Stuttgarter Kickers

Football club infobox
clubname = Stuttgarter Kickers


fullname = Sportverein Stuttgarter Kickers e. V.
nickname = "Die Kickers", "Die Blauen" (The Blues),
"Die Blauen-Götter" (The Blue-Gods).
founded = 21 September1899
ground = Waldaustadion Stuttgart
capacity = 11,534
chairman = Dirk Eichelbaum
manager = vacant
league = 3rd Liga (III)
season = 2007-08
position = Regionalliga Süd (III), 10th
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_ra1=_whiteshoulders
leftarm1=0000AA|body1=0000AA|rightarm1=0000AA|shorts1=0000AA|socks1=0000AA
pattern_la2=_yellowshoulders|pattern_b2=_yellowshoulders|pattern_ra2=_yellowshoulders
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

Stuttgarter Kickers is a German football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September, 1899 as "FC Stuttgarter Cickers". Its members made a deliberate and emphatic choice early on to play football exclusively and to turn their backs on rugby – their chosen sport's close cousin – at a time when both of these new English games were still evolving.

History

In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the "Bezirksliga Württemberg". With the reorganization of German football during the Third Reich in 1933, the team – now known as "SV Stuttgarter Kickers" – found itself in the "Gauliga Württemberg", one of sixteen top tier regional leagues established in the country during that time. It continued to have good results locally, but was unable to impress beyond its own area. In the final year of World War II the Kickers fielded a combined wartime squad with "Sportfreunde Stuttgart".

After the war the club resumed play in the Oberliga Süd and performed as a mid-table team early on. By 1950 it had slipped to the lower half of the table with a seemingly solid grip on 14th place, constantly struggling to avoid relegation throughout the decade. "Kickers" spent the early 60's in tier II football, but after the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional league, in 1963, the club was moved to the Regionalliga Süd. In 1974 that league went professional and became the 2.Bundesliga. Between 1963 and the late 1980s the team had varying results, but finally stabilized in the upper half of the standings toward the end of that period. It has one losing appearance to its credit in the German Cup in 1987 and in 1988-89 it made it to the Bundesliga for the first time. It ended a run of 28 years as a second division outfit. The team was immediately relegated after a 17th place finish, but continued to deliver some of its best performances. "Die Blauen" advanced to the semi-finals of the 2000 German Cup and then had a second turn in the Bundesliga in 1991-92, but with the same result as its earlier time up. Over the next decade the club played largely in the second division, before slipping to the "Regionalliga Süd (III)" in 2001, where they remained until 2008, when a tenth place finish narrowly qualified them for the new 3rd Liga.

The "Stuttgarter Kickers" also have handball, athletics, table tennis, cheerleading, and Lacrosse departments. The association is also recognized for its training of football referees and other game officials. They had a hockey department too, which in 1957 got independent under the name of HTC Stuttgarter Kickers.

Reserve team

The "Stuttgarter Kickers II", historically also known as "Stuttgarter Kickers Amateure", are playing in the "Oberliga Baden-Württemberg" since 2000. Previously, the team fluctuated between the "Landesliga" and "Verbandsliga Württemberg".

Current squad

fs mid

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

Honours

Traditionally a strong local club, "Kickers" hold 24 Württemberg championships.
* Southern German championship: 1908, 1913, 1917
* Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden (I) champions: 1924, 1925
* Bezirksliga Württemberg (I) champions: 1928, 1933
* Gauliga Württemberg (I) champions: 1936, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942
* 2nd Oberliga Süd (II) champions: 1951, 1959
* 2nd Bundesliga champions: 1988
* Regionalliga Süd champions: 1995
* German Cup finalist: 1987
* German Cup semi-finalist: 2000

The club's youth teams have enjoyed quite a bit of success on the national scene.
*German champions Junior: 1979
*German Cup Junior champions: 1990

Recent seasons

tuttgarter Kickers

tuttgarter Kickers II

elected Former Managers

*flagicon|Germany flagicon|England Edwin Dutton (1924-26)
*flagicon|Germany Stefan Minkwitz (2007-2008)

Notable Players

*flagicon|Germany Jürgen Klinsmann
*flagicon|Germany Guido Buchwald
*flagicon|Germany Karl Allgöwer
*flagicon|Germany Edmund Conen
*flagicon|Germany Fredi Bobic
*flagicon|Croatia Robert Prosinečki
*flagicon|Finland Ari Hjelm
*flagicon|Turkey Tayfun Korkut
*flagicon|Costa Rica Juan Cayasso
*flagicon|BIH Demir Hotić
*flagicon|South Korea Hee Young Woo
*flagicon|Nigeria Jonathan Akpoborie

External links

* [http://www.stuttgarter-kickers.de Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/kstuttgart.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]