Hamburger SV

Infobox Football club
clubname = Hamburger SV


fullname = Hamburger Sport-Verein e. V.
nickname = Rothosen ("Red Shorts")
HSV
Hanseaten
Urgestein (Primary Rocks)
Bundesliga-Dino (The Dinosaur)
founded = September 29, 1887
ground = HSH Nordbank Arena
capacity = 57,274
chairman = flagicon|Germany Bernd Hoffmann
manager = flagicon|Netherlands Martin Jol
mgrtitle = Head Coach
league = Bundesliga
season = 2007–08
position = Bundesliga, 4th
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pattern_sh1=_hsvhome | pattern_so1=_hsvhome
leftarm1=FFFFFF | body1=FFFFFF | rightarm1=FFFFFF | shorts1=FFFFFF | socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=_hsvaway | pattern_ra2=_hsvaway | pattern_b2=_hsvaway
pattern_sh2=_hsvaway | pattern_so2=_hsvaway
leftarm2=FFFFFF | body2=FFFFFF | rightarm2=FFFFFF | shorts2=FFFFFF | socks2=FFFFFF
pattern_la3=_hsvinternational | pattern_ra3=_hsvinternational | pattern_b3=_hsvinternational
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leftarm3=FFFFFF | body3=FFFFFF | rightarm3=FFFFFF | shorts3=FFFFFF | socks3=FFFFFF

Hamburger SV is a German multi sport club ("Traditionsverein") based in Hamburg, its largest branch is the football department. The football team is one of the country's oldest, most well known and best performing clubs, with the unique distinction of having played continuously in top-flight German football since the end of World War I.

History

Early years

"Hamburger SV" can trace its roots as far back as the September 29, 1887 merger of "Der Hohenfelder Sportclub" and "Wandsbek-Marienthaler Sportclub" to form "Sportclub Germania zu Hamburg". The current club was formed as "Hamburger Sport-Verein" in 1919 through the union of three city teams severely weakened by World War I: "Sportclub Germania zu Hamburg"; "Hamburger FC" (1888); and "FC Falke Eppendorf" (1906). The club colors were the Hanseatic red and white in honor of the City of Hamburg, with the blue and black of the oldest of the founding clubs, "Germania", being used on the team crest. It is through "Germania" that "HSV" can lay a claim to being the oldest team in the country. However, other clubs may dispute that honor, as "Germania" was formed originally as an athletics club and did not begin to play football until 1891 when a half dozen Englishmen joined the club, bringing with them their enthusiasm for the game.

The newly formed "HSV" quickly became competitive and contested the 1922 national final against "1. FC Nuremberg", who were playing for their third consecutive title. The game was called on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at (2:2). The re-match also went into extra time, and in an era that did not allow for substitutions, that game was called at (1:1) when "Nuremberg" was reduced to just seven players (two were injured, two had been sent off!) and the referee ruled they could not continue. Considerable wrangling ensued over the decision. The DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) awarded the win to "Hamburger SV" but urged them to refuse the title in the name of good sportsmanship—which they grudgingly did. Ultimately, the Viktoria trophy was not officially presented that year.

The club's first umblemished success on the pitch came in 1923 when they won the national title against "Union Oberschöneweide". They failed to defend in 1924 against "Nuremberg", but lifted the Viktoria again in 1928.

During the Third Reich, "HSV" enjoyed local success, first in the "Gauliga Nordmark", from 1942 in the "Gauliga Hamburg", taking out the league title in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1945, but on national level the club was a failure. Its main rival in the "Gauliga" in those years was the Eimsbütteler TV.

Playing in the Oberliga Nord after the resumption of league play in postwar Germany, "Hamburg" became a frighteningly dominant regional club. In sixteen seasons from 1947-48 to 1962-63 they laid claim to the Oberliga title fifteen times, only posting an uncharacteristic 11th place finish in 1953-54. During this period they scored over 100 goals in each of the 1951, 1955, 1961 and 1962 seasons. However, national titles were harder to come by. Their last championship in 1928 was followed by a long drought not broken until 1960, after losing final appearances in 1957 and 1958. In the 1961 European Champions Cup competition, Hamburg were knocked out by F.C Barcelona in the semi finals. Hamburg had beaten Young Boys from Switzerland and English champions Burnley F.C. on their way to the semi-finals.

