1. FC Köln

History

Predecessor sides

Spielvereinigung 1907 Köln-Sülz was established in 1907 as Sülzer Sportverein and on 1 January 1919 merged with Fußball Club 1908 Hertha Sülz to form SpVgg. They won the Westdeutscher title in 1928, but lost in the early rounds of the national finals. They went on to play as a top flight club in the Gauliga Mittelrhein, one of sixteen premier level divisions established in 1933 in the reorganization of German football under the Third Reich. After winning a divisional championship in 1939, – they then entered a period of decline in the early 1940s. After the 1941 season, the Gauliga Mittlerhein was split into two new divisions: the Gauliga Köln-Aachen and the Gauliga Moselland, which included clubs from occupied Luxembourg. Sülz struggled until they were united with VfL Köln 1899 for the 1943–44 season, to form the combined wartime side Kriegspielgemeinschaft VfL 99/Sülz 07, which would end up winning the Gauliga Köln-Aachen title by a single point over SG Düren 99 in a close race. The club did not play the next campaign as war overtook the region.

A successful new club

After the union of these two predecessor sides (1948), 1. FC Köln began play in the Oberliga West in the 1949–50 season, and, by 1953–54, had won their first divisional championship. In 1954, they lost the DFB-Pokal final 1–0 to VfB Stuttgart. Die Geißböcke won their second Oberliga West title in 1959–60, and appeared in the national final against Hamburger SV, where they lost 3–2. Köln also finished first in the Oberliga West from 1960–61 to 1962–63. They won the 1962 German championship final 4–0 against 1. FC Nürnberg, becoming German champions for the first time, and qualified for the 1962–63 European Cup, where they were one of the favourites to win the trophy. In the first round, Köln visited Dundee of Scotland and lost 8–1, and despite winning the second leg back in Germany by 4–0, they were eliminated from the tournament. In the following year's German championship final, they lost 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund.

Continuing success

In 1963, FC Köln became one of the 16 founder members of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league. Köln continued their winning ways by becoming the first Bundesliga champion, in the league's inaugural 1963–64 season. As German champions, Köln entered the 1964–65 European Cup, where it met England's Liverpool at the quarter-final stage. After two 0–0 draws, a third game was played which was also a stalemate, this time 2–2. As the penalty shootout had not yet been introduced as the means of deciding a tie, Köln went out of the competition on the toss of a coin. Ironically enough, there was the need for a second coin toss because the first time the coin stuck vertically in the ground. Köln also became the first Bundesliga side to field a Brazilian player, when it signed Zézé from Madureira for a then club record fee of DM 150,000. Domestically, Köln recorded a second-place finish in the 1964–65 Bundesliga season and won its first DFB-Pokal in 1967–68.

At the start of the 1970s, Köln reached three DFB-Pokal finals in four seasons, losing all three; to Kickers Offenbach in 1970, Bayern Munich in 1971 and Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1973. The team also achieved another second place Bundesliga finish in 1973, before reaching another DFB-Pokal final in 1977, beating Hertha BSC over two legs to win the trophy for the second time.

In 1977–78, Köln enjoyed their most successful season, winning the Bundesliga title, its third national title overall, and retaining the DFB-Pokal, beating local rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf 2–0. Köln became the second club to claim the double in the Bundesliga era.

Köln had another losing DFB-Pokal final appearance in 1980, before winning the competition for a fourth time in 1983. In 1986, the club appeared in its first European final, losing 5–3 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup Final. Two second place Bundesliga finishes, in 1988–89 and 1989–90, and another DFB-Pokal final loss in 1991, marked the end of a successful thirty-year spell for Köln.

Downfall

In the early years of the Bundesliga, 1. FC Köln was the most successful Bundesliga club in terms of total points won. Beginning in the early 1990s, however, the club's performance declined, and in 1998 it was relegated for the first time. The side became a "yo-yo team", moving between the first and second divisions: they went up or down each season between 2001–02 and 2005–06. During this period, the FC also set the record for the longest goalless streak in Bundesliga history in the 2001–02 season, with 1034 minutes (equivalent to 11-and-a-half games) until Thomas Cichon scored.

In late 2006, former coach Christoph Daum returned to Köln, and succeeded in leading the club back to the Bundesliga in 2008. After asuring Köln's Bundesliga status in the 2008–09 campaign, Daum left Köln for his former club Fenerbahçe. Köln's former star-striker Lukas Podolski returned for the 2009–10 season.

The club was relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season, finishing in 17th place, having accumulated €33m debt, and €11m negative equity.

Turnaround (2012–2017)

In April 2012, the club members elected a new board of directors, Werner Spinner as president, Markus Ritterbach for marketing, and Toni Schumacher for sport. In the 2012–13 season, under new trainer Holger Stanislawski, Köln finished in fifth place in the 2. Bundesliga, missing out on promotion back to the top division.

In 2012 the board hired Jörg Jakobs as director of football, who then got promoted in 2014 to sporting director, chief scout and director of the academy. In January 2013, Alexander Wehrle joined as managing director of Köln. Wehrle was working as assistant for VfB Stuttgart president Erwin Staudt, especially for rebuilding the stadium. In summer 2013, Peter Stöger and Manfred Schmid were hired as coaching team, and Jörg Schmadtke as general manager. In 2013–14, Köln finished first in the 2. Bundesliga and earned promotion to the top division. It was followed by a 12th place 2014–15, ninth in 2015–16, and a fifth place in 2016–17, which saw them qualify for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, their first European campaign in 25 years. After restructuring and repaying debt, equity turned from €11m negative to €20m positive. The turnover increased from €56m in 2012–13 to more than €120m in 2016–17.

