- DGF Flensborg
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DGF Flensborg 
Full name Dansk Gymnastik Forening Flensborg e.V. 1923 Founded 9 November 1923 Ground Frueskovens Idrætspark Chairman Reinhard Jacobsen Manager Marcel Lettmann League Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West (VI) 2007–08 Bezirksoberliga Nord (VI), 10th 
Home coloursAway coloursThe DGF Flensborg is a German association football club from the city of Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein.
DGF is the largest of the clubs of the Danish minority in northern Germany.[1][2] Apart from offering association football, it also has an American football department, as well as boxing, baseball, badminton, handball and inline hockey departments.
Contents
History
Danish minority
The Danish minority in Schleswig-Holstein is currently (2008) considered to consist of about 50,000 people.[3] The Danish government supports the minority financially, (400,000,000 Danish krone in 2004).[4] Since the Bonn-Kopenhagener-Declarations in 1955, the Danish minority enjoys special rights equivalent to the special rights the German minority in Denmark enjoys.[5]
Club
The club was formed in 1923 as a gymnastics association by the city's Danish minority, as indicated by its Danish language name and the use of the Danish Flensborg rather than the German Flensburg. In 1926, DGF took up football, playing games at the Tivoliplatz.[6] In the following years, the club expanded its number of departments but from 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, found itself more and more restricted. From 1937, the club's activities almost ceased altogether due to attempts by Nazis to Germanise the Danish minority.
Upon the return of its members following the Second World War, DFG resumed its activities in 1947. In 1948, some club members left DGF to form another ethnically-Danish club, the IF Stjernen Flensborg. DGF was granted the use of Frueskovens Idrætspark as its home ground by the city of Flensburg. In 1951, an agreement was reached with the German football federation of Schleswig-Holstein and its clubs, granting Danish minority clubs the same rights and duties as their German counterparts, the Sportfrieden von Malente (English: Sports peace of Malente).
Through the support of Danish Football Association, part of the gate receipts from a Denmark national football team versus Norway national football team international were made available to the club and DGF was able to buy Frueskovens Idrætspark. The club had to use old military tents as its change rooms. By joining the Schleswig-Holstein Football Federation they were finally permitted to take part in competitive football.
In 1957, DGF built its own club house and in 1967 the facility was expanded through the addition of change rooms and showers. However, in 1974, the club had to transfer Frueskovens Idrætspark back to the city of Flensburg as they were unable to afford necessary major upgrades.
For its 75th anniversary in 1998, the club attracted Brøndby IF for a friendly. In 2001, Frueskovens Idrætspark once more changed ownership when it was acquired by the Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger, a community based Danish organization.[7]
On the field
DGF entered the Bezirksklasse Nord Schleswig-Holstein (III) in 1951 but could not hold their place. They returend to the Bezirksliga in 1959, and then in 1964 earned promotion to the Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein, the local third division.[8] They played two season there before being relegated to the 2nd Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (IV) in 1966. While winning its league in 1966–67, they missed being promoted and after a 6th place result the next season failed to qualify for the new Verbandsliga Nord (IV), slipping down to fifth tier Bezirksliga Nord.
Winning another championship in this league in 1968–69, the team gained promotion to the tier four Verbandsliga, where, after a difficult first season, it won the league in 1970–71 and returned to third division football. Coming second-last in the Landesliga in 1972, it was relegated back down straight away. DGF continued in the Verbandsliga as a lower table side, earning a fifth place in 1978–79 as its best result. In 1978, the Verbandsliga was renamed Landesliga and had become a tier five league since 1974, when the Oberliga Nord was reformed. In 1980, the club was relegated once more.
In the Bezirksliga Nord, DGF became a struggler against relegation, finishing one spot above it in each of its first three seasons there and improving from then on. After a couple of seasons in mid-table, the team was relegated further down in 1988 but returned immediately the year after. Mid to lower table finishes remained all the club could archive until a league championship in 1996 meant promotion once more.
Back in the Landesliga (V) the club finished in mid-table once more in the next three seasons until another league reorganisation meant it became part of the new Bezirksoberliga Nord. After dropping down a level in 2005 and returning in 2007, a tenth place finish in 2008 in the Bezirksoberliga was enough for the club to qualify for the new Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West in another league restructuring.[9]
Current
In the 2008–09 season, DGF struggles in the Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West (VI), sitting in the relegation zone after half the season having been played.[10]
Honours
- League
- Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (IV) champions: 1971
- 2nd Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (IV) champions: 1963, 1967
- Bezirksliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (V–VI) champions: 1969, 1996
Recent seasons
Year Division Position 1999–2000 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (VI) 3rd 2000–01 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 8th 2001–02 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 11th 2002–03 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 6th 2003–04 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 8th 2004–05 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 16th ↓ 2005–06 Bezirksliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (VII) 6th 2006–07 Bezirksliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 3rd ↑ 2007–08 Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord (VI) 10th 2008–09 Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West (VI) 18th ↓ 2009–10 Kreisliga Flensburg (VII) 2nd 2010–11 Kreisliga Flensburg (VII) External links
- Official team site
- DGF Bulls website of the American football team
- The Danish consulat in Flensburg website (Danish) & (German) with information on the Danish minority
Sources
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (German)
References
- ^ Dansk Gymnastikforening Flensborg (Danish) Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger website: List of clubs of the Danish minority, accessed: 2 December 2008
- ^ Sportvereine der dänischen Minderheit (German) Grenzlandportal — Clubs of the German and Danish minorities in the border region, accessed: 2 December 2008
- ^ Dänische Minderheit (German) German ministry of the interior website, accessed: 2 December 2008
- ^ DIE GRENZZIEHUNG UND DIE MINDERHEIT (German) Danish foreign ministry website, accessed: 2 December 2008
- ^ DIE DEUTSCH-DÄNISCHE MINDERHEITENREGELUNG (German) Danish foreign ministry website, accessed: 2 December 2008
- ^ DGF Historie (German) DGF website, accessed: 28 November 2008
- ^ SdU website accessed: 28 November 2008
- ^ 2nd Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord 1963–64 Das deutsche Fussball archiv, accessed: 28 November 2008
- ^ Bezirksoberliga Schleswig-Holstein Nord tbale 2007–08 Fussball.de, accessed: 28 November 2008
- ^ Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West table 2008–09 Fussball.de, accessed: 28 November 2008
Categories:- Danish football clubs
- German football clubs
- Schleswig-Holstein football clubs
- Association football clubs established in 1923
- League
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