Kickers Offenbach


Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs including Melitia, Teutonia, Viktoria, Germania and Neptun. From 1921 to 1925 they were united with VfB 1900 Offenbach as VfR Kickers Offenbach until resuming their status as a separate side, Offenbacher FC Kickers. Since 2012, Kickers Offenbach's stadium has been the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium.

History

The club became one of the founding members of the Nordkreis-Liga in 1909, where it played until the outbreak of the war. In post-First World War Germany, Kickers played in the Kreisliga Südmain, winning this league in 1920, 1922 and 1923.
The club played as a mid-table side in the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen through the late 1920s and early 1930s. German football was re-organized in 1933 under the Third Reich into sixteen first division Gauligen. Kickers joined the Gauliga Südwest, where the team immediately captured the title and entered the national playoffs for the first time. They fared poorly there, but did manage to raise their overall level of play in the following seasons, going on to win five consecutive divisional championships from 1940 to 1944.
In the early 1940s the Gauliga Südwest had been split into the Gauliga Westmark and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, where Kickers played. Their best post-season result came in 1942 when the team was able to advance as far as the semi-finals in the national championship rounds before they were decisively put out 0:6 by Schalke 04, who were on their way to their sixth championship as the era's most dominant side. By 1944, Allied armies were rolling through Germany and the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau did not play the 1944–45 season.

Entry to the Bundesliga and scandal

The club found itself in the new Regionalliga Süd and play in the Bundesliga would have to wait until 1968. The team was immediately relegated, but returned to the upper league for play in 1970–71. In addition to their return to the Bundesliga, the club would win one of its few honours in 1970 with a 2:1 German Cup victory over 1. FC Köln.
However, the end of the 1971 season would find Kickers Offenbach at the centre of the Bundesliga scandal. The club president, Horst-Gregorio Canellas, went to the German Football Association after being approached by a player from another team looking for a cash bonus for that club's effort in beating one of Offenbach's rivals in the fight against relegation. Receiving no help from league officials, Canellas began gathering evidence of how widespread the payoffs were. In the end more than fifty players from seven clubs, two coaches, and six game officials were found guilty of trying to influence the outcome of games through bribes, but Canellas was unable to save his club from relegation. The club central to the scandal – Arminia Bielefeld – would not be punished until the following season, too late to save Offenbach.
The scandal had a negative effect on the young league and contributed to plummeting attendance figures. One outcome of the whole affair was the further evolution of German football; salary restrictions were removed and the 2. Bundesliga also became a professional league. Kickers immediately returned to the top level. The best finish was 7th in the 1972–73 season. They were leaders for 5 rounds and beat Bayern Munich 6–0 in the 1974–75 season but were relegated to the second level in the 1975–76 season.

Decline and recovery

Kickers spent the next seven years in the 2. Bundesliga before making a return to the Bundesliga for just a single season in 1983–84. In 1985, financial problems led to the club being penalized points and driven into the third division amateur Oberliga Hessen. They recovered, only to be denied a licence in 1989, and were sent back down again. By the mid-1990s they again slipped into the Oberliga Hessen. They appeared in the final of the national amateur championship in 1994 where they lost 1–0 to Preußen Münster. Offenbach returned the 2. Bundesliga in 1999 and were immediately relegated after a 17th-place finish. In each of these seasons the team took part in the nation amateur championship, winning the title in 1999.
The club next appeared in the 2. Bundesliga in 2005. After two lower table finishes, Kickers were relegated to the 3. Liga on the final day of the 2007–08 season following a 3–0 defeat to fellow strugglers VfL Osnabrück.
On 18 July 2012, the club's new ground, the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, was opened with a pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen. The club was refused a 3. Liga licence at the end of the 2012–13 season and was relegated to the Regionalliga, with SV Darmstadt 98 taking its place. The club, €9 million in debt, could have faced insolvency and a restart at the lowest level of the German football league system.
The club won the Regionalliga Südwest in 2014–15 and earned the right to take part in the promotion round to the 3. Liga, where they missed out on promotion to Magdeburg. The loss was overshadowed by approximately 40 Offenbach supporters storming the field in the 84th minute and forcing a twenty-minute interruption to the return leg.

