Eintracht Frankfurt

Football club infobox
clubname = Eintracht Frankfurt


fullname = Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball e.V.
nickname = Die Adler (Eagles),
SGE ("Sportgemeinde Eintracht"),
Launische Diva (moody diva)
founded = 1899
ground = Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt
(former Waldstadion)
capacity = 52,300
chairman = flagicon|Germany Heribert Bruchhagen
manager = flagicon|Germany Friedhelm Funkel
league = Bundesliga
season = 2007/08
position = Bundesliga, 9th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_redhalf|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=000010|body1=000010|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=000000|socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=

pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_blackbrown whirl|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=000000|socks2=FFFFFF|

Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its football team.

History

Club origins

The origins of the side go back to a pair of football clubs founded in 1899: "Frankfurter Fußball-Club Viktoria von 1899" – regarded as the "original" football side in the club's history – and "Frankfurter Fußball-Club Kickers von 1899". These two teams merged in May of 1911 to become "Frankfurter FV (Kickers-Viktoria)", which in turn joined the gymnastics club "Frankfurter Turngemeinde von 1861" to form "TuS Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861" in 1920.

Pre-Bundesliga history

At the time, sports in Germany was dominated by nationalistic gymnastics organizations, and under pressure from that sport's governing authority, the gymnasts and footballers went their separate ways again in 1927, as "Turngemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt von 1861" and "Sportgemeinde Eintracht Frankfurt (FFV) von 1899".

Through the late 20's and into the 30's "Eintracht" won a handful of local and regional championships, first in the "Bezirksliga Main", then the "Bezirksliga Main-Hessen", but never made it very far in the national championship rounds except for 1932 when they became runners-up in the German national championship (the final was lost 0-2 to Bayern Munich). In 1933, German football was re-organized into sixteen Gauligen under the Third Reich and the club played first division football in the Gauliga Südwest, consistently finishing in the upper half of the table and winning their division in 1938.

They picked up where they left off after World War II playing as a solid side in the first division Oberliga Süd, capturing division titles in 1953 and 1959. Their biggest success came on the heels of that second divisional title as they went on to a 5-3 victory over "Kickers Offenbach" to take the German national title and followed up immediately with an outstanding run in the European Champions Cup. "Eintracht" lost 3-7 to "Real Madrid" in an exciting final widely regarded as one of the best football matches ever played.

Founding member of the Bundesliga

The side continued to play good football and earned themselves a place as one of the original sixteen teams selected to play in the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, formed in 1963. "Eintracht" played Bundesliga football for thirty-three seasons finishing in the top half of the table more often than not. Their best Bundesliga performances were five third-place finishes: they ended just two points back of champion "VfB Stuttgart" in 1991-1992.

They also narrowly avoided relegation on several occasions. In 1984, they defeated "MSV Duisburg" 6-1 on aggregate, and in 1989 they beat "1. FC Saarbrücken" 4-1 on aggregate, in two-game playoffs. "Eintracht" finally slipped and were relegated to 2.Bundesliga for the 1996-97 season. At the time that they were sent down along with "1. FC Kaiserslautern", these teams were two of only four sides that had been in the Bundesliga since the league's inaugural season.

It looked as though they would be out again in 1998-1999, but they pulled through by beating defending champions "Kaiserslautern" 5-1 away, while "Nuremberg" unexpectedly lost at home, to give "Eintracht" the break they needed to stay up. The following year, in another struggle to avoid relegation, the club was "fined" two points by the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) for financial misdeeds, but pulled through with a win by a late goal over "SSV Ulm" on the last day of the season. The club was plagued by financial difficulties again in 2004 before once more being relegated.

Between 1997 and 2005, "Eintracht" has bounced between the top two divisions and has often kept its fans on edge over whether or not the side would be demoted, but in the 2005-06 season supporters learned earlier than is often the case that the club would stay up, as they finished their Bundesliga season in 14th place, three points clear of relegation.

In the 2006-07 campaign Eintracht secured the Bundesliga spot on the 33rd day again.

As of 2007 Eintracht has over 10 million sympathisers in Germany.Frankfurter Neue Presse:"Eintracht wird den Deutschen sympathisch" [http://www.rhein-main.net/sixcms/list.php?page=fnp2_news_article&id=3795032] ]

In 2007-08 Eintracht had the 17th highest attendance in Europe, ahead of such prominent clubs as SSC Napoli, Liverpool and Atlético Madrid.

uccess outside the Bundesliga

The club has enjoyed considerable success in competition outside the Bundesliga. Eintracht famously lost the European Cup final to Real Madrid on May 18 1960 at Hampden Park 7-3 in front of 127,621 spectators. It is one of the most talked about European matches of all time, with Di Stéfano scoring 3 and Puskás scoring the other 4 for Real.

