SpVgg Bayreuth


SpVgg Bayreuth is a German football club based in Bayreuth, Bavaria. Apart from coming within two games of earning promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979, the club also reached the quarter finals of the DFB-Pokal twice, in 1977 and 1980.

History

1921 to 1945

Founded in 1921 when the side left gymnastics oriented sport club TuSpo Bayreuth, SpVgg Bayreuth was one of many clubs banned and replaced with a state-sanctioned organization in 1933 during the Nazi campaign against existing sports and other social organizations. A handful of club members reformed a rump side called FSV Bayreuth to carry on the activities of the original association. This team was made up largely of soldiers stationed locally, which resulted in a constantly changing lineup as they were transferred in and out of the area. The old club was quickly resurrected after World War II.

1945 to 1963

The club initially stood in the shadow of two local rivals, FC Bayreuth and VfB Bayreuth, with the later taking out the Amateurliga Nordbayern title in 1956. SpVgg had earned promotion to this league in 1954, having won the 2. Amateurliga Oberfranken-West title that year and then dominated its promotion round.
The club achieved good results in the Bayernliga and managed to win its division in 1959. The team then went on to beat southern champions Schwaben Augsburg in the finals for the Bavarian title. As the Bavarian champions, the club was entitled to enter the promotion round to the 2. Oberliga Süd, where it had to overcome VfR Pforzheim 2–1 after extra time in a narrow decider for promotion to the second division.
The club spent three seasons in the second tier of Southern German football, achieving a remarkable fifth place in its first year. The second season was a struggle against relegation and, in the third and last one, it was sent down back to the Bayernliga again.
A fourth place in the last season before the league reform in 1963 saw the club qualify for the new single-division Amateurliga Bayern from 1963.

1963 to present

After the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, Bayreuth played as a third division team until 1969. Another Amateurliga championship meant promotion to the second tier once more, now the Regionalliga Süd. It proved a short stay and SpVgg was narrowly relegated, losing a decider to ESV Ingolstadt 5–2 after finishing on equal points.
Back in the Bayernliga, the club won an undisputed championship, losing only two out of their 34 games, 15 points clear of the second-placed Wacker München. After another difficult first year in the second division, the club established itself in the league, coming fourth in 1973 and fifth in 1974, results that proved enough to qualify for the new 2. Bundesliga Süd.
The club did quite well in the new league and they came close to moving up to the Bundesliga in 1979 after a second-place finish in 2. Bundesliga Süd, but lost in the promotion round 1–1 and 1–2 to Bayer Uerdingen. It managed to qualify for the new single-division 2. Bundesliga in 1981, too, but the first season in this league was very disappointing and the team was relegated to the Oberliga in 1982, having come last.
The team became a top-side in the Oberliga but took until 1985 to take out the league title again and returned to the second division.
Although relegated to Amateur Oberliga Bayern in 1988 and 1989, the team was spared further demotion when clubs that had finished ahead of them were denied licences due to their financial problems. Bayreuth could not evade relegation after a third consecutive poor finish in 1990, and in 1994 slipped further still to the Bayernliga. A strong campaign returned the side to the Regionalliga Süd for 2005–06. The club was denied a license for the Regionalliga in the 2006/07 season and forcibly relegated to the 4th division Bayernliga. The club won the Bayernliga title for a seventh time, building up a convincing margin to the second placed team, and fulfilling the on-the-field qualification to the Regionalliga. On 11 June 2008, the club was refused a licence for this league and has to remain in the Bayernliga. The club's financial trouble however continued, having to declare insolvency on 22 October 2008, despite sitting second in the league.
In the 2010–11 Bayernliga season, the club unsuccessfully struggled against relegation, dropping down to the Landesliga after a 1–2 extra-time loss to Bayern Hof in a relegation decider.
At the end of the 2011–12 season the club qualified directly for the newly expanded Bayernliga after finishing fourth in the Landesliga. Two seasons later the club won the league and earned promotion to the Regionalliga Bayern. The club, by then had added the title Oberfranken to its name, relocated some of its home games to nearby Weismain and split from the main club with the help of two regional investors.

Stadium

The club's stadium was originally built in 1967. In 2002 it was renamed the Hans-Walter-Wild-Stadion. Hans Walter Wild is the former mayor of Bayreuth. It is due for renovation in the Fall of 2016.