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the team:

Kickers Offenbach

Kickers Offenbach II

↑ Promoted↓ Relegated

Coaches

The managers of the club:
NamePeriod
Franz Nagy1922
Rudolf Keller1926
Mac Pherson1927
Rudolf Keller1928
Paul Oßwald1946–1958
Bogdan Cuvaj1958–1962
Hans Merkle1962–1964
Radoslav Momirski1964–1965
Kurt Baluses1965 – Feb. 1968
Kurt SchreinerMar. – Jun. 1968
Paul OßwaldJul. 1968 – Nov. 1969
Kurt SchreinerDec. 1969
Willi KeimDec. 1969
Zlatko ČajkovskiJan – Jul. 1970
Kurt SchreinerAug. 1970
Aki SchmidtSep. 1970
Rudi GutendorfSep. 1970 – Feb. 1971
Kuno KlötzerFeb. 1971 – Jun. 1972
Gyula LórántJul. 1972 – Mar. 1974
Otto RehhagelApr. 1974 – Dec. 1975
Zlatko ČajkovskiJan. – Oct. 1976
Udo KlugNov. 1976 – Jun. 1978
Horst HeeseJul. 1978 – Jun. 1980
Franz BrungsJul. 1980 – May 1982
Lothar BuchmannJun. 1982 – Mar. 1984
Hermann NuberMar. 1984 – Jun. 1984
Fritz FuchsJul – Dec 1984
Horst HeeseDec 1984 – Jun 1985
Wilfried KohlsJul 1985 – Jun 1986
Franz BrungsJul 1986 – May 1987
Robert JungMay 1987 – Jun 1987
Dieter RennerJul 1987 – Mar 1989
Nikolaus SemlitschMar 1989 – Dec 1989
Hans-Günter NeuesDec 1989 – Apr 1990
Kurt GeinzerApr 1990 – Jun 1992
Lothar BuchmannJul 1992 – Oct 1994
Valentin HerrOct 1994 – Apr 1995
Wilfried KohlsMaz 1995 – Jun 1995
Wolfgang UschekJul 1995 – Dec 1995
Ronny BorchersJan 1996 – Apr 1997
Wilfried Kohls/Jörg HambückersApr 1997 – Jun 1997
Hans-Jürgen BoysenJul 1997 – Oct 1999
Peter NeururerOct 1999 – Aug 2000
Dragoslav StepanovicAug 2000 – Sep 2000
Knut HahnSep 2000 – Oct 2000
Wilfried KohlsOct 2000 – Oct 2000
Knut HahnNov 2000 – Nov 2000
Dieter Müller/Oliver RothNov 2000 – Dec 2000
Ramon BerndrothDec 2000 – Aug 2003
Lars SchmidtAug 2003 – Mar 2004
Hans-Jürgen BoysenMar 2004 – Jan 2006
Wolfgang FrankJan 2006 – Oct 2007
Jørn AndersenNov 2007 – May 2008
Hans-Jürgen BoysenMay 2008 – Oct 2009
Steffen MenzeOct 2009 – Feb 2010
Wolfgang WolfFeb 2010 – Feb 2011
Thomas GerstnerFeb 2011 – May 2011
Arie van LentMay 2011 – Feb 2013
Rico SchmittFeb 2013 – Jan 2016
Oliver ReckJan 2016 – Jun 2018
Daniel SteuernagelJul 2018 – Sep 2019
Steven KeßlerSep 2019 – Dec 2019
Angelo BarlettaDec 2019 –

Source: Book "Kickers Offenbach – die ersten hundert jahre"

Notable players

Honours

The club's honours:

League

Kickers second team played in the Amateurliga Hessen from 1971–74 until being disbanded after the 1973–74 season. The reconstituted side reappeared in the Amateuroberliga Hessen in 1984, but were sent down after the relegation of the senior side from the 2. Bundesliga. The amateur's next appearance of note was in the Oberliga Hessen in 1999 in a campaign that ended in relegation after a 15th-place finish. In 2008–09, it returned to the Hessenliga and finished in fourth place. After six seasons in the league the team finished 18th in the Hessenliga in 2014 and was relegated to the Verbandsliga.

Recent managers

Recent managers of the team:
ManagerStartFinish
Steffen Menze1 July 200530 June 2006
Ramon Berndroth1 July 200630 June 2008
Steffen Menze1 July 200830 June 2009
Jürgen Baier1 July 200930 June 2010
Günter Stiebig1 July 201130 June 2013
Alexander Conrad1 July 2013Present