SC Rot-Weiss Essen


GERMAN CHAMPION 1955
GERMAN CUP 1953

Founded in 1907, RWE is the flagbearer of the Ruhr's largest city, but the only honor is the 1955 German championship. Despite the lack of recent success, the club remains fairly popular.

The beginning was somewhat obscure. The club was founded in 1907 as SV Vogelheim, and changed it's name to SuS Emscher 3 years later. The soccer section was not formed until 1912, reminaing semi-independant and then finally seperating, becoming Rot-Weiss in 1923. The best years were the early 1950s, when they were one of Germany's top clubs. Led by the brilliant Helmut Rahn, RWE won the Cup (2-1 over Aachen) and finally a thrilling 4-3 over Kaiserslautern in 1955 crowned themselves as Champion. The 1960s saw them mostly stuck in the 2nd division, followed by another decent run in the 1970s, as they played in the top flight for about 5 years. The troubles began in the 1980s, as 1984 saw the first of three license revocations by the DFB to hit the club through 2003. With the club unable to meet the financial requirements, they were dropped. This was repeated in 1991 and 1994, as the club had it's results annulled.

After falling down into the 4th division at the end of 1998, RW was able to easily win the Oberliga, and then played solidly to qualify for the new combined Regionalliga. They've been stick at the 3rd division for the last few years, but expect them to make a run up on their usual rollercoaster.

Fullname Rot-Weiß Essen e.V.
City Essen (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Pop: 591,000 (2002)
Address Hafenstraße 97a, 45356 Essen.
Phone: (02 01) 86 14 40
Colors Red-white vertical striped jersey, red pants.
Stadium Georg-Melches-Stadion. Capacity: 22,500.
Also known as Hafenstraße, because of location. The stadium is named after an influential club president. Although present as a field for playing as early as 1913 (when it was still known as "Phönixstraße", it only was built out as a real staidum in 1939, when it had some 25,000 standing places and a small wooden seating area of about 1,500. In 1956, it became West Germany's first field with floodlights.
Tickets 7-17 euros (2004). If you find RWE in the lower divisions, tickets will be easy to come by.
Supporters Averaged 10,500 in 2004 (Regionalliga). Strong local support.
Friends A fan friendship with Werder Bremen, and a new one starting with Kickers Offenbach.
Foes Wuppertaler SV has been a hot rival when they're playing in the same league. SW Essen would be the closest to a local derby. Also Fortuna Düsseldorf. However, with RWE rising, these are less important. In general, RWE fans don't like Schalke.
Heroes Willi Lippens a Dutch international from the early 70s, who usually looked like he was falling asleep.
Zeroes
Beer König Pilsner, even though the brewery is in Duisburg. That's what's served in the stadium. However, reliable sources mention that the fan favorite is in fact Stauder , locally brewed in Essen.
Pub Grub Essen is fairly expensive, due to the "business" nature.
The Net The official site is www.rot-weiss-essen.de

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

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


(c) Abseits Guide to Germany