VfB Stuttgart II


VfB Stuttgart II is a German football team located in Stuttgart, currently playing in the Regionalliga Südwest. From 2008 to 2016 the team played in the 3. Liga. They are the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart. Until 2005 the team played under the name of VfB Stuttgart Amateure.

History

VfB Stuttgart Amateure first made an appearance at the highest level of local amateur football, the third division Amateurliga Württemberg, in 1959–60, winning the league. The league was split into two regional divisions and the team was grouped in the Amateurliga Nordwürttemberg where it became a dominating side from 1962 to 1967, winning four league titles in five seasons but being barred from promotion to the professional leagues above. The team stayed in this league until 1978, winning one more title in 1971 and generally achieving top of the table finishes but failing to qualify for the new Oberliga Baden-Württemberg by a point when it came sixth and a top five finish was required.
The team's league championships in the Amateurliga and Amateur-Oberliga entitled it to take part in the German amateur football championship, which it won in 1963 and 1980, beating VfL Wolfsburg and FC Augsburg in the finals, while it finished runners-up in 1971 when it lost to SC Jülich 1910.
The team came second in the new Verbandsliga Württemberg in 1979 and was promoted to the Oberliga. It won a championship in this league in its first season there but was again barred from promotion. It came second the season after but suffered relegation in 1988. After two seasons in the Verbandsliga it returned to the Oberliga in 1990. it failed to qualify when the Regionalliga Süd was introduced as the third tier of league football in 1994 but won promotion to this league in 1998 after an Oberliga championship. It dropped back to Oberliga level in 2002 but won another Oberliga title in 2003 and spend the next five seasons in the Regionalliga again. In 2008 the club qualified for the 3. Liga, the new third tier of league football in Germany, where itplayed for the next eight seasons, generally as a mid- and lower table side. At the end of the 2015–16 season the club was relegated to the tier four Regionalliga Südwest after coming last in the 3. Liga.
The team has also qualified for the first round of the German Cup through the Württemberg Cup and has been, at times, quite successful. In their first participation in 1974–75 it reached the quarter finals before going out to Borussia Dortmund. It was knocked out in the first round in 1975–76 and 1980–81 and in the second round in 1981–82. It made another first round exit the year after when it lost to local rival Stuttgarter Kickers. In 2000–01 it defeated Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt 6–1 in the first round before being drawn against its own first team in the second round and losing 3–0. The following season it made another first round exit and, since 2008, is, like all reserve teams in Germany, barred from the competition.

Relationship with VfB Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart II serves as Stuttgart's reserve team. The team's backbone consists of recent graduates from Stuttgart's youth teams and several established, older players who are not good enough for Stuttgart's first team. Players that are particularly impressive at Stuttgart II are often called up to become permanent members of the first-team. For example, Sami Khedira made 9 league appearances for Stuttgart II in the 2006–07 season, his final one coming on 24 September 2006, before he was called up the first-team; he made his Bundesliga debut on 1 October 2006.

The Robert-Schlienz Stadium

This stadium, offering 5000 places, all standing, was home for the VfB II until 2008, when they moved to the larger Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau. It currently hosts the home games of VfB's A and B youth teams. Initially known as the "Amateur-Stadion", the Robert-Schlienz Stadium got its name in honour of the well-known VfB player Robert Schlienz, after his death in June 1995. The first game played here was in the 2nd round of the youth championship, on 25 June 1995, between the VfB's B youth team and Eintracht Frankfurt's.

Honours

The club's honours:

League

The recent head coaches of the team:
ManagerStartFinish
Reinhold Fanz27 June 200330 June 2004
Rainer Adrion1 July 200430 June 2009
Reiner Geyer1 July 200927 January 2010
Jürgen Seeberger28 January 201030 June 2011
Jürgen Kramny1 July 201124 November 2015
Walter Thomae24 November 201530 June 2016
Sebastian Gunkel1 July 201622 November 2016
Walter Thomae22 November 201619 December 2016
Andreas Hinkel19 December 201630 June 2018
Marc Kienle1 July 20181 April 2019

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:
SeasonDivisionTierPosition
1999–2000Regionalliga SüdIII6th
2000–01Regionalliga SüdIII2nd
2001–02Regionalliga SüdIII16th ↓
2002–03Oberliga Baden-WürttembergIV1st ↑
2003–04Regionalliga SüdIII11th
2004–05Regionalliga SüdIII13th
2005–06Regionalliga SüdIII7th
2006–07Regionalliga SüdIII3rd
2007–08Regionalliga SüdIII3rd
2008–093. LigaIII11th
2009–103. LigaIII10th
2010–113. LigaIII10th
2011–123. LigaIII11th
2012–133. LigaIII14th
2013–143. LigaIII15th
2014–153. LigaIII13th
2015–163. LigaIII20th ↓
2016–17Regionalliga SüdwestIV7th
2017–18Regionalliga SüdwestIV10th
2018–19Regionalliga SüdwestIV15th ↓
2019–20Oberliga Baden-WürttembergV1st ↑

Players

Current squad