Eintracht Braunschweig is a
German association football clubAssociation football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...
based in
BraunschweigBraunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
,
Lower SaxonyLower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. The club was one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963 and won the national title in 1967.
History
It was founded as the football and
cricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club
FuCC Eintracht in 1895, became
FC Eintracht 1895 e.V. in 1906 and took on the name
Eintracht Braunschweig in 1920. The team was re-formed after World War II as
TSV Braunschweig in 1945 and reclaimed its current name in 1949.
The team has a colorful history and it quickly became one of northern Germany's favorite sides. They enjoyed success early on, playing in the upper tier league, winning the north German championship in 1908 and 1913, and placing three players on the German national team by 1914. Under the Third Reich the team played in the
Gauliga NiedersachsenThe Gauliga Niedersachsen was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Hanover and the German states of Bremen, Brunswick, Schaumburg-Lippe and Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945...
and managed an appearance in the national final rounds. They continued to play in the upper leagues after the war with the exception of a single season (1952–53) spent in tier II. The side was touched by tragedy in 1949 when goalkeeper Gustav Fähland died of internal bleeding a few days after being injured during a game in a collision with a Bremen striker. Another appearance in the final round of the national championship came in 1958 ending with a third place finish.
Eintracht Braunschweig's consistently high standard of play and financial stability helped it to become one of the sixteen teams selected out of a group of forty-six applicants for play in the Bundesliga, the new federal professional league formed in 1963. Once again the side enjoyed early success, capturing the national title in the 1966–67 season with solid defensive play. That championship team gave up only 27 goals against, which stood as a Bundesliga record until bettered by Werder Bremen in 1988.
The club just missed a second title in 1977 when they finished third, one point back of champion
Borussia MönchengladbachBorussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...
and just behind second place finisher Schalke 04 on goal difference. Another ten players joined the national side from the team, mostly through the 60's and 70's.
The club found itself embroiled in the Bundesliga scandal of 1971, but with a somewhat unusual twist. A number of players accepted payments totaling 40,000 DM – not to underperform and so lose or tie a game, but rather, to put out an extra effort to win. Ultimately, two players were suspended and another ten were fined.
In 1973, in the face of some opposition from the league, Braunschweig became the first Bundesliga side to sport a sponsor logo on their jerseys, although they did refuse a related attempt to re-name the team
Eintracht Jägermeister. The move paid the team 100,000 DM and introduced a new way of doing business to football that is worth millions today. Other clubs quickly followed suit. Braunschweig's game against
FC Schalke 04Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke , is a German, association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major...
on 24 March 1973 became the first-ever Bundesliga match to feature a club having sponsorship on its jersey.
The club played in the Bundesliga through to the mid-80's having been relegated just twice, in 1973–74 and again in 1980–81. During their run of 322 games in the Bundesliga from 1963 to 1973 they set a record that still stands by not seeing a single player
red-cardedMisconduct in association football is any conduct by a player that is deemed by the referee to warrant a disciplinary sanction in accordance with Law 12 of the Laws of the Game. Misconduct may occur at any time, including when the ball is out of play, during half-time and before and after the...
. Since the 1985–86 season the side has played at the tier II and III levels. In 1987, Braunschweig managed to set a mark even as they were demoted. They are the only team ever to have been relegated with a positive goal differential: 52 goals for and 47 against.
The side counted a casualty in the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
in the death of
Lutz EigendorfLutz Eigendorf was a German football player.-International career:He made his debut for the GDR in an August 1978 match against Bulgaria, immediately scoring his first two goals in a 2–2 draw. He went on to collect six caps, scoring three goals...
, who fled East Germany in 1979, where he played for
Dynamo BerlinBerliner FC Dynamo is a German association football club and is the successor organization to the club that played in East Berlin as Dynamo Berlin from 1953 to 1966.-Founding and Stasi patronage:...
, to come to the west to play for
1. FC Kaiserslautern1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
. Shortly after his transfer to Braunschweig in 1983, he died in a motor vehicle accident which was revealed in 2000 as the assassination of a "traitor" arranged by the
StasiThe Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
, East Germany's secret police.
The last 10 years Eintracht Braunschweig moved constantly between the 2. Bundesliga and the
3. LigaThe 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2...
/Regionalliga. The team most recently were promoted after the 2010–11 3rd Liga campaign, permitting them to re-enter 2. Bundesliga in 2011–12.
Recent seasons
| Year |
Division |
Position |
| 1999–2000 |
Regionalliga NordThe Regionalliga Nord is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the northern and eastern part of Germany. It covers ten of the sixteen states of Germany...
(III) |
3rd |
| 2000–01 |
Regionalliga Nord |
8th |
| 2001–02 |
Regionalliga Nord |
2nd (promoted) |
| 2002–03 |
2. Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
(II) |
15th (relegated) |
| 2003–04 |
Regionalliga NordThe Regionalliga Nord is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the northern and eastern part of Germany. It covers ten of the sixteen states of Germany...
(III) |
6th |
| 2004–05 |
Regionalliga Nord |
1st (promoted) |
| 2005–06 |
2. Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
(II) |
12th |
| 2006–07 |
2. Bundesliga |
18th (relegated) |
| 2007–08 |
Regionalliga NordThe Regionalliga Nord is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the northern and eastern part of Germany. It covers ten of the sixteen states of Germany...
(III) |
10th |
| 2008–09 |
3. Liga The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2...
(III) |
13th |
| 2009–10 |
3. Liga |
4th |
| 2010–11 |
3. Liga |
1st |
| 2011–12 |
2. Bundesliga |
1st |
Honours
- German champions: 1967
- Gauliga Braunschweig-Südhannover champions: 1943, 1944
- North German champions
The Northern German football championship , operated by Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband , was the highest association football competition in Northern Germany, in the Prussian provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover and the German states of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin,...
: 1908, 1913
Current squad
Famous players
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Franz MerkhofferFranz Merkhoffer is a retired German football player. He played 419 games in the Bundesliga. He is the record holder for most games played for Eintracht Braunschweig, where he spent his whole career.-External links:...
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Tobias RauTobias Rau is a retired German footballer, who played as a left defender.In a career blighted by injuries, he was forced to retire at only 27.-VfL Wolfsburg:...
Aleksandar RisticAleksandar Ristić is a Bosnian football manager and a former player.During his playing career he played for the Yugoslav clubs FK Velež Mostar, HNK Hajduk Split, FK Sarajevo and German Bundesliga club Eintracht Braunschweig...
Lothar UlsaßLothar Ulsaß was a German football player. He spent 9 seasons in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Braunschweig...
Horst WolterHorst Wolter is a former German international football player.A Bundesliga winner with Eintracht Braunschweig in 1967, Wolter was doing occasional jobs in the West Germany goal in between 1967 and 1970...
Valentin Năstase
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Ronald WormRonald Worm is a former German international footballer.Worm competed for West Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics.-External links:...
Daniel TeixeiraDaniel Teixeira is a Brazilian former footballer.-External links:...
External links