Alemannia Wacker Berlin

Football club infobox
clubname = Alemannia Wacker Berlin


fullname = Berliner FC Alemannia 90-Wacker
nickname =
founded = 1904
ground = Sportanlage Kienhorstpark
capacity = 7,000
chairman = Bernd Gehrig
manager = Bernd Upmeier
league = Landesliga Berlin (VII)
season = 2007-08
position = Verbandsliga Berlin (V), 17th (relegated)
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=0000ff|body1=0000ff|rightarm1=0000ff|shorts1=0000ff|socks1=ffff00
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffffff|body2=ffffff|rightarm2=ffffff|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=ffffff

Alemannia Wacker Berlin is a German football club based in northern Berlin. Today's club has its origins in the predecessor sides "BFC 90 Alemannia" and "SC Wacker 04 Berlin".

History

BFC 90 Alemannia

"Berliner Thor- und Fussball Club Alemannia" was founded in the spring of 1890 as "SV Jugendlust". Initially the club played cricket which, alongside football and rugby, were English sports becoming popular in continental Europe at the time. A football department quickly developed, and the team played in Berlin's earliest leagues, becoming one of the founding clubs of the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900.

From 1903 to 1911 the team played in the Märkischer Fussball Bund where they captured league titles in 1905 and 1907. Through the 20's "Alemannia" played in the first division Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg, winning the division in 1924 by defeating "Norden-Nordwest Berlin", and then losing their defence of their title to "Hertha BSC" the following year. The club advanced to the German championship rounds in both seasons, only to be put out in the early going. By 1929 their performance had slipped, and they were relegated.

"Alemannia" did not qualify to play in the new first division Gauligen formed in 1933 in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich and remained out of top-flight competition for the duration of World War II. After the war, occupying Allied authorities ordered most organizations in the country disbanded, including sports and football clubs. The formation of new clubs was permitted late in 1945, and the membership of "Alemannia" was re-organized as "SG Prenzlauer Berg West". This team appeared in the new Oberliga Berlin (I) and by 1947-48 was once again playing as "Alemannia 90 Berlin". They played out their turn in the first division as a mid-table side until relegated in 1956, followed by a single season re-appearance that ended in a last-place finish in 1957-58. The club slipped briefly to fourth division play before playing in the Regionalliga Berlin (II) and Amateurliga Berlin (III) from the mid-60's to the mid-70's. By the time of their merger with "Wacker" in 1994, "Alemannia" had fallen to the fifth tier Landesliga Berlin.

C Wacker 04 Berlin

"Wacker" was founded 25 July 1904 as "Reinickendorfer FC West" and in 1908 merged with "Tegeler FC Hohenzollern 1905" to form "SC Wacker 04 Tegel". Like "Alemannia", the club played in the top-flight Oberliga Berlin through the 20's, remaining a solid mid-table side throughout the years, never claiming a title of their own, but also never being relegated. "Wacker" stayed in the top-flight, joining the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg in 1933, but were immediately relegated. They returned after a single season absence, were sent down for the 1939-40 season, and after again being promoted in 1940, played in the first division until the end of the war.

Through the 30's "Wacker" made a number of cup appearances. They were beaten 0:6 by "Tennis Borussia Berlin" in the final of the Berlin Pokal (Berlin Cup) in 1931 and made three appearances in German Cup competition with their best turn coming in 1935 when they advanced to the third round by defeating "Altona Hamburg" and "Victoria Hamburg" before being eliminated by "Werder Bremen".

After the war "Wacker" resumed first division play in the Oberliga Berlin, initially as "SG Reickendorf-West", but were sent down after a last place finish in 1956. They returned to the Oberliga a season later and stayed in first division football until the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's first professional league. "Wacker" went on to play second tier football in the Regionlliga Berlin and the 2.Bundesliga Nord where they did quite well on the field despite thin resources. Through the early 70's the club earned three second and one first place finish in the Regionalliga. The club's experience in the 2.Bundesliga in the middle of the decade was more difficult, finally leading to their relegation to the Amateurliga Berlin (III) in 1977. After one more season in the 2.Bundesliga Nord, "Wacker" slipped to third and fourth division play where they toiled for a decade and a half before finally going bankrupt in 1994.

Fusion in 1994

"Wacker"'s financial collapse saw many of the club's members join "Alemannia", leading to the formation of "Alemannia-Wacker Berlin". The newly combined side played in the Landesliga Berlin (V) and enjoyed a brief surge of success, moving from the lower half of the table to two consecutive second place finishes. However "BFC" has since faded but continued to play in the Verbandsliga Berlin as a mid-table side until its relegation in 2008.

Trivia

* Thorball or Torball was a German word in use in the 1890s and early 1900s for the sport of cricket. Several early clubs playing the new "English" games of football, rugby, and cricket incorporated it into their name. The term never caught on and did not enter into common usage, soon being abandoned by sports clubs. Today torball may be used to refer to a form of football played by the blind or vision-impaired.

External links

* [http://www.bfc-alemannia-1890.de Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/alemberlin.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]