TSV Rain am Lech

Football club infobox
clubname = TSV Rain am Lech


fullname = TSV 1896 Rain am Lech
nickname =
founded = 1896
ground = Georg-Weber-Stadion
capacity = 3000
chairman = Martin Kollmann
manager = Wilfried Mayer
league = Oberliga Bayern (V)
season = 2007-08
position = Landesliga Bayern-Süd (V), 3rd (promoted)
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=ffffff|body1=ffffff|rightarm1=ffffff|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffffff|body2=ffffff|rightarm2=ffffff|shorts2=ffffff|socks2=ffffff

The TSV Rain am Lech is a German football from the town of Rain am Lech, Bavaria.

History

The club was formed in 1896 under the name TV Rain am Lech as a gymnastics club. A football department was however not formed, instead, the FC Rain am Lech came into being on 31 August 1920 and took up the sport. [ [http://www.tsvrain.de/chronik_hauptverein.htm Chronik des TSV Rain] History of the TSV Rain (in German) accessed: 4 October 2008]

While the two clubs existed independently for many years, in 1941 a forced merger formed the TSG Rain am Lech. The worsening war situation had made this step necessary but activities were severely limited in the coming years.

With the end of the Second World War, this forced merger ended and both clubs became independent again. The "FC" soon reestablished itself but the "TV" was struggling to do so due to a high number of loses of its members during the war. In the spring of 1946, the two clubs decided to merge once more, this time by free choice and the TSV Rain am Lech was formed. The new club retained the old colors of the "TV", red and white. A new club constitution was drafted on 30 April 1946 and the US occupation authorities sanctioned the new club on 6 May 1946. By the end of June 1946, the new club had already 180 members. While the club offered a number of sports, football was virtually the only one played on competitive level.

In the year 1987, the club celebrated a new record in membership, having reached a 1000 members.

Football

The FC Rain entered the "2nd Kreisklasse Schwaben Nord" after its formation in 1920, a league it performed rather well in in the coming seasons. [ [http://www.tsvrain.de/Fussball/index.htm Chronik der Abteilung Fußball] History of the football department (in German) accessed: 4 October 2008] After its third title in this league in 1929-30, it finally earned promotion to the "1st Kreisklasse", where it spent two seasons before being relegated again. The club once more archived promotion in 1937 but this time only lasted for one year in the higher level. Despite winning the title and promotion again in 1938-39 the FC Rain chose to withdraw from the league due to the outbreak of the war.

The club continued in 1945 where it finished six years earlier, earning good results in the "2nd Kreisliga". Under the new name of TSV Rain, this trend continued.

In 1949, the "2nd Kreisliga" was renamed "B-Klasse" and the club belonged to this league for two seasons until winning promotion in 1951 to the now "A-Klasse Nordschwaben". The "TSV" remained in this league until 1962 with the exception of 1953-54, when one season was spent in the level below.

In 1962, a "A-Klassen" championship earned them promotion to the "Bezirksliga" for the first time and the team held this league, the "Bezirksliga Schwaben" (V) until 1967. From 1967 to 1974, they played in the "A-Klasse" once more. Another title in this league in 1973-74 meant a return to the now regionalised "Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord". In this league, the TSV Rain finished on top in its first season and earned promotion for the first time to the "Landesliga Bayern-Süd" (IV). The "Landesliga" proved to be a much harder place to succeed in and the team was immediatelly relegated.

After five "Bezirksliga" years and a championship in 1981, the club returned once more to the "Landesliga", with the same result as before, relegation after one season. After a respectable 5th place in the "Bezirksliga" in 1983, the following season the team was relegated back to the "A-Klasse". "TSV" returned to the "Bezirksliga" for 1986-87 but could not maintain this level and experienced a sharp decline, falling down to the "B-Klasse" in 1988. It recovered quickly with a "B-Klasse" championship in 1988-89.

The clubs rise to greater success came in 1994, when, after five seasons in the "A-Klasse", promotion to the "Bezirksliga" was archived. The club marched straight on to the "Bezirksoberliga Schwaben" in 1995, a relatively new league established in 1989. In its second season there, it earned promotion back to the "Landesliga" for a third time.

Now much stronger then in its two previous attempts, the team held the class and established itself in the top-half of this league. In the next eleven seasons, three third places in 2005, 2007, and 2008 were the highlights.

The "TSV" won the Schwaben Cup for its first time in 2000. This qualified the team for the Bavarian Cup, where it finished runner-up. This in turn meant, the club could play in the DFB Cup 2000-01, where it was paired with the later winner, FC Schalke 04. A 0-7 home defeat for the then fifth division club against a Bundesliga team was a highlight in the history for the small amateur side. [ [http://www.weltfussball.de/spielplan/dfb-pokal-2000-2001-1-runde/0/ DFB-Pokal 2000/2001 .:. 1. Runde] weltfussbal.de, accessed: 4 October 2008]

Due to changes in the German league system in 2008, the third place qualified the club to take part in a promotion round for the Oberliga Bayern, something usually reserved for the second-placed team. Rain succeeded in this, earning for the first time promotion to Bavarias highest football league, beating the 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 3-0 after extra time to do so. [ [http://www.bayliga.de/bayliga_45_rueckblick.htm 45. Saison der Bayernliga 2007/2008] Review of the 2007-08 Oberliga Bayern season, (in German), accessed: 4 October 2008]

Current

Like in its past experiences when earning promotion to a higher league for the first time, the club finds it a hard level to play at and success is much harder to come by. After the first third of the 2008-09 season being played, the club is fourth from the bottom but has not lost contact to the non-relegation zone.

The club's reserve side plays in the "Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord" in 2008-09.

Honours

* Bavarian Cup runners-up: 2000
* Schwaben Cup winners: 2000
* Bezirksoberliga Schwaben (VI) champions: 1997
* Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord (V-VII) champions: 1975, 1981, 1995
* A-Klasse Schwaben champions: 1962, 1974, 1986
* B-Klasse Schwaben champions: 1951, 1954, 1989
* 2nd Kreisklasse Schwaben champions: 1925, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1949

tadium

The Georg-Weber-Stadion is name after a former chairman of the club and founder of Dehner, a local company who sponsors the club, Georg Weber. It holds approx. 3000 spectators.

The stadium is used for relegation and promotion games as well, which have to be held on neutral grounds. In 2007, it also hosted the Schwaben Cup final between TSV 1861 Nördlingen and FC Augsburg II.

Recent seasons

External links

* [http://www.tsvrain.de/index.htm Official team site]
* [http://www.weltfussball.de/teams/tsv-1896-rain-am-lech/ TSV Rain am Lech profil on Weltfussball.de]

References