Entry into the Bundesliga

Soon after, Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga, was formed and "HSV" was one of sixteen clubs invited to join that first season. "Hamburger SV" currently holds the distinction of being the only original Bundesliga side to have played continuously in the top flight – without ever having been relegated – since the formation of the league in 1963. They had shared that special status with "Eintracht Frankfurt" and "1. FC Kaiserslautern" until 1996, and with "1. FC Köln" until 1998. Altogether, forty-nine other sides have come and gone since the league's inception. The Bundesliga celebrated its 40th anniversary on August 24, 2004 with a match between "The Dinosaur", as the club has been affectionately nicknamed, and Bayern Munich, the league's most successful side. What is even more remarkable is a related, but less well-known, distinction "HSV" holds: they have played in the country's top flight league continuously since 1919, never having experienced relegation.

In the mid-70s "HSV" began a brilliant run that saw them capture numerous honors. In 1976 they won the German Cup and followed up the next year with a Cup Winners' Cup. The took their first Bundesliga championship in 1979, fell just two points short behind Bayern Munich in 1980, and then won consecutive championships in 1982 and 1983, led by national star Felix Magath. '83 also brought a European Champions' Cup with a (1:0) win over Juventus F.C., followed by another German Cup in 1987.

In August 2004, "HSV" was upset in the early rounds of the German Cup by regional league side Paderborn. The match became one of the most infamous in recent football history when it was discovered that referee, Robert Hoyzer, had accepted money from a Croatian gambling syndicate to fix the match, which he did awarding two penalties to "Paderborn" and sending off Hamburg's player Emile Mpenza. The resulting scandal became the biggest in German football in over thirty years, and was an embarrassment to the country as it prepared to host the 2006 World Cup.

2006–07 UEFA Champions League campaign

Hamburg competed in the UEFA Champions League in the 2006–07 season for the first time since 2000–01, after they beat Osasuna on away goals in the third preliminary round, after they finished third in the Bundesliga. They competed in Group G alongside Arsenal, FC Porto and CSKA Moscow, but finished last and were eliminated.

2006–07 Bundesliga campaign

The Bundesliga campaign started rather poorly for Hamburg. After a successful 2006–07 season when they finished third in the league to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, they spent the first half of the season hovering around and in the relegation zone, with only one win (2–1 in Leverkusen) to their points tally. A series of crippling injuries to the star players along with the departures of two of their best defenders, Khalid Boulahrouz and Daniel van Buyten, severely influenced Hamburg's league campaign, with fans fearing that Hamburg's proud stay in the Bundesliga might be drawing to a close, as the club occupied the bottom spot of the league table after the first half of the season.

On February 1, 2007 the coach, Thomas Doll, was sacked and replaced by the Dutchman Huub Stevens. Stevens' disciplinarian style seemed to grab HSV by the scruff of the neck and shake them about, as the club went 7 games undefeated and conceded just one goal between 10 February 2007 and 7 April 2007. During this streak, HSV won their first home game of the season against Dortmund and won away to archrivals Bremen and Schalke—two sides who were 2nd and 1st respectively when HSV came to town.

However, despite this good run of form (which would come to a crashing halt at home to eventual Champions Stuttgart in April); HSV still were not safe from relegation due to the teams below them also collecting points. At one point in March, 12 teams were involved in the relegation scrap with a gap of 10 pts separating 18th placed Borussia Mönchengladbach and 7th placed Hannover 96.