In 1967 they won the Intertoto Cup beating Inter Bratislava in the final.

They won the German Cup in 1974, 1975, 1981, and 1988, and took the UEFA Cup over another German team – "Borussia Mönchengladbach" – in 1980. More recently, "Eintracht" were the losing finalists in the 2006 German Cup. Their opponents in the final, "Bayern Munich", Bundesliga champions that year, qualified to participate in the Champions League. As a result "Eintracht" received the Cup winner's place in the UEFA Cup where they advanced to the group stage.

Colours, crest and nicknames

The club crest derives from the coat of arms of Frankfurt am Main which is in turn is a reference to the one-headed imperial eagle of the 13th century.

The crest has evolved slowly over time, showing little significant change until 1980 when a stylized eagle in black and white was chosen to represent the team. In the centennial year 1999 the club board decided to re-adopt a more traditional eagle crest.

Football kit box
align = left
pattern_la =_black_stripes | pattern_b =_red stripes | pattern_ra =_black_stripes
leftarm = FF2400
body = 000000
rightarm = FF2400
shorts = 000000
socks = FF2400
title = Centennial kit in 1999-2000

The official club colours of red, black, and white have their origins in the colours of the founding clubs "Frankfurter FC Viktoria" and "Frankfurter FC Kickers", which sported red and white and black and white respectively. Red and white are the colours of the city coat of arms, and black and white the colours of Prussia. When the clubs merged, officials decided to adopt the colours of both sides. Since local rival "Kickers Offenbach" sport the colours red and white, "Eintracht" avoids playing in such a kit, preferring to play in black and red, or in black and white.

The club is nicknamed "Die Adler" (The Eagles), which obviously derives from their crest. A nickname still popular among supporters is "SGE", taken from the club's old official name "Sportgemeinde Eintracht" (Frankfurt), roughly translated meaning "Sports community Harmony".

The nickname "Launische Diva" (Moody Diva) was heard most often in the early 1990s when the club would easily defeat top teams only to surprisingly lose to lesser clubs. This nickname was also held to refer to the what was regarded as the dubious work of some club chairmen, including for example, the failure to record the transfer fee of Hungarian star player Lajos Détári on club books. The current reign of Heribert Bruchhagen appears to have left these practises to the past.

The players themselves have been referred to as the "Schlappekicker" - "Slipper Kickers" in the local slang - because, in the days before big-monied professionalism, many of them were employed at a local slipper factory.

Honours

International

*UEFA Cup
** Winners : 1980
*UEFA Intertoto Cup
** Winners : 1967
*"'European Cup
**Runners-up: 1960
*Coppa delle Alpi
** Winners : 1967

National

*German Championship (pre-Bundesliga)
** Champions: 1958-59
** Runners-up: 1931-32
*DFB-Pokal
** Winners : 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988
** Runners-up: 1964, 2006
*2nd Bundesliga
**Winners: 1997-98
*Fuji-Cup
**Winners: 1992
**Runners-up: 1994

Regional

*Southern German championship
** Champions: 1929-30, 1931-32, 1952-53, 1958-59
** Runners-up: 1912-13+, 1913-14+, 1930-31, 1953-54, 1960-61, 1961-62 (+ as Frankfurter FV)
*Bezirksliga Main-Hessen:
**Winners: 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32
**Runners-up: 1932-33
*Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen:
**Winners: 1937-38
**Runners-up: 1936-37

League results

Recent seasons

ImageSize = width:600 height:60PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyDateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/07/1990 till:2008ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1991 Colors = id:bl1 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:bl2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3) id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6)

PlotData= bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center

from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:4 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:1 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:15 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:17 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:3 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:14 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:9

from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1996 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "1. Bundesliga" from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1998 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "2. Bundesl." from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2001 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "1. Bundesliga" from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2003 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "2. Bundesliga" from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "1. BL" from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "2. BL" from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2008 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "1. BL"

All time

ImageSize = width:650 height:50PlotArea = left:10 right:50 bottom:20 top:10TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyyDateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1899 till:2009ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1899Colors = id:1d value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) id:2d value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3)

PlotData= bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center from:01/07/1899 till:30/06/1996 color:1d shift:(0,13) from:01/01/1996 till:30/06/1998 color:2d shift:(0,13) from:01/07/1998 till:30/07/2001 color:1d shift:(0,13) from:01/07/2001 till:30/07/2003 color:2d shift:(0,13) from:01/07/2003 till:30/07/2004 color:1d shift:(0,13) from:01/07/2004 till:30/07/2005 color:2d shift:(0,13) from:01/07/2005 till:30/07/2008 color:1d shift:(0,13)

Green denotes the highest level of football in Germany; yellow the second highest.

