FC Homburg

Football club infobox
clubname = FC Homburg


fullname = Fußball-Club 08 Homburg-Saar e.V.
nickname =
founded = 1908
ground = Waldstadion Homburg
capacity = 22,500
chairman =
manager = Jens Kiefer
league = Oberliga Südwest (V)
season = 2007-08
position = Oberliga Südwest, 7th
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=_whiteshoulders
leftarm1=008000|body1=008000|rightarm1=008000|shorts1=ffffff|socks1=ffffff
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffffff|body2=ffffff|rightarm2=ffffff|shorts2=ffffff|socks2=ffffff

FC Homburg is a German football club based in Homburg, Saarland. The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as "Fussball Club Homburg" by a group of seventeen young men at the local Hohenburg pub.

History

In February 1913 they were re-named "Fussballverein Homburg" and went on to take the local championship that season. By the mid 20s the side was playing second division football, but folded on 27 August 1936. A new multi-sport club known as "VfL Homburg" was formed 5 March 1937 out of a group of local sides that included "Turnverein 1878 Homburg", "Schwimmverein Homburg", "Kraftsportverein Homburg", "Boxclub Homburg", "Tennis-Club Homburg", as well as the former membership of the defunct "FV". The footballers again took up play in second tier competition and failed in two attempts (1938, 1941) to win their way through the regional promotion playoff to the first division Gauliga Südwest.

After World War II, Allied occupation authorities dissolved all types of associations in Germany, including football clubs. The club was soon re-constituted as "Sportverein Homburg" and captured a division championship in the Amateurliga Saarland (III) in 1948 before resuming the name "FC Homburg" in January 1949.

The Saarland was occupied by the French who made various efforts to see the state become independent of Germany or join France. In sport this was manifested as separate 1952 Olympic and 1954 World Cup teams for Saarland, the establishment of a short-lived football league for the state, and the German club "1. FC Saarbrücken" playing in the French second division. "Homburg" played in the Saarland Ehrenliga from 1949 to 1951 as "FC Homburg-Saar". By the time of the 1951-52 season the return of German teams to the DFB (Deutsche Fussball Bund or German Football Association) had been negotiated: the Ehrenliga faded away and by 1956 the independent Saarland Fussball Bund had re-joined the DFB.

A second Amateurliga Saarland title in 1957 advanced "FC" to the 2. Liga-Südwest (II) and in December of that year they adopted the name "FC 08 Homburg-Saar". The club was relegated to the Amateurliga in 1960 which had become a fourth tier circuit by 1963.

In the late 70s the team advanced to the quarter finals of the German Cup on two occasions, and on into the early 80s moved frequently between third and fourth tier play. Then, in the second half of the decade, they enjoyed their greatest success. They played their way back to the second division and on into the Bundesliga in 1986. "Homburg" played two seasons there, were relegated, and returned for one final Bundesliga season in 1989-90 before beginning a gradual descent which would lead them to Oberliga Südwest (IV) where they play today.

Along the way the club had a couple of misadventures. In 1988, the DFB prohibited the team from wearing the sponsorship logo of a condom manufacturer on ethical and moral grounds. In 1998, they entered into an agreement with "1. FC Saarbrücken" to loan players to that team to help ease "Homburg"'s financial pinch. Despite this, in 1999 the club had a brush with bankruptcy that led to their being denied a license to play in the Regionalliga West/Südwest (III) and demotion to the Oberliga Südwest (IV). The club qualified for the 2006-07 German Cup and went out in the first round 1:2 to Bundesliga side "VfL Bochum".

Former Players

*flagicon|ARG Rodolfo Esteban Cardoso (1989-93) 125 apps 15 goals
*flagicon|United_States Thomas Dooley (1983-88) 121 apps 20 goals
*flagicon|Germany Miroslav Klose (1998-99) 20 apps 11 goals

Honours

*German amateur champions: 1983
*2nd Bundesliga champion: 1986 (promoted to Bundesliga)
*2nd Bundesliga runners-up: 1989 (promoted to Bundesliga)
*Oberliga Südwest champions: 1982, 1984
*Amateurliga Saarland champion: 1948, 1957, 1966

Recent seasons

External links

* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/homburg.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.fc08homburg.de/ Official site] de icon