Westfalia Herne

The club was founded in 1904, and has generally been a fixture amoung clubs from Westphalia. In the 1930s, they were competitive in the Gauliga Westfalen, always in the upper half of the table, but htings really didn;t start to pick up until after WW-II.

The "golden" years

The late 1950s- early 1960s and were good, as Westfalia finished the decade with a bang: they won the strong Oberliga West in 1959 easily, ahead of such teams as 1.FC Köln, Borussia Dortmund, VfL Bochum, Rot-Weiß Essen and defending champ Schalke. During a German international against Turkey, 3 Westfalia players were on the pitch: Hans Tilkowski, Helmut Benthaus and Alfred Pyka. The next season Westfalia was runner up, and they remained a contender. Unfortunately disaster struck in 1963, as Westfalia were sensationally relegated. This was doubly disatrous, as by getting relegated, Westfalia automatically missed out on qualification for the new Bundesliga (to which they would have qualified based on their previous finishes). The Regionalliga proved to be tough, and the team did not do particularily well.

The "goldin" years

Since 1973, the darkest year with relgation into the Amateurliga, Erhard Goldbach, the president of Goldin Imperium, had become a major sponsor. The money from the petrol station concern helped revive the club, and they were soon back into the 2.Liga-Nord. In 1977, the club named itself officially SC Westfalia Goldin Herne as Goldin became the sole sponsor. Westfalia continued in the 2.Liga-Nord, and the future ooked rosy, with a 5th place finsh in 78/79. However, the sole sponsorship backfired: in late 1979, Goldbach's company went bankrupt with some 175 million DM in unpaid taxes. The club followed into the poor house. Westfalia had already played one game in the 2.Bundesliga-Nord (a win), but withdrew immediately from competition. The club continued on in the amateur Oberliga the same season, and managed to stay up, despite having to call several players from the Landesliga squad.

Westfalia established itself at the top levels of the regional amateur league, but into the new milenium, things started downhill once again. However, expect to see them back up in the Oberliga soon.

Full Name Sportclub Westfalia 1904 e.V. Herne

City Herne (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 174,000 (2002).
Address Westring 260, 44629 Herne
E-Mail: info@westfalia-herne.de

Colors white jersey with blue shoulder trim, blue shorts,socks

Nickname

Stadium Stadion Am Schloß Strünkende. Capacity: 25,000
Construction finished in 1934 after six years. In 1976, VfL Bochum used it during the Bundesliga while their own stadium was renovated.

Tickets 6-8 euros (2004)
Supporters Westfalia drew crowds around 12,000 in the late 1950s, but in recent times, it's mostly a few hundred.
Friends

Foes

Heroes Hans Tilkowski had 18 caps with Herne, and another 21 with Dortmund (1957-67) as Germany's top keeper of the era. Benthaus (9 caps) and Pyka (1 cap) also played in this era.

Zeroes Erhard Goldbach's tax accountant.

Beer

Pub Grub

The Net Official site: www.westfalia-herne.net
Also useful, a fan page, www.scwherne.de , which contains a fair amount of info.

Recent History:
--------------

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

Full Name	Sportclub Westfalia 1904 e.V. Herne
City	Herne (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 174,000 (2002).
Address	Westring 260, 44629 Herne E-Mail: info@westfalia-herne.de
Colors	white jersey with blue shoulder trim, blue shorts,socks
Nickname
Stadium	Stadion Am Schloß Strünkende. Capacity: 25,000 Construction finished in 1934 after six years. In 1976, VfL Bochum used it during the Bundesliga while their own stadium was renovated.
Tickets	6-8 euros (2004)
Supporters	Westfalia drew crowds around 12,000 in the late 1950s, but in recent times, it's mostly a few hundred.
Friends
Foes
Heroes	Hans Tilkowski had 18 caps with Herne, and another 21 with Dortmund (1957-67) as Germany's top keeper of the era. Benthaus (9 caps) and Pyka (1 cap) also played in this era.
Zeroes	Erhard Goldbach's tax accountant.
Beer
Pub Grub
The Net	Official site: www.westfalia-herne.net Also useful, a fan page, www.scwherne.de , which contains a fair amount of info.