FC Kronach


The FC Kronach is a German :Category:German football clubs|association football club from the town of Kronach, Bavaria.
The club's greatest success have been its three seasons spent in the Fußball-Bayernliga, in 1971–72 and again from 1987 to 1989.

History

The club was formed on 5 April 1908. The club initially joined the leagues in neighbouring Thuringia due to the close proximity of Kronach to the border. After the First World War, the club started playing football in the Bavarian league system. In this era, the club managed a league championship in the A-Klasse Frankenwaldgau, which meant entitlement to enter the promotion round, where they were outplayed by clubs like FC Schweinfurt 05. After that, the club stagnated and was not particularly successful up until the mid-1960s.
The club first entered the tier-four Landesliga Bayern-Nord in 1967, a league formed four years earlier, and they were immediately competitive, finishing third in their first season there. After three seasons of upper table finishes, the side won the league in 1971 and earned promotion to the third division Bayernliga.
In the Bayernliga for the first time, in 1971–72, Kronach was struggling against relegation, eventually finishing 16th and three points from safety. Back in the Landesliga, FCK was not able to repeat past performances, coming eighth in their first year back and, after that, only achieving lower table finishes. Eventually, at the end of the 1977–78 season, the side was relegated back to the Bezirksliga.
Kronach spent the next six seasons at Bezirksliga level before once more making a return to the Landesliga. Again the club performed well as a newcomer, finishing fourth in their first two seasons back before they earned another league championship in 1987 and once more were promoted to the Bayernliga.
Back in Bavaria's highest league for a second stint, the club narrowly avoided relegation in their first year there, coming 13th and just a point clear of relegation. The following season, 1988–89, Kronach was only able to win three games and finished a distant last, 13 points clear of salvation.
In the Landesliga, the club achieved two good seasons after relegation, finishing fifth and sixth, but then declined and was relegated to the Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken in 1994. A league championship at this level however took the side straight back to the Landesliga. But overall, the club now entered an era of financial struggle, culminating in the necessity of having to sell its stadium to survive, which it since has been able to purchase back.
The team played three more seasons in the Landesliga from 1995 to 1998, followed by a permanent relegation from the league at the end of the 1997–98 season. FCK spent just as many seasons in the Bezirksoberliga from 1998 to 2001 before another relegation meant a permanent departure from this league, too. The club was handed straight through the Bezirksliga Oberfranken-West the following season and dropped down to the Kreisliga for the 2002–03 season.
The club played in the Bezirksliga once more in 2008–09 but came only 14th and was promptly relegated again. They made another return to the Bezirksliga in 2010 and were able to maintain the league this time round, playing in the league until 2014, when they were relegated again.

Honours

The club's honours:

League

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:
SeasonDivisionTierPosition
1999–2000Bezirksoberliga OberfrankenVI8th
2000–01Bezirksoberliga OberfrankenVI17th ↓
2001–02Bezirksliga Oberfranken-WestVII17th ↓
2002–03Kreisliga KronachVIII
2003–04Kreisliga KronachVIII8th
2004–05Kreisliga KronachVIII6th
2005–06Kreisliga KronachVIII4th
2006–07Kreisliga KronachVIII2nd
2007–08Kreisliga Coburg-KronachVIII1st ↑
2008–09Bezirksliga Oberfranken-WestVIII14th ↓
2009–10Kreisliga Coburg-KronachIX1st ↑
2010–11Bezirksliga Oberfranken-WestVIII8th
2011–12Bezirksliga Oberfranken-WestVIII8th
2012–13Bezirksliga Oberfranken WestVII7th
2013–14Bezirksliga Oberfranken WestVII19th ↓
2014–15Kreisliga Coburg-KronachVIII4th
2015–16Kreisliga Coburg-KronachVIII8th
2016–17Kreisliga Coburg-KronachVIII

↑ Promoted↓ Relegated