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| Full name | Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. |
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| Nickname(s) | Hoffe | ||
| Founded | 1 July 1899 | ||
| Ground | Rhein-Neckar-Arena (Capacity: 30,000) |
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| Chairman |  Peter Hofmann |
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| Manager | Ralf Rangnick |
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| League | Bundesliga | ||
| 2008-09 | Bundesliga, 7th | ||
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TSG 1899 Hoffenheim is a German football club based in Hoffenheim, a suburb of Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg. In 2007 the club decided to adopt the use of the short form name 1899 Hoffenheim in place of the traditional TSG Hoffenheim. A fifth division side in 2000, the club made a remarkable advance to the Bundesliga in 2008 with the financial backing of alumnus and software mogul Dietmar Hopp.
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History
The modern-day club was formed in 1945, when gymnastics club Turnverein Hoffenheim (founded 1 July 1899) and football club Fußballverein Hoffenheim (founded 1921) merged. At the beginning of the 1990s, the club was an obscure local amateur side playing in the eighth division Baden-Württemberg A-Liga. They steadily improved and by 1996 were competing in the Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V).
Around 1990, alumnus Dietmar Hopp returned to the club of his youth as a financial backer. Hopp was the co-founder of software firm SAP and he put some of his money into the club. His contributions generated almost immediate results: in 2000 Hoffenheim finished first in the Verbandsliga and was promoted to the fourth-division Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. Another first place finish moved the club up to the Regionalliga Süd (III) for the 2001–02 season. They finished 13th in their first season in the Regionalliga, but improved significantly the next year, earning a fifth place result.
Hoffenheim earned fifth and seventh place finishes in the next two seasons, before improving to fourth in 2005–06 to earn their best result to date. The club made its first German Cup appearance in the 2003–04 competition and performed well, advancing to the quarterfinals by eliminating 2. Bundesliga sides Eintracht Trier and Karlsruher SC and Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen before being put out themselves by another 2. Bundesliga side, VfB Lübeck.
Negotiations to merge TSG Hoffenheim, FC Astoria Walldorf, and SV Sandhausen to create FC Heidelberg 06 in 2005 were abandoned due to the resistance of the latter two clubs, and the failure to agree on whether the new side's stadium should be located in Heidelberg or Eppelheim. Team owner Hopp clearly preferred Heidelberg, but could not overcome the resistance of local firm Wild, which had already reserved the site of the planned stadium for its new production facilities.
2006-2008 - Major investments and promotion to the Bundesliga
In 2006, the club sought to improve its squad and technical staff by bringing in players with several years of Bundesliga experience, most notably Jochen Seitz and Tomislav Marić, and by signing Ralf Rangnick, former manager of Bundesliga teams SSV Ulm 1846, VfB Stuttgart, Hannover 96, and Schalke 04, to a five-year contract. The investment paid off in the 2006–07 season with the club's promotion to the 2. Bundesliga after finishing 2nd in Regionalliga Süd.
The 2007-08 season was Hoffenheim's first season in professional football. After a weak start with three losses and only one draw in the first four games, the team's performance improved remarkably and Hoffenheim climbed from 16th place on matchday four to second place on matchday 23. The team managed to defend their place until the end of the season, having scored 60 points after matchday 34. As a result of their second place finish they received automatic promotion to the 1. Bundesliga, the highest German tier in football, after just playing in the 2. Bundesliga for one season.
2008 - Bundesliga
The 2008–09 season was Hoffenheim's first season in the German top division. With the performance of strikers Vedad Ibišević, Demba Ba and Chinedu Obasi the newly-promoted Hoffenheim managed to climb to the top of the table quickly, winning the "Herbstmeister" (Autumn-Champion) title with 35 points after 17 matchdays. Ibišević scored a total of 18 goals in 17 matches, being the Bundesliga's leading goal scorer after the first half of the season. Hoffenheim's fast and offensive playing style (42 goals in 17 matches) was praised by the German and international press, experts even believed Hoffenheim could win their first championship in their first year playing top flight football.
However, Hoffenheim suffered a devastating blow during the winter break when Ibišević tore an anterior cruciate ligament during a training match against Hamburg. Because of the serious injury Ibišević was unable to play for the second half of the season. Hoffenheim was now deprived of their biggest offensive threat and additionally had to deal with a fair number of other injuries and suspensions. As a result of their heavily debilitated squad Hoffenheim failed to build on their successful first half of the season. After not winning in 12 consecutive matches, Hoffenheim was dislodged from the top and dropped out of the top five down to ninth place. At the end of the season the team however recovered and ended their negative streak with three wins and one draw in the last four games. Hoffenheim eventually finished seventh with 55 points and a goal difference of +14 - still a respectable result for a newly promoted team.
In the 2009-10 season Hoffenheim further improved their squad by signing midfielders Maicosuel and Franco Zuculini, as well as experienced defender Josip Šimunić. The club has recently reached the top five of the table and the quarter finals of the German Cup, where they will face Werder Bremen in 2010.
Players
For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2009 and List of German football transfers winter 2009–10.
