Viktoria Aschaffenburg

Viktoria Aschaffenburg

Full name	Sportverein Viktoria 1901 e.V. Aschaffenburg
Founded	August 6, 1901
Ground	Stadion am Schönbusch (Capacity: 8,000)
Manager	Ronald "Ronnie" Borchers
League	Oberliga Hessen (V)
2008-09	Regionalliga Süd (IV), 13th ↓
Home colours Away colours

SV Viktoria 01 Aschaffenburg is a German football club based in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria. Even though the city is located in Bavaria, Aschaffenburg plays its football in the Oberliga Hessen (IV), rather than the Oberliga Bayern (IV), against clubs from closer, neighbouring cities. This also reflects in part the history of the region, not traditionally part of Bavaria. The nearby Bavarian club FC Bayern Alzenau plays in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) for the same reasons.

History

The club was formed on June 24, 1904 out of the merger of FC Aschaffenburg (August 6, 1901) and FC Viktoria Aschaffenburg (April 12, 1902). Re-named Sportverein Viktoria 01 Aschaffenburg on June 3, 1906 the united side played in the Kreisliga Odenwald, Kreisliga Nordmain, Kreisliga Südmain and Bezirksliga Main-Hessen (Gruppe Main) for a couple of seasons in the 1920s, changing leagues frequently.

In 1937 they briefly merged with Reichsbahn TuSpo Aschaffenburg to play as Reichsbahn-Viktoria Aschaffenburg, but were an independent side again by 1939. They made a late, short-lived appearance in top flight football in 1942, playing a single season in the Gauliga Bayern (Nord), one of sixteen premier divisions established in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich.

Aschaffenburg returned to the top flight after World War II playing in the Oberliga Süd for two seasons in the late 40s and then through most of the 50s, competing against sides that would later go on to play in the Bundesliga, Germany's first top tier professional league, such as Bayern Munich, 1. FC Nuremberg, and VfB Stuttgart, in front of crowds of 16,000 to 19,000. Generally a lower table side whose best result was a fifth place finish in 1956, a series of poor performances saw Aschaffenburg drop to tier III play in the Amateurliga Hessen/Amateur Oberliga-Hessen well before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.

The team's best performances came in the 1980s when they twice won the Oberliga Hessen title and promotion to 2.Bundesliga, where they played the 1985-86, 1986-87 and 1988-89 seasons. Through this period and into the early 90s Aschaffenburg made a half dozen appearances in the early rounds of DFB-Pokal (German Cup) play. The club's best cup performance came in 1988 when they eliminated then-Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln (1:0) in the second round before eventually going out in the quarterfinals against Werder Bremen (1:3).

A poor finish led to a move down to the fourth division play in the 1993-94 season. In 1995, the clubs under 19 side ended a remarkable series in German football. After 20 consecetive titles in the Under 19 Bayernliga (northern group) by the 1. FC Nuremberg, Viktoria finished this series, becoming only the second club to win this league. Viktorias junior teams play in the Bavarian league system, unlike its senior team.

The side was relegated to Landesliga Hessen-Süd (V) for a single season in 2003-04 and have since returned to play in Oberliga-Hessen (IV).

A third-place finish in the Oberliga in 2007-08 meant, the club became one of the four clubs from this league to gain entry in the Regionalliga Süd for the next season. After finishing 13th in the league in 2008-09, outside the relegation ranks, the club decided to return to the Oberliga for financial reasons.

Honours

• League
  • 2nd Oberliga Süd (II) runners-up: 1951, 1955
  • Amateurliga Hessen (III) champions: 1974
  • Oberliga Hessen (III) champions: 1985, 1988, 1992
  • Landesliga Hessen-Süd (V) champions: 2004

• Cup
  • Hesse Cup winners: 1991

• Youth
  • Bavarian Under 19 championship runners-up: 1955, 1995, 2004
  • Bavarian Under 17 championship runners-up: 2002
  • Bavarian Under 15 championship winners: 1999

Recent seasons

Current squad

As of 30 December 2008

No. Position Player 1 GK Sven Schmitt 2 DF Benjamin Bertholdt 3 DF Markus Brüdigam 4 DF Andre Laurito 5 DF Ibrahima Salifou 6 MF Ken Asaeda 7 MF Martin Wagner 8 MF Sebastian Feyh 9 FW Adrian Gurzynski 10 FW Andreas Anicic 11 FW Domenico di Rosa

No. Position Player 12 FW Isaac Ojigwe 13 MF Markus Horr 14 DF Alexander Waimert 15 DF Markus Wosiek 17 MF Damien Letellier 18 FW Nima Latifiahvas 19 DF Marcello Asta 20 DF Markus Gaubatz 21 MF Frank Schröer 22 GK Patrick Emmel 23 MF Alexander Grod

Notable players

• Ernst Lehner
• Felix Magath (1972-1974)
• Rudi Bommer (1988-1992)
• Carsten Nulle (1999)
• Ivo Iličević (until 2004, junior team)
• Daniel Baier (2000-2001)
• Markus Neumayr (junior team)

Recent managers

Manager	Start	Finish
Ernst Lehner
Horst Heese	April 1986	December 1986
Timo Zahnleiter	1 July 1989	30 June 1990
Werner Lorant	1 July 1990	30 June 1992
Rudi Bommer (player-coach)	1 July 1998	30 June 2000
Nenad Salov	1 May 2003	9 December 2006
Muhamed Preljevic	10 December 2006	27 March 2007
Manfred Allig	28 March 2007	30 June 2007
Andreas Möller	1 July 2007	30 June 2008
Ronald Borchers	1 July 2008	present

DFB Cup appereances

The club has qualified for the first round of the German Cup six times:

External links

• Official team site
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
• Fan site

Sources

• Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
• Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league results (in German)
• eufo.de European football club profiles and current team rosters
• Viktoria Ascaffenburg profile at Weltfussball.de

References