ASV Cham


The ASV Cham is a German association football club from the city of Cham, Bavaria. The club's most notable achievement was playing in the second division from 1950 to 1962.

History

The ASV Cham was formed as a gymnastics club in 1863, under the name of TV Cham, which joined the local Freiwillige Feuerwehr in 1869 and was not refounded until 1880. TV established a football department in 1919 and, in 1925, SC Olympia Cham merged with the club. The footballers went independent as FC Chambia Cham in 1927, but rejoined the club in 1930.
After the Second World War, TV was joined by another club, FC Cham, adopting the current name, ASV Cham. The new club almost immediately enjoyed some success, earning promotion to the Landesliga Bayern in 1949 by winning its local Oberpfalz league and then coming first in the promotion round.
The 1949–50 season of the Landesliga was to be the last for the league as a new second division for the region, the 2nd Oberliga Süd, was to be formed. To qualify for this league, Cham had to finish in the top-five of the division, which it did, despite an equal win-loss record. After only one season in the Landesliga, the club had earned promotion to the 2nd Oberliga alongside 1. FC Bamberg, FC Bayern Hof, TSV Straubing and FC Wacker München.
ASV was to become the second-longest serving club in this league, behind 1. FC Pforzheim, who played every season of it, and equal to SV Wiesbaden, who, like Cham played all but one.
In the first season of the new 2nd Oberliga, 1950–51, ASV achieved a very respectable fifth place, four points behind a promotion rank. The following season, the team only managed a 13th place but stayed well clear of the relegation ranks in points. The 1952–53 season saw a repeat of this result but this time, relegation was only avoided by four points. The 1953–54 and 1954–55 seasons saw the club continue to struggle but in 1955–56, it returned to better results, coming fifth once more. The following season saw a repeat of this result. In 1957–58, it finished ninth.
From 1958 onwards, the club's fortunes declined and four seasons of struggle against relegation followed. ASV came ever closer to dropping down to the Amateurliga Bayern, in 1960–61 avoiding it by only one point. The club's last season in the 2nd Oberliga, 1961–62, was a disaster, finishing last, 14 points clear of a non-relegation spot, and ASV dropped down to the third division alongside SpVgg Bayreuth and SV Wiesbaden.
The introduction of the Fußball-Bundesliga in 1963 meant large-scale changes to the German football league system. The Oberligas and 2nd Oberligas were disbanded and in Bavaria, the Amateurliga Bayern was reduced from two to one division. Back in the southern division of Bavaria's highest football league, the Amateurliga Südbayern, Cham achieved a fifth place, enough to qualify for the new single-division league. This, however, proved to be a short-lived success, in 1963–64, the club came last and found itself relegated to the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte, not to return to Bavaria's highest league again for more than a half-century.
In the Landesliga, the club established itself as a mid-table side for the first couple of seasons but in 1968, it suffered another relegation, now to the Bezirksliga Oberpfalz. ASV Chan disappeared in the lower amateur leagues of the Oberpfalz region, even briefly dropping out of the Bezirksliga in 1974, but in 1978 it earned promotion back to the Landesliga. Its first season back was an unsuccessful one, being relegated back down, eleven points clear of a non-relegation spot. ASV made a number of unsuccessful attempt at Landesliga survival in 1982–83, 1984 to 86 and 1987–88 before finally settling back permanently in this league from 1991.
ASV Cham became a permanent fixture of the Landesliga, playing for 17 consecutive seasons in it from 1991 to 2008. In 2001, it became one of the many waypoints for continent-hopping goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, after a stint with Bradford Park Avenue and before signing with Dunedin Technical again. The club's best result in this era was a third place in 2001–02, when it came within three points of second-placed SpVgg Landshut and the right to take part in the Bayernliga promotion round. In 2007, the club briefly signed former Ghanaian international Emmanuel Osei. In 2007–08, the club experienced another disastrous season and finished last in the league, having to drop down to the Bezirksoberliga Oberpfalz for the 2008–09 season with only four wins out of 34 games.
After three seasons in the Bezirksoberliga ASV won the league and return to the Landesliga. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club qualified for the promotion round to the newly expanded Bayernliga. A first-round loss to Dergah Spor Nürnberg however meant the club would remain in the Landesliga instead. In 2018–19 ASV ended the season in second place and thus entered the promotion round to the Bayernliga again. Against ASV Vach, Cham succeeded with wins in both legs, returning to the Bayernliga after a 55-season absence.

Honours

The club's honours:

League

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:
YearDivisionTierPosition
1999–2000Landesliga Bayern-MitteV14th
2000–01Landesliga Bayern-MitteV13th
2001–02Landesliga Bayern-MitteV3rd
2002–03Landesliga Bayern-MitteV9th
2003–04Landesliga Bayern-MitteV6th
2004–05Landesliga Bayern-MitteV12th
2005–06Landesliga Bayern-MitteV12th
2006–07Landesliga Bayern-MitteV8th
2007–08Landesliga Bayern-MitteV18th ↓
2008–09Bezirksoberliga OberpfalzVII6th
2009–10Bezirksoberliga OberpfalzVII2nd
2010–11Bezirksoberliga OberpfalzVII1st ↑
2011–12Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI13th
2012–13Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI3rd
2013–14Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI8th
2014–15Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI4th
2015–16Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI5th
2016–17Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI3rd
2017–18Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI4th
2018–19Landesliga Bayern-MitteVI2nd ↑
2019–20Bayernliga NordVN/A
2020–21Bayernliga NordV

↑ Promoted↓ Relegated