FC Energie Cottbus

Football club infobox
clubname = Energie Cottbus


fullname = FC Energie Cottbus
nickname = Energie, Die Lausitzer
founded = January 31, 1966
ground = Stadion der Freundschaft, Cottbus
capacity = 22,450
chairman = flagicon|Germany Ulrich Lepsch
manager = flagicon|Slovenia Bojan Prašnikar
league = Bundesliga
season = 2007/08
position = Bundesliga, 14th
shirtsupplier= Saller
shirtsponsors= Envia
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
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FC Energie Cottbus is a German football club based in Cottbus, in the Lausitz region of Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as "SC Energie Cottbus" in what was, at the time, East Germany. The club was quickly buttressed by a wholesale transfer of players from "BSG Aktivist Brieske-Ost" ordered by East German authorities, who often intervened in the business of the country's sports and football clubs for political reasons.

History

Predecessor sides

Through this link, the side can trace its roots back to a club founded by coal miners in 1919, in what was then called the town of Marga. "Glückauf Marga" was active until 1925 when the miners left to form a new team called "FSV Sturm Marga" which was banned by the Nazis in 1933.

Play in the GDR

The club re-emerged after World War II in 1949 as "Franz Mehring Marga", becoming "BSG Aktivist Brieske-Ost" in 1950. The club was re-named "SC Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg" in 1954 and played in the DDR-Oberliga generally earning mid-table results until calamitously falling all the way to the fourth tier Cottbus Berzirksliga in the early 60's. The players of this side were delivered to "SC Energie Cottbus" in 1963.

In the mid-60's a re-organization program by the regime led to the separation of football sides from sports clubs and the creation of "BSG von Bodo Krautz" under the patronage of a local coal mine. The football club went by that name only briefly and was quickly re-named "BSG Energie" in early 1966.

German reunification

The team took on the name "FC Energie" in 1990 at the time of German re-unification.

After years as a II division or lower-table I division side in East Germany, "Energie" has emerged as one of the few former DDR sides to enjoy relative prosperity in a united Germany. After five seasons playing tier III football, they earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 1997, winning the Regionalliga Nordost, and then played their way into the Bundesliga in 2000, where they managed a three year stay. A key player in their Bundesliga run was Vasile Miriuta, an imaginative midfield player who played a big part in the team's promotion. After being relegated, "Energie" narrowly missed a prompt return to the top tier, losing out to "FSV Mainz 05" on goal differential. In season 04/05 "Energie" struggled into both financial (reported debts of 4.5 million Euros) and sports problems: The season goal of promotion was missed by far - the club escaped the relegation to 3rd tier Regionalliga (football) by scoring one more goal (season overall) than SV Eintracht Trier 05 while having the same amount of points and goal differential. During season the manager and the chairman were replaced. Next season (2005/06) was a much more successful one - the club has returned to play in the First Division Bundesliga after winning promotion. The Bundesliga season 2006/07 resulted in a 13th place and a club record in Bundesliga season points (41).

Recent seasons

Current squad

"As of July 4, 2008."

Players out on loan

"For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2008."

Notable players

* Bruno Akrapović
* Petar Aleksandrov
* Christian Beeck
* Gregg Berhalter
* Andrzej Juskowiak
* Radosław Kałużny
* Jiří Kaufman
* Andrzej Kobylański
* Sergiu Radu
* Vlad Munteanu
* Kevin McKenna
*flagicon|Hungary Vasile Miriuţă
* Laurenţiu Reghecampf
* Steffen Heidrich
* Petrik Sander
* Silvio Schröter
* Marko Topić
* Santiago Silva
* Charly Musonda
* Rudi Vata

Team trivia

*On April 6, 2001, Energie became the first Bundesliga club to field a side made up of 11 foreign players.

:The players were Tomislav Piplica, Faruk Hujdurovic, Bruno Akrapovic (Bosnia), János Mátyus, Vasile Miriuta (Hungary), Rudi Vata (Albania), Moussa Latoundji (Benin), Andrzej Kobylanski (Poland), Antun Labak (Croatia), Laurenţiu Reghecampf (Romania), and Franklin (Brazil). As a side note, even the three substitutes were foreigners, namely Johnny Rödlund from Sweden, Sabin Ilie from Romania and Witold Wawrzyczek from Poland [http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/2001/28/cottbus-wolfsburg/] .

:Energie often fielded 9 or 10 foreigners that season: German players appeared a total of just 83 times, with striker Sebastian Helbig as the leader with 28 [http://www.fussballdaten.de/vereine/fcenergiecottbus/2001/kader/] .

*East German authorities had a penchant for tagging sports teams with the names of socialist heroes: Franz Mehring was a German socialist politician and journalist. He wrote a biography of Karl Marx and was a strong supporter of his ideas.

*Angela Merkel is an honorary member of the club.

External links

* [http://www.fcenergie.de Official website]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/cottbus.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]