TuS Koblenz

TuS Koblenz is a German football , located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. "Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf", which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club.

History

Play under the Third Reich

The original club was lost in 1917, but in 1919 the successor side "Fussball Verein 1911 Neuendorf" was assembled out of the former memberships of "FCD", "Fussball Club Concordia 1910 Neuendorf", and "Fussball Club Alemania 1912 Neuendorf", both of which had folded in 1914.

In 1933, "FV" joined the Gauliga Mittlerhein, one of sixteen top flight divisions established in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich that year. The club was immediately relegated, and in 1934 was joined by "Turnverein 1864 Neuendorf", "Arbeitersportverein Neuendorf" and "DJK Neuendorf", to create "Turn- und Spielvereinigung Neuendorf". Both "ASV" and "DJK" were forced into the merger through the policies of the Nazi regime which regarded worker's and church-sponsored clubs as politically undesireable. "TuS Neuendorf" returned to first division play in 1935 and was in and out of the Gauliga over the next several seasons.

In 1941, the Gauliga Mittelrhein was divided into two new divisions: the Gauliga Köln-Aachen and the Gauliga Moselland. "TuS" again returned to first division football in the Gauliga Moselland (Gruppe Ost) and this time earned much better results, finishing second in 1942 and then winning their group in 1943 and 1944 before decisively taking the division in single game playoffs in each of these seasons. That put the club into the national playoffs, where they were eliminated in the early going in both appearances. As World War II progressed and Allied armies advanced into Germany, the Gauliga Moselland played progressively shorter schedules until the league finally collapsed and did not play the 1944-45 season.

Postwar

In the immediate post-war period, the club returned to tier I football in the Oberliga Südwest (Gruppe Nord) in 1946 as "SpVgg Neuendorf". Resuming their old identity as "TuS", they re-appeared in the national playoffs in 1948 even though they had managed only a third place finish in their division. "1. FC Saarbrücken" had taken second place by finishing three points ahead of "TuS" and so were entitled to a playoff spot. However, "Saarbrücken" was one of several teams in the French-occupied Saarland which the French were actively working to establish as an independent state or make part of France. This led to Saarland-based German teams being refused permission to play the German national playoffs, and even the participation of a Saarland national side in the 1954 World Cup preliminaries. "TuS" earned its place that season through politics and advanced as far as the semi-finals before being put out 1:5 by "1. FC Kaiserslautern".

The club continued to play well through the early and mid-50s, earning additional turns in the national playoffs in 1950 and 1956, but was once again eliminated in both appearances in the early going. By the end of the decade their performance began to slip and in 1959 they were relegated. They returned to the Oberliga Südwest (I) in 1961 but could not now escape the lower half of the table.

Formation of the Bundesliga

With the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, "TuS" found itself placed in the second division Regionalliga Südwest. In both 1968 and 1969, the club played well enough to participate in the playoff for a Bundesliga spot, but was unsuccessful on both occasions. By the 1970s, they were a third division side, playing in the Amateurliga Rheinland, missing opportunities for promotion to the Second Bundesliga in playoff rounds in both 1977 and 1978. By 1981, the club had crashed below the third division where they were mired for nearly a decade-and-a-half.

Tus Koblenz

In 1982, the club adopted the name "TuS Koblenz", but the change did little to help their performance, as they lingered in the Verbandsliga Rheinland (V). The fortunes of the club improved with their ascent to the fourth division Oberliga Südwest (IV) in 1994 where they remained for a decade. An Oberliga Südwest championship in 2004 was followed by a quick ascent through the Regionalliga Süd (III) where a second place finish in 2005-06 earned the club a spot in the 2. Bundesliga. Their 2006-07 campaign ended with "Tus" finishing ahead of expectations in 12th place, meriting an unexpected stay on the second level.

Any hopes of further improvement ended in in the late stages of the 2007-08 season when "TuS" was penalized by the deduction of eight points for not providing contracts for Marko Lomic and Branimir BajicWilde18, [http://forum.fck.de/wbb/index.php?page=Thread&postID=184260 "8 point deducted from TuS Koblenz"] , "Official 1. FC Kaiserslautern Forum", April 25th 2008] , turning a potential upper table finish into a lesser result. This was later reduced to six points upon appeal.

Recent seasons

Current squad

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

Famous Players

* Ferydoon Zandi

Honours

*Oberliga Südwest (I) runners-up: 1952, 1953, 1956
*2nd Oberliga Südwest (II) runners-up: 1960
*Regionalliga Südwest (II) runners-up: 1968, 1969
*Oberliga Südwest (IV) champions: 2004
*Verbandsliga Rheinland (IV) champions: 1994
*Amateurliga Rheinland champions (III): 1977, 1978

References

External links

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