FT Adler Kiel Rugby
Encyclopedia
The FT Adler Kiel Rugby is a German
rugby union
club from Kiel
, currently playing in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East. It is part of a larger club, the FT Adler Kiel, which also offers other sports like volleyball
, table tennis
and handball
.
The term Adler is the German
word for eagle
.
and members of the German Navy
, then called the Reichsmarine
, formed the 1. Kieler Rugby Fussball Verein.
In post-Second World War Germany, competitive rugby in Kiel resumed in 1949, when three local clubs competed in a league with clubs from Hamburg
. The three clubs were the 1. Kieler Rugby Fussball Verein, PSV Kiel and FT Adler. Rugby in Kiel greatly benefited from a strong support through the British Army
, which was stationed at Kiel-Holtenau.
Towards the end of the 1950s, rugby in Kiel declined and the clubs were only able to field a combined team. By 1963, even this team had to be disbanded. As a form of farewell to rugby in Kiel, a final friendly was organised, against a team selected from a visiting detachment of the Japanese Navy
. After this, rugby disappeared from the city for almost 30 years.
. The current rugby department of FT Adler was formed in 1997 however.
FT Adler took out the 2008 championship in the Regionalliga North but failed in the promotion round, losing on aggregate to RU Hohen Neuendorf
.
The club earned promotion from the Rugby-Regionalliga North
, after another championship there, to the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, the second tier of German club rugby, in 2009.
Kiel lasted for only one season at this level before being relegated again to the Regionalliga, where it came fourth in 2010-11.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club from Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, currently playing in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East. It is part of a larger club, the FT Adler Kiel, which also offers other sports like volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
and handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
.
The term Adler is the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
word for eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
.
Origins
Rugby in Kiel begun in the 1930s, when workers of the local shipyardsShipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
and members of the German Navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...
, then called the Reichsmarine
Reichsmarine
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...
, formed the 1. Kieler Rugby Fussball Verein.
In post-Second World War Germany, competitive rugby in Kiel resumed in 1949, when three local clubs competed in a league with clubs from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. The three clubs were the 1. Kieler Rugby Fussball Verein, PSV Kiel and FT Adler. Rugby in Kiel greatly benefited from a strong support through the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, which was stationed at Kiel-Holtenau.
Towards the end of the 1950s, rugby in Kiel declined and the clubs were only able to field a combined team. By 1963, even this team had to be disbanded. As a form of farewell to rugby in Kiel, a final friendly was organised, against a team selected from a visiting detachment of the Japanese Navy
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
The , or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II....
. After this, rugby disappeared from the city for almost 30 years.
Current club
Rugby returned to Kiel in the late 1980s through the efforts of foreign students at the University of KielUniversity of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...
. The current rugby department of FT Adler was formed in 1997 however.
FT Adler took out the 2008 championship in the Regionalliga North but failed in the promotion round, losing on aggregate to RU Hohen Neuendorf
RU Hohen Neuendorf
The RU Hohen Neuendorf is a German rugby union club from Hohen Neuendorf, currently playing in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East.The club is located in the Oberhavel district, north west of Berlin...
.
The club earned promotion from the Rugby-Regionalliga North
Rugby-Regionalliga
The Rugby-Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga...
, after another championship there, to the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, the second tier of German club rugby, in 2009.
Kiel lasted for only one season at this level before being relegated again to the Regionalliga, where it came fourth in 2010-11.
Club honours
- Rugby-Regionalliga NorthRugby-RegionalligaThe Rugby-Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga...
- Champions: 2008, 2009
Recent seasons
| Year | Division | Position |
| 2005-06 | Rugby-Regionalliga North (III) | 3rd |
| 2006–07 | Rugby-Regionalliga North | 6th |
| 2007–08 Rugby-Bundesliga 2007–08 The Rugby-Bundesliga 2007-08 was the 37th edition of this competition and the 88th edition of the German rugby union championship. The season went from 25 August 2007 to 31 May 2008, ending with the relegation final.-Overview:... |
Rugby-Regionalliga North | 1st |
| 2008–09 | Rugby-Regionalliga North Rugby-Regionalliga The Rugby-Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga... |
1st — Promoted |
| 2009–10 Rugby-Bundesliga 2009–10 -Overview:The 2009-10 modus was somewhat different from the previous season. The competition had been expanded from nine to ten teams. It marks the first time since introduction of the single-division Bundesliga in 2001, that ten teams competed in the league. This change of modus was decided upon... |
2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East (II) | 9th — Relegated |
| 2010–11 | Rugby-Regionalliga North Rugby-Regionalliga The Rugby-Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga... (III) |
4th |