Fortuna Magdeburg

Football club infobox
clubname = Fortuna Magdeburg


fullname = Sport Verein Fortuna Magdeburge 1911 e.V.
nickname =
founded = 1911
ground = Stadion Am Schöppensteg
capacity = 4,000
chairman =
manager =
league = Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (VII)
season = 2007-08
position = Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (VI), 8th
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_ra1=_whiteshoulders
leftarm1=000080|body1=000080|rightarm1=000080|shorts1=000080|socks1=000080
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffffff|body2=ffffff|rightarm2=ffffff|shorts2=ffffff|socks2=ffffff

Fortuna Magdeburg is a German football club from the city of Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt and was founded August 1, 1911 as "Magdeburger Fußball-Verein Fortuna vom Jahre 1911". An earlier unrelated side known as "Fussball Club Fortuna Magdeburg" played in the Verbandes Magdeburger Ballspiel-Vereine (Federation of Magdeburg Ballplay Teams) between 1901 and 1904, including an appearance in the 1903-04 league final, soon after which the club was dissolved.

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History

The new similarly named club was established in 1911 with departments for football, athletics, handball, and volleyball. The team enjoyed some limited success in local competition during the interwar period. In 1933 German football was re-organized under the Third Reich into sixteen top-flight divisions where "Fortuna" made single season appearances in the Gauliga Mitte in 1933-34 and 1938-39. After World War II occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in the country, including sports and football associations. "Fortuna" was re-constituted in 1950 as "BSG Turbine Magdeburg" with the club's best performances coming in the early to mid-60s when they played as a second division side in East Germany's DDR-Liga. During this period the sports club grew considerably and added a number of other departments including swimming and water polo, cycling, table tennis, chess, and billards.

After German reunification in 1990 the club was re-established acknowledging its old identity as "SV Fortuna Magdeburg". A championship in the Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V) in 1995 elevated the club to the Oberliga Nordost /Süd (IV) where they would compete for four seasons before financial problems drove them to the Landesklasse Sachsen-Anhalt/2 (VII) in 2000 where the club plays today.

The current day sports club has departments for badminton, boxing, gymnastics, football, and volleyball.

tadium

"Fortuna" plays at the Stadion Am Schöppensteg (capacity 4,000) which was built in 1938 as Werner-Seelenbinder-Stadion.

Honours

Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V) champions: 1995

Famous persons

*Horst Buhtz, played in Germany before a stint with Italian club "AC Turin" from 1952 to 1957. After finishing his playing career in Switzerland he returned to Germany to coach several Bundesliga sides.
*Bernd Heynemann, became a well known Bundesliga referee and also officiated international and European championship matches for FIFA. The highlight of his career was in officiating at the 1998 World Cup tournament in France.

External links

* [http://fortuna-magdeburg.de/pn/index.php Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/formag.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv] historical German football league tables (in German)