Players

Current squad

"As of 6th October, 2008".

On loan

"For more details see: Eintracht Frankfurt season 2008-09."
"For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2008."

Famous players

The players in bold typeface are still active in football.
¹ - Player is currently playing for the club.

;German players
* Adolf Bechtold * Fritz Becker * Uwe Bein * Thomas Berthold * Uwe Bindewald * Manfred Binz * Peter Blusch * Jörg Böhme * Rudi Bommer * Ronald Borchers * Thomas Doll * Ralf Falkenmayer * Eckehard Feigenspan * Maurizio Gaudino * Jürgen Grabowski * Rudolf Gramlich * Horst Heese * Hermann Höfer	* Bernd Hölzenbein * Jermaine Jones * Harald Karger * Uwe Kliemann * Andreas Köpke * Karl-Heinz Körbel * Heinz-Josef Koitka * Wolfgang Kraus * Richard Kress * Dr. Peter Kunter * Dieter Lindner * Werner Lorant * Joachim Löw * Friedel Lutz * Alexander Meier¹ * August Möbs * Andreas Möller * Norbert Nachtweih	* Willi Neuberger * Bernd Nickel * Jürgen Pahl * Alfred Pfaff * Christoph Preuß¹ * Peter Reichel * Dietmar Roth * Lothar Schämer * Fred Schaub * Bernd Schneider * Franz Schütz * Alexander Schur * Wolfgang Solz * Uli Stein * Hans Stubb * Gert Trinklein * Ralf Weber * Hans Weilbächer
;Foreign players
;Albania * Ervin Skela ;Austria * Wilhelm Huberts * Stefan Lexa * Bruno Pezzey ;Brazil * Chris¹ ;Bulgaria * Petar Houbchev ;China * Yang Chen ;Czech Republic * Martin Fenin¹ ;Ghana * Anthony Yeboah ;Greece * Ioannis Amanatidis¹ * Nikos Liberopoulos¹ * Sotirios Kyrgiakos	;Hungary * Lajos Détári * István Sztani ;Iran * Mehdi Mahdavikia¹ ;Japan * Junichi Inamoto¹ * Naohiro Takahara ;FYR of Macedonia * Oka Nikolov¹ * Aleksandar Vasoski¹ ;Mexico * Aarón Galindo¹ ;Nigeria * Jay-Jay Okocha ;Norway * Jørn Andersen * Jan Åge Fjørtoft	;Poland * Jan Furtok * Paweł Kryszałowicz * Włodzimierz Smolarek ;South Korea * Cha Bum-Kun * Cha Du-Ri ;Sweden * Jan Svensson ;Switzerland * Benjamin Huggel * Christoph Spycher¹ ;Togo * Bachirou Salou ;Yugoslavia * Fahrudin Jusufi * Slobodan Komljenović * Dragoslav Stepanović

Greatest ever team

Greatest ever Eintracht Frankfurt team

The following team was voted the greatest ever Eintracht Frankfurt team by supporters.

*flagicon|Germany Uli Stein
*flagicon|Austria Bruno Pezzey
*flagicon|Germany Willi Neuberger
*flagicon|Germany Karl-Heinz Körbel
*flagicon|Germany Jürgen Grabowski
*flagicon|Germany Andreas Möller
*flagicon|Germany Norbert Nachtweih
*flagicon|Austria Wilhelm Huberts
*flagicon|Germany Bernd Nickel
*flagicon|Germany Bernd Hölzenbein
*flagicon|Ghana Anthony Yeboah

World Cup Winners while signed at Frankfurt

World Cup 1954 - Germany
*Alfred Pfaff

World Cup 1974 - Germany
*Jürgen Grabowski
*Bernd Hölzenbein

World Cup 1990 - Germany
*Uwe Bein

Current club staff

tadium information

*Name: Commerzbank-Arena
*Location: Frankfurt
*Capacity: 52,300 (42,000 seated)
*Inauguration: May 21 1925
*Pitch Size: 105 x 68 metres
*Record Attendance: 81,000; Eintracht Frankfurt vs. FK Pirmasens, May 23, 1959
*Address: Commerzbank-Arena, Mörfelder Landstrasse 362, 60528 Frankfurt am Main
*Nickname(s): Waldstadion

The ground was inaugurated as "Waldstadion" (Forest Stadium) in 1925 with the German championship final match between FSV Frankfurt vs. Nuremberg. The facility was renovated for the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. For Bundesliga fixtures the maximum capacity is 51,500 as on the East Stand next to the visitor's terrace some spaces are held free for security purposes.