Decline and changes (2018–)

After the club's return the European stage, fortunes quickly changed. The team experienced an unsuccessful start to the 2017–18 Bundesliga season gaining only three points from its first sixteen matches. At the same time, the club's Europa League campaign ended in the group stage. This downtrend led to the resignation of Jörg Schmadtke and Stöger's dismissal in December 2017; he was replaced by Stefan Ruthenbeck, who was appointed as caretaker manager. In spite of an improved record in the second half of the season, the team finished last and were relegated to 2. Bundesliga at the end of the year.

Ahead of the 2018–19 season, Markus Anfang was appointed manager. While the club occupied the league's top spot for much of the season, Anfang was dismissed after a winless streak in April 2019. Only a week later, with André Pawlak having taken over as Anfang's successor, the team achieved promotion at first attempt with a 4–0 victory over Greuther Fürth. Following an unsuccessful start to the 2019–20 season, which included a 3–2 cup defeat against 1. FC Saarbrücken, the club decided to terminate Achim Beierlorzer's contract on 9 November 2019. Sporting director Armin Veh, who weeks earlier had announced that he would not extend his contract with the club, was also dismissed from his position. On 18 November, former HSV manager Markus Gisdol was appointed to the club's head coaching position, while Horst Heldt was made sporting director. Under Gisdol, the team avoided relegation at the end of the season.

During the majority of the 2020–21 season, Köln was involved in a relegation battle and occupied one of the bottom three places in the division. On 11 April 2021, after losing to relegation rival Mainz 05, Gisdol was dismissed from his position as head coach. The next day, the club presented Friedhelm Funkel as an interim coach who would take over head coaching duties until the end of the season. Funkel's side faced Holstein Kiel in the relegation playoffs. After losing 1–0 at home, his team recorded a 5–1 away win, enabling the club to retain its position in the Bundesliga.

In March 2023, during the second half of the 2022–23 campaign, Köln were put under a two-window transfer embargo by FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber, having been found guilty of inducing a breach of contract without just cause while signing Jaka Čuber Potočnik from Olimpija Ljubljana in January 2022. As part of the same verdict, the club was also sentenced to pay Ljubljana a €51,750 compensation, in addition to training costs. Köln appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, which affirmed the embargo imposed by FIFA.

In the 2023–24 Bundesliga season, Köln were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after finishing second bottom on the table, but they immediately returned to Bundesliga in the next season.

Stadium

Main article: RheinEnergieStadion

The team plays its home matches in the Müngersdorfer Stadion, also known as the RheinEnergie Stadion for sponsorship purposes. It has a capacity of around 50,000 and had an average attendance of 48,676 in the 2015–16 season. The stadium sponsorship comes from a contract with the local power supplier RheinEnergie AG. However, most fans still call the stadium "Müngersdorfer Stadion", named after the suburb of Müngersdorf, where it is located.

The club owns the Geißbockheim training centre, known as RheinEnergieSportpark for sponsorship, located in Sülz, which is a municipal part of Köln in the southwest of the city. The centre is home to the Franz-Kremer-Stadion the home of 1. FC Köln II.

Honours

Domestic

• German football championship/Bundesliga
  • Champions: 1961–62, 1963–64, 1977–78
  • Runners-up: 1959–60, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1972–73, 1981–82, 1988–89, 1989–90
• DFB-Pokal
  • Winners: 1967–68, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1982–83
  • Runners-up: 1953–54, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1990–91
• 2. Bundesliga
  • Winners: 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2018–19, 2024–25
  • Runners-up: 2002–03

International

• Easter Cup
  • Winners: 1956
• UEFA Cup
  • Runners-up: 1985–86
• Uhrencup
  • Winners: 1991

Regional

• Oberliga West
  • Winners: 1953–54, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63
  • Runners-up: 1952–53, 1957–58, 1958–59

Doubles

• 1977–78: Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal

Reserve team

• German amateur champions: 1981

Youth

• German Under 19 championship
  • Champions: 1970–71, 2024–25
  • Runners-up: 1973–74, 1982–83, 1991–92
• Under 19 Bundesliga Division West
  • Champions: 2007–08
  • Runners-up: 2003–04, 2009–10,2013–14, 2014–15
• Under 19 Juniors DFB-Pokal
  • Champions: 2012–13
  • Runners-up: 1990–91, 1993–94
• German Under 17 championship
  • Champions: 1989–90, 2010–11, 2018–19
• Under 17 Bundesliga Division West
  • Champions: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2018–19
  • Runners-up: 2008–09

Statistics

Main article: List of 1. FC Köln records and statistics

Kits

Köln's kits are made by Hummel International, who pay the club €20m over a five-year span.

Rivals

The club's longest-standing and fiercest rivalry is with Borussia Mönchengladbach, against whom they contest the Rhine derby. Although Mönchengladbach is not located along the Rhine, both clubs are based in the Rhineland cultural region. Köln also has rivalries with two other Rhineland-based clubs: Fortuna Düsseldorf and Bayer Leverkusen.

Players

Current squad

Players out on loan

Second team squad

Main article: 1. FC Köln II

Coaching staff

Head coaches since 1963

Women's section

Main article: 1. FC Köln (women)

The women's team was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2015. They were directly relegated back to the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga after the 2016–17 season ended, but managed to regain promotion in May 2017 to the Bundesliga.

References

Literature

• Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag

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