HSV seemed to gain more success on their travels than at home, as wins at Borussia Mönchengladbach (which virtually relegated Borussia at the time), Bayern München and 1. FC Nuremberg gave HSV valuable points whilst the home games in this period were the previously mentioned defeats to Bochum and Stuttgart, as well as a disappointing draw against fellow strugglers Mainz. Ironicially though, it was the 3-0 home defeat to VfL Bochum on 5 May that mathematically secured HSV's Bundesliga status as struggling Aachen (16th) and Mainz (17th) also lost their games on the same weekend and despite the points difference only being 6 points with two games left, the goal difference was too large to make up by either club.

With their status safe, HSV were now among a small pack of clubs - consisting of Dortmund, Hannover, Bielefeld and Bochum — that were chasing 7th place and the qualifying spot for the following season's UEFA Intertoto Cup. With one game left, and following the 0–3 upset by Bochum, HSV surprised in-form Nuremberg to win 2–0 in the Southern sunshine. One week later, a resounding 4–0 home win (HSV's first since 1st April) over relegated Aachen coupled with Dortmund's 2–1 defeat in Leverkusen and Nuremberg's 3–0 win in Hannover meant that HSV had somehow slipped in at the last possible moment to snatch 7th place, moving from 18th place and certain relegation on 10 February 2007 to 7th place and two games away from UEFA Cup football on 19 May 2007.

Recent seasons

Honours

Hamburg's three Bundesliga championships entitle the club to display one gold star of the "Verdiente Meistervereine". Under the current award system their pre-Bundesliga championships are not recognized and so they are not entitled to the second star of a five-time champion.

In addition to the championships listed below "Hamburger SV" has a claim to the 1922 title which was never "officially" awarded due to the circumstances of the game and bureaucratic stumbling by the DFB.

Hamburger SV has qualified twice for the Group Stages of the UEFA Champions League in seasons 2000/2001 and in 2006/2007 after finishing third in the previous domestic Bundesliga season and successful play-off matches.

Hamburger SV were the 1983 European Champions, however, they lost the European Super Cup crown to European Cup Winners' Cup Champions Aberdeen, and the World Club crown to Brazilian side Grêmio.

* German Champions: 1922 (not officially awarded), 1923, 1928, 1960, 1979, 1982, 1983
* German Cup: 1963, 1976, 1987
* German League Cup: 1973, 2003
* European Champions Cup: 1983
* European Cup Winners' Cup: 1977
* UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005, 2007

tadium

The club plays its home games in the HSH Nordbank Arena (capacity: 57.274 – ~47,000 seats, 10,000 standing) which was originally opened in 2000 as the new Volksparkstadion. On July 1 2001, its name was changed to the AOL Arena. On July 4 2007, it was given its current name. The first Volksparkstadion was opened in 1953 and had been a venue for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and EURO 88. The HSH Nordbank Arena is a UEFA which certifies it to host UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was the site of four group matches and a quarterfinal in the past 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany and was known as "FIFA World Cup Stadium Hamburg" during the event. In March 2008, UEFA awarded the rights to host the 2010 UEFA Cup Final to the HSH Nordbank Arena. [cite news|url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=676743.html|title=Madrid and Hamburg awarded 2010 finals|publisher=UEFA|date=2008-03-28|accessdate=2008-03-28]