Current squad
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Out on loan
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Staff
Sport:
- Ralf Rangnick (Head Coach)
- Peter Zeidler (Assistant Coach)
- Tomislav Marić (Assistant Coach)
- Achim Sarstedt (Team Manager)
- Zsolt Petry (Goalkeeper Coach)
- Rainer Schrey (Fitness Coach)
- Hans-Dieter Herrmann (Mental Coach)
Management:
- Jan Schindelmeiser (Manager)
- Jochen A. Rotthaus (Geschäftsführer)
- Bernhard Peters (Youth Coordinator)
Scouting
- Christian Möckel (Head Scout)
Medical
- Dr. Pieter Beks (Team Doctor)
- Peter Geigle
- Michael Grau-Stenzel (Physiotherapist)
- Simon Stadler (Physiotherapist)
- Heinz Seyfert (Kit Manager)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II
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Staff:
- Rainer Scharinger (Head Coach)
- Nesho Duric (Assistant Coach)
- Ralf Friedberger (Fitness Coach)
- Oliver Tuzyna (Goalkeeper Coach)
- Yannick Obenauer (Athletic Coach)
- Willi Heinlein (Advisor)
- Timo Maag (Kit Manager)
- Dr. Pieter Beks (Team Doctor)
- Thomas Schuster (Physiotherapist)
- Kevin Tierhold (Physiotherapist)
Stadium
Before being promoted to the 1. Bundesliga in 2008, the club played in Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion which was built in 1999 with a capacity of 5,000 (1,620 seats).
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim made their loftier ambitions clear in 2006 when the club's management decided to build the new 30,000 seat Rhein-Neckar-Arena suitable for hosting Bundesliga matches. The stadium was originally to be built in Heidelberg before the selection of a site in Sinsheim.
They opened their first season in the 1. Bundesliga at the 26,022 capacity Carl-Benz-Stadion in Mannheim and played their first match in their new stadium on 31 January 2009.
Honors
- League
- 2. Bundesliga: Runner-up 2008
- Fußball-Regionalliga: Runner-up 2007
- Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV) champions: 2001
- Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V) champions: 2000
- Cup
- North Baden Cup winners: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
- Youth
- German Under 17 champions: 2008
- U17 Bundesliga South/Southwest champions: 2008
Notable players
- Sinan Andić
- Alen Arnautović
- Ioannis Babas
- Alper Balaban
- Oguzhan Biyik
- Roland Bonimeier
- Adam Bouzid
- Bartosz Broniszewski
- Patrick Caltagirone
- Sandro Cescutti
- Francisco Copado
- Francesco di Frisco
- Riccardo di Piazza
- Nesho Durić
- Adil El Barhami
- Jochen Endreß
- Aurelien Eyoum
- Mario Göttlicher
- Mario Greco
- Serhat Gülbas
- Sebastian Hoeneß
- Norbert Hofmann
- Timo Hildebrand
- Alexander Huber
- Vedad Ibišević
- Imad Kassem-Sad
- Souleymane Koné
- Abedin Krasniqi
- Artur Krettek
- Dennis Laili
- Denis Lapaczinski
- Felix Luz
- Tomislav Marić
- Marcel Mebtouche
- Dalio Memić
- Marco Misuraca
- Christian Möckel
- Matteo Monetta
- Tabe Nyenty
- Thomas Ollhoff
- Matthias Örum
- Dragan Paljić
- Marjan Petković
- Sascha Ropić
- Robert Rudnik
- Adem Sari
- Sahr Senesie
- Fabio Schmidt
- Radek Špiláček
- Alexander Stolz
- Ali Talib
- Christoph Teinert
- Suat Türker
- Oliver Tuzyna
- Michael Zepek
- Sascha Zrnić
- Nevzet Zukić
Former coaches
- Alfred Schön (24.05.2006 - 30.06.2006)
- Lorenz-Günther Köstner (10.01.2006 - 24.05.2006)
- Roland Dickgießer (19.11.2005 - 23.12.2005)
- Hans-Dieter Flick (01.07.2000 - 19.11.2005)
Former Personnel
- Roland Dickgießer
- Philipp Laux
- Uwe Nägele
- Alfred Schön
- Alexander Strehmel
Recent seasons
TSG Hoffenheim
| Year | Division | Position |
| 1999–2000 | Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V) | 1st ↑ |
| 2000–01 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV) | 1st ↑ |
| 2001–02 | Regionalliga Süd (III) | 13th |
| 2002–03 | Regionalliga Süd | 5th |
| 2003–04 | Regionalliga Süd | 5th |
| 2004–05 | Regionalliga Süd | 7th |
| 2005–06 | Regionalliga Süd | 4th |
| 2006–07 | Regionalliga Süd | 2nd ↑ |
| 2007–08 | 2. Bundesliga (II) | 2nd ↑ |
| 2008–09 | Bundesliga (I) | 7th |
TSG Hoffenheim II
| Year | Division | Position |
| 2000–01 | Landesliga Nordbaden II (VI) | 1st ↑ |
| 2001–02 | Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V) | 2nd |
| 2002–03 | Verbandsliga Nordbaden | 2nd ↑ |
| 2003–04 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV) | 10th |
| 2004–05 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg | 8th |
| 2005–06 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg | 6th |
| 2006–07 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg | 8th |
| 2007–08 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg | 5th |
| 2008–09 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (V) | 2nd |
| 2009–10 | Oberliga Baden-Württemberg |
References
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008) |
- Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
- Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)
- eufo.de European football club profiles and current team rosters (1899 Hoffenheim)
- eufo.de European football club profiles and current team rosters (1899 Hoffenheim II)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim |
- Official site (German)
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