Current squad

Honours

The club's honours:

League

Recent managers of the club:
ManagerStartFinish
Marco Schmidt1 July 200030 June 2003
Gino Lettieri11 September 200330 June 2006
Norbert Schlegel1 July 200630 June 2007
Klaus Scheer1 July 200730 June 2010
Ingo Walther1 July 201030 June 2011
Wolfgang Mahr1 July 201112 November 2011
Klaus Rodler12 November 201231 December 2011
Klaus Scheer1 January 201216 April 2012
Jürgen Dörfler16 April 2012June 2012
Heiko GrögerJuly 2012June 2014
Dieter KurthJune 201428 September 2014
Christoph Starke29 September 2014Present

Recent seasons

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

SpVgg Bayreuth

SpVgg Bayreuth II

DFB-Pokal appearances

The club has qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal one quite a number of occasions, reaching the quarter finals in 1979–80 as its best result:
SeasonRoundDateHomeAwayResultAttendance
1972–73 DFB-PokalFirst round – first leg10 December 1972SpVgg Bayreuth1. FC Kaiserslautern4–2
1972–73 DFB-PokalFirst round – second leg20 December 19721. FC KaiserslauternSpVgg Bayreuth4–0
1974–75 DFB-PokalFirst round7 September 1974SpVgg BayreuthFC Schalke 041–2
1975–76 DFB-PokalFirst round1 August 1975Karlsruher SCSpVgg Bayreuth4–2
1976–77 DFB-PokalFirst round6 August 1976Kickers OffenbachSpVgg Bayreuth4–4 aet
1976–77 DFB-PokalFirst round – replay1 September 1976SpVgg BayreuthKickers Offenbach4–1
1976–77 DFB-PokalSecond round16 October 1976SpVgg BayreuthSSV Reutlingen2–1
1976–77 DFB-PokalThird round18 December 1976SpVgg BayreuthFV Hassia Bingen2–1
1976–77 DFB-PokalFourth round8 January 1977SpVgg BayreuthFC Augsburg2–0
1976–77 DFB-PokalQuarterfinals9 February 1977SpVgg BayreuthRot-Weiß Essen1–2
1977–78 DFB-PokalFirst round29 July 1977FC 08 VillingenSpVgg Bayreuth0–1
1977–78 DFB-PokalSecond round20 August 1977Itzehoer SVSpVgg Bayreuth1–6
1977–78 DFB-PokalThird round14 October 1977Karlsruher SCSpVgg Bayreuth2–0
1978–79 DFB-PokalFirst round4 August 1978SV HaidlfingSpVgg Bayreuth0–5
1978–79 DFB-PokalSecond round24 September 1978SpVgg BayreuthMelsunger FV6–0
1978–79 DFB-PokalThird round2 December 1978Bayer 04 LeverkusenSpVgg Bayreuth1–0
1979–80 DFB-PokalFirst round25 August 1979SpVgg BayreuthPreußen 07 Hameln5–0
1979–80 DFB-PokalSecond round29 September 1979SpVgg BayreuthSpVgg Au/Iller6–0
1979–80 DFB-PokalThird round12 January 1980SpVgg BayreuthFC Bayern Munich1–0
1979–80 DFB-PokalFourth round16 February 1980SpVgg BayreuthTuS Langerwehe5–2 aet
1979–80 DFB-PokalQuarterfinals6 April 1980FC Schalke 04SpVgg Bayreuth3–1
1980–81 DFB-PokalFirst round29 August 1980Borussia NeunkirchenSpVgg Bayreuth1–1 aet
1980–81 DFB-PokalFirst round – replay17 September 1980SpVgg BayreuthBorussia Neunkirchen2–1
1980–81 DFB-PokalSecond round29 August 1980SpVgg BayreuthVfB Stuttgart1–3
1981–82 DFB-PokalFirst round28 August 1981SpVgg BayreuthBayer Uerdingen3–1
1981–82 DFB-PokalSecond round11 October 1981VfB Stuttgart IISpVgg Bayreuth1–2
1981–82 DFB-PokalThird round30 December 1981SpVgg BayreuthVfB Oldenburg2–0
1981–82 DFB-PokalFourth round9 January 1982SV Werder BremenSpVgg Bayreuth2–0
1982–83 DFB-PokalFirst round27 August 1982SpVgg BayreuthSpVgg Fürth3–1
1982–83 DFB-PokalSecond round15 October 1982SpVgg BayreuthHertha BSC0–1
1983–84 DFB-PokalFirst round28 August 1983FC AugsburgSpVgg Bayreuth2–1 aet
1984–85 DFB-PokalFirst round1 September 1984SpVgg BayreuthSV Mettlach7–0
1984–85 DFB-PokalSecond round13 October 1984SpVgg BayreuthSG Union Solingen1–2
1986–87 DFB-PokalFirst round27 August 1986SpVgg BayreuthSG Wattenscheid 090–3
1988–89 DFB-PokalFirst round6 August 1988Germania DörnigheimSpVgg Bayreuth0–5
1988–89 DFB-PokalSecond round24 September 1988SV Werder BremenSpVgg Bayreuth6–1
1989–90 DFB-PokalFirst round20 August 19891. FC PforzheimSpVgg Bayreuth4–1
1990–91 DFB-PokalFirst round4 August 1990SpVgg BayreuthBlau-Weiß 90 Berlin0–3
2006–07 DFB-PokalFirst round8 September 2006SpVgg BayreuthKickers Offenbach0–2

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