Among supporters the new name "Commerzbank-Arena" is very unpopular and though the media usually refer to the ground as the official name, the Eintracht faithful stick with the name "Waldstadion".

Shirt Sponsors

* 1974-1976 Remington (shavers)
* 1977-1978 Samson (tobacco)
* 1978-1981 Minolta (cameras)
* 1981-1984 Infotec (copiers)
* 1984-1986 Portas (furniture)
* 1986-1991 Hoechst (chemical and pharmaceutical technology)
* 1991-1993 Samsung (electronics)
* 1993-1996 Tetra Pak (packaging)
* 1996-1998 Mitsubishi (cars)
* 1998-2001 VIAG Interkom (telecommunication)
* Since 2001 Fraport (airport operator)

Notable fans

*Azad - Hip Hop artist
*Badesalz - Comedy duo
*Böhse Onkelz - Former hard rock band
*Jörg Bombach - Radio DJ and presenter (HR3)
*Daniel Cohn-Bendit - European politician and leader of the student protesters during the May 1968 riots in France.
*DJ Dag - Trance DJ
*Joschka Fischer - Former foreign minister of Germany
*Steffi Jones - FIFA Women's World Cup winner
*Roland Koch - Prime minister of Hesse
*Mundstuhl - Comedy duo
*Petra Roth - Mayor of Frankfurt
*Tankard - Metal band
*Achim Vandreike - Former magistrate member in Frankfurt
*Alexander Waske - Tennis player

Team trivia

* Predecessor sides "FC Viktoria" and "Frankfurter FC" were founding members of the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) in Leipzig in 1900.
* Jürgen Friedl, (born February 23, 1959) was the youngest player ever to take to the field in a Bundesliga match at age 17 years, 26 days on August 6, 1975 before being overhauled by Nuri Şahin of Dortmund.
* Richard Kress, (born March 6, 1925) is the oldest Bundesliga rookie, making his debut at 38 years, 171 days on the opening day of league play on August 24, 1963. He scored his first Bundesliga goal at 38 years, 248 days.
* "Eintracht" holds the record for most consecutive away games without a win: 32 games from August 20, 1985 to August 25, 1987.
* The club also holds the mark for early dismissal of its coach: twenty men have met this fate in "Frankfurt".
* Besides "1. FC Köln" and "Bayern Munich", "Eintracht" is the only club having members in each of Germany's World Cup winning teams.
* Since 2006 Eintracht has a living mascot, Golden Eagle "Attila" from the nearby Hanau zoo who is very popular among supporters.
* In 2007 an official Eintracht museum was erected in the interior of the stadium, where regularly veteran players and coaches lead guided tours through the club's history.

See also

*Football in Germany
*Average attendances of European football clubs
*European Cup 1959-60
*1960 European Cup Final
*UEFA Cup 1979-80
*1980 UEFA Cup Final
*List of Eintracht Frankfurt players
*Im Herzen von Europa
*Eintracht Frankfurt records
*Eintracht Frankfurt in Europe
*Eintracht Frankfurt U23
*Ultras Frankfurt

Other sections within the club

The sports club Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. is made up of sixteen sections:

The most famous athlete of Eintracht Frankfurt is Betty Heidler, the hammer thrower world champion of 2007. Other include the 2008 olympians Andrea Bunjes, Ariane Friedrich, Kamghe Gaba and Kathrin Klaas.Eintracht Frankfurt participants at the 2008 Summer Olympics" [http://www.eintracht-frankfurt.de/projekte/eintracht_team_peking/] ]

Within the football section, the sports club directly manages only the youth system and the reserve team. The professional footballers are managed as a separate limited corporation, Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball-AG, which is a subsidiary of the parent club.

UEFA ranking

Current Club Ranking
*97 flagicon|Germany 1. FC Nuremburg
*98 flagicon|France Stade Rennais
*99 flagicon|Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
* 100 flagicon|Italy Empoli FC
* 100 flagicon|Italy AC ChievoVerona
* 100 flagicon|Italy SSC Napoli
* 101 flagicon|Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv

[http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/trank2009.html Full List]

Current National League ranking (Previous year rank in italics)
* 2
* 3
* 4 "'
* 5
* 6

[http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/crank2009.html Full List]

References

External links

*de icon en icon [http://www.eintracht.de/ Official team site]
*en icon [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/frankfurt.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
*de icon [http://www.sge4ever.de/ First official fansite]
*de icon en icon [http://www.commerzbank-arena.de/ Official stadium website]
*en icon [http://www.resultsfromfootball.com/bundesliga-team/eintrachtfrankfurt.html Eintracht Frankfurt statistics]
*pl icon [http://www.sgeintracht.com Polish fans site]
*de icon [http://www.eintrachtrugby.de/ Rugby section]