Current squad

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

Famous players

Coaches

* 1945–1949 flagicon|Germany Hans Tauchert
* 1946–1954 flagicon|Germany Georg Knöpfle
* 1954–1956 flagicon|Germany Martin Wilke & Günter Mahlmann
* 1956–1962 flagicon|Germany Günter Mahlmann
* 1962–1964 flagicon|Germany Martin Wilke
* 1964–1966 flagicon|Germany Georg Gawliczek
* 1966–1967 flagicon|Germany Josef Schneider
* 1967–1969 flagicon|Germany Kurt Koch
* 1969–1970 flagicon|Germany Georg Knöpfle
* 1970–1973 flagicon|Germany Klaus-Dieter Ochs
* 1973–1977 flagicon|Germany Kuno Klötzer
* 1977–1977 flagicon|Germany Rudi Gutendorf
* 1977–1978 flagicon|Turkey Arkoç Özcan
* 1978–1980 flagicon|Yugoslavia|SFR Branko Zebec
* 1981–1981 flagicon|Yugoslavia|SFR Aleksandar Ristić
* 1981–1987 flagicon|Austria Ernst Happel
* 1987–1987 flagicon|Yugoslavia|SFR Josip Skoblar
* 1987–1990 flagicon|Germany Willi Reimann
* 1990–1992 flagicon|Germany Gerd-Volker Schock
* 1992–1992 flagicon|Germany Egon Coordes
* 1992–1995 flagicon|Germany Benno Möhlmann
* 1995–1997 flagicon|Germany Felix Magath
* 1997–1997 flagicon|Germany Ralf Schehr
* 1997–2001 flagicon|Germany Frank Pagelsdorf
* 2001–2001 flagicon|Germany Holger Hieronymus
* 2001–2003 flagicon|Austria Kurt Jara
* 2003–2004 flagicon|Germany Klaus Toppmöller
* 2004–2007 flagicon|Germany Thomas Doll
* 2007–2008 flagicon|Netherlands Huub Stevens
* 2008– flagicon|Netherlands Martin Jol [cite web | url = http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/378546/ | title = Jol neuer HSV-Coach | language = German | publisher = kicker.de | date = 2008-05-13 | accessdate = 2008-05-13]

Women's section

Current squad

Other departments

Other important departments are volleyball, baseball or cricket. Okka Rau was qualified for volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics . [Citation |title=Team Hamburg - Athleten |date=2008-07-04 |publisher=Team Hamburg of the Hamburg Sport Federation and the Olympic point Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein |url=http://www.team-hamburg.de/team/athleten.php5 | accessdate=2008-08-17 de icon] "HSV Cricket" is playing in the league of the North German Cricket Federation ("Norddeutscher Cricket Verband" ) and won several first places. [Citation |author=Staff |title=Trophies |publisher=HSV Cricket |url=http://www.hsv-cricket.de/hsvcricket/eng/hsvtrophies.htm | accessdate=2008-08-17]

Team trivia

*A visit to the club's [http://www.hsv.de homepage] reveals a clock that tallies up the time – down to the second – that "Hamburg" has spent in the Bundesliga.

*"HSV" went undefeated between January 16, 1982 and January 29, 1983—a string of 36 games that still stands as a Bundesliga record.

*"Hamburg" became the first German team to tour the United States after the Second World War in May of 1950 and came away with a 6-0 record.

*"HSV" share a cross-town rivalry with "FC St. Pauli"

*"HSV" have an affinity with Scottish Club "Rangers F.C.". HSV fans unfurl their club logo at Rangers away European matches.

*"HSV" shares a rivalry to the other big club of northern Germany: "Werder Bremen".

*"HSV" have a friendship bond with Hannover 96. Due to both being known as HSV. Their meetings involve the visitors club song to be played, and fans chanting HSV from each end of the stadium.

*"HSV" held the record of post-2nd World War first-class league titles, having won 15 Oberliga Nord and three Bundesliga championships until 2006 when FC Bayern München won it's 19th Bundesliga title and overtook them.

*"HSV" fans can be buried at a dedicated graveyard near the home stadium, covered in turf from the original Hamburg pitch. [cite web|url=http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=319|title=Dead football fans get home ground advantage
publisher=www.meeja.com.au |date=2008-09-03 |accessdate=2008-09-03 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.hsv.de Official team site]
* [http://www.hsv-sc.de Official supporters club site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/hsv.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.resultsfromfootball.com/bundesliga-team/hamburgersv.html Team statistics]
* [http://www.hsv-forever.de/ Fan site] HSV Forever
* [http://www.hsv-ole-ole.de/ Fan site] HSV-OLÉ-OLÉ - a collection of HSV chants, songs and lyrics.
* [http://www.football-lineups.com/games/?campaign=15.80 Hamburger SV formations] at football-lineups