest upsets in the history of soccer. but it was no complete fluke as TSV advanced a couple more rounds before finally losing to VfL Wolfsburg only on penalty kicks. Among the "stars" of this scrappy little team was Harry Koch, who would soon sign with Kaiserslautern and go on to a decent Bundesliga career.

The merger, which some wiseguys no doubt claimed should have been named TSV Fürther Vestenbergsgreuth, due to the village team's greater success in recent years, actually turned out to be excellent for the soccer players. The new club was runner up in the Regionalliga Süd, and gained immediate promotion to the 2.Liga.

Since then, Fürth has established itself as a force in the 2.Liga, and has come knocking at the door of the top flight on several occasions. However, they have yet to give any indication that they can make the next jump.

Fullname Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth e.V.
City Fürth (Bayern), pop: 112,000 (2002). Vestenbergsgreuth is a small village nearby, Pop: 1,311 (2003)
Address Laubenweg 60, 90765 Fürth
Phone: 0911/97 67 68-0, Fax 0911/97 67 68-15
e-mail: info@greuther-fuerth.de

Colors Green shirt with white trim, white shorts, green socks.

Nickname

Stadium Playmobil-Stadion. Capacity: 15,500 (5,000 covered seats, 4,500 others.)
The stadium was previously know as the Ronhof. It was built in 1910, and capacity maxed out to 32,000. In 1983, saddled with debts, Fürth sold the stadium to a local businessman, Horst Brandstätter of PlayMobil. He intended to tear it down and eventually build apartments, but when fortunes rose after the merger, decided to renovate instead.
Vestenbergsgreuth played in the Am Schwalbenberg, capacity 6,000 until the merger.

Tickets Priced from 8-20 euros. (2004)
Supporters Averaged about 7,800 in 2004 (2.Liga).
Friends

Foes As Fürth, the main enemy has to be nearby Nürnberg. The latter could probably care less about their country bumpkin cousins.

Heroes

Zeroes

Beer Co sponsors include Bitburger and Erdinger . Tucher-Pils, a well known regional brew, was a sponsor in earlier years.
Pub Grub

The Net Official site at www.Greuther-Fuerth.de It's an excellent effort, with a wealth of historical data, one of the best on the web.

		SpVgg Fürth

1963-64	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	9th
1964-65	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	8th
1965-66	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	4th
1966-67	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	3rd
1967-68	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	7th
1968-69	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	7th
1969-70	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	8th
1970-71	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	7th
1971-72	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	14th
1972-73	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	9th
1973-74	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	10th
1974-75	(II)	2.Liga Süd		15th
1975-76	(II)	2.Liga Süd		10th
1976-77	(II)	2.Liga Süd		8th
1977-78	(II)	2.Liga Süd 		6th
1978-79	(II)	2.Liga Süd		4th
1979-80	(II)	2.Liga Süd		7th

		SpVgg Fürth			TSV Vestenbergsreuth

1980-81	(II)	2.Liga Süd		14th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	9th
1981-82	(II)	2.Liga			14th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	12th
1982-83	(II)	2.Liga			18th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	10th
1983-84	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	5th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	13th
1984-85	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	6th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	4th
1985-86	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	4th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	3rd
1986-87	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	18th	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	1st
1987-88	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	3rd	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	 2nd
1988-89	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	3rd	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	3rd
1989-90	(IV)	Landesliga-Mitte	3rd	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	4th
1990-91	(III)	Landesliga-Mitte	1st	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	10th
1991-92 (III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	3rd	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	2nd
1992-93	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	2nd	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	4th
1993-94	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	6th	(III)	Am.Oberliga Bayern	8th
1994-95	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	3rd	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	5th
1995-96	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	8th	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	6th

		SpVgg Greuther Fürth

1996-97	(III)	Regionalliga Süd	2nd
1997-98	(II)	2.Liga			9th
1998-99	(II)	2.Liga			8th
1999-00	(II)	2.Liga			7th
2000-01	(II)	2.Liga			5th
2001-02	(II)	2.Liga			5th
2002-03 (II)	2.Liga			5th
2003-04 (II)	2.Liga			9th
2004-05 (II)	2.Liga			5th
2005-06 (II)	2.Liga			5th
2006-07 (II)	2.Liga			5th
2007-08 (II)    2.Liga			6th
2008-09 (II)    2.Liga			5th
2009-10	(II)	2.Liga			11th
2010-11 (II)    2.Liga			4th
2011-12 (II)    2.Liga

Fullname	Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth e.V.
City	Fürth (Bayern), pop: 112,000 (2002). Vestenbergsgreuth is a small village nearby, Pop: 1,311 (2003)
Address	Laubenweg 60, 90765 Fürth Phone: 0911/97 67 68-0, Fax 0911/97 67 68-15 e-mail: info@greuther-fuerth.de
Colors	Green shirt with white trim, white shorts, green socks.
Nickname
Stadium	Playmobil-Stadion. Capacity: 15,500 (5,000 covered seats, 4,500 others.) The stadium was previously know as the Ronhof. It was built in 1910, and capacity maxed out to 32,000. In 1983, saddled with debts, Fürth sold the stadium to a local businessman, Horst Brandstätter of PlayMobil. He intended to tear it down and eventually build apartments, but when fortunes rose after the merger, decided to renovate instead. Vestenbergsgreuth played in the Am Schwalbenberg, capacity 6,000 until the merger.
Tickets	Priced from 8-20 euros. (2004)
Supporters	Averaged about 7,800 in 2004 (2.Liga).
Friends
Foes	As Fürth, the main enemy has to be nearby Nürnberg. The latter could probably care less about their country bumpkin cousins.
Heroes
Zeroes
Beer	Co sponsors include Bitburger and Erdinger . Tucher-Pils, a well known regional brew, was a sponsor in earlier years.
Pub Grub
The Net	Official site at www.Greuther-Fuerth.de It's an excellent effort, with a wealth of historical data, one of the best on the web.