Viktoria Aschaffenburg

Football club infobox
clubname = Viktoria Aschaffenburg


fullname = Sportverein Viktoria 1901 e.V. Aschaffenburg
nickname =
founded = August 6, 1901
ground = Stadion am Schönbusch
capacity = 8,000
chairman = flagicon|Germany Franz Beckenbauer
chairman =
manager = flagicon|Germany Ronald "Ronnie" Borchers
league = Regionalliga (IV)
season = 2007-08
position = Oberliga Hessen (IV), 3rd
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=0000FF|body1=0000FF|rightarm1=0000FF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=0000FF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

SV Viktoria 01 Aschaffenburg is a German football club based in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria. Even though the city is located in Bavaria, "Aschaffenburg" plays its football in the Oberliga Hessen (IV), rather than the Oberliga Bayern (IV), against clubs from closer, neighbouring cities. This also reflects in part the history of the region, not traditionally part of Bavaria. The nearby Bavarian club "FC Bayern Alzenau" plays in the Oberliga Hessen (IV) for the same reasons.

History

The club was formed on June 24, 1904 out of the merger of "FC Aschaffenburg" (August 6, 1901) and "FC Viktoria Aschaffenburg" (April 12, 1902). Re-named "Sportverein Viktoria 01 Aschaffenburg" on June 3, 1906 the united side played in the "Bezirksliga Main-Hessen" (Gruppe Main) for a couple of seasons in the late 20s.

In 1937 they briefly merged with "Reichsbahn TuSpo Aschaffenburg" to play as "Reichsbahn-Viktoria Aschaffenburg", but were an independent side again by 1939. They made a late, short-lived appearance in top flight football in 1942, playing a single season in the Gauliga Bayern (Nord), one of sixteen premier divisions established in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich.

"Aschaffenburg" returned to the top flight after World War II playing in the Oberliga Süd for two seasons in the late 40s and then through most of the 50s, competing against sides that would later go on to play in the Bundesliga, Germany's first top tier professional league, such as "Bayern Munich", "1. FC Nuremberg", and "VfB Stuttgart", in front of crowds of 16,000 to 19,000. Generally a lower table side whose best result was a fifth place finish in 1956, a series of poor performances saw "Aschaffenburg" drop to tier III play in the Amateurliga Hessen/Amateur Oberliga-Hessen well before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.

The team's best performances came in the 1980s when they twice won the Oberliga Hessen title and promotion to 2.Bundesliga, where they played the 1985-86, 1986-87 and 1988-89 seasons. Through this period and into the early 90s "Aschaffenburg" made a half dozen appearances in the early rounds of DFB-Pokal (German Cup) play. The club's best cup performance came in 1988 when they eliminated then-Bundesliga side "1. FC Köln" (1:0) in the second round before eventually going out in the quarterfinals against "Werder Bremen" (1:3).

A poor finish led to a move down to the fourth division play in the 1993-94 season. The side was relegated to Landesliga Hessen-Süd (V) for a single season in 2003-04 and have since returned to play in Oberliga-Hessen (IV).

A third-place finish in the "Oberliga" in 2007-08 meant, the club became one of the four clubs from this league to gain entry in the Regionalliga Süd for the next season.

Recent seasons

Honours

* 2nd Oberliga Süd runners-up: 1951, 1955
* Amateurliga Hessen champions: 1974
* Oberliga Hessen champions: 1985, 1988, 1992
* Landesliga Hessen-Süd champions: 2004
* Hessenpokal (Hessen Cup) winner: 1991

Current squad

Notable players

* Ernst Lehner
* Felix Magath (1972-1974)
* Rudi Bommer (1988-1992)
* Carsten Nulle (1999)
* Ivo Iličević (until 2004, junior team)
* Daniel Baier (2000-2001)
* Markus Neumayr (junior team)

Notable coaches

* Ernst Lehner
* Horst Heese (1986, April-December)
* Werner Lorant (1990-1992)
* Rudi Bommer (1998-2000, player-coach)
* Andreas Möller (2007-2008)

External links

* [http://www.viktoria01-aschaffenburg.de/ Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/aschaff.html The Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.viktoria-aschaffenburg.gmxhome.de/ Fan site]

References

*Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9
* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv] historical German domestic league results (in German)
* [http://www.eufo.de/football/ger/viktburg.htm eufo.de] European football club profiles and current team rosters