Schwarz-Weiss Essen

Football club infobox
clubname = Schwarz-Weiss Essen


fullname = Essener Turnerbund Schwarz-Weiß
Essen 1881 e.V.
nickname =
founded = April 11, 1881
ground = Ulhenkrug
capacity = 25,000
chairman = Manfred Kuhmichel
manager = Klaus Berge
league = Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen (VI)
season = 2007-08
position = Oberliga Nordrhein (IV), 5th
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffff00|body2=ffff00|rightarm2=ffff00|shorts2=104E8B|socks2=ffff00

Schwarz-Weiss Essen is a German football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The side has its origins in the gymnastics club "Essener Turnerbund" founded in 1881. A football department was formed in January 1900 and this became a separate entity within the club on July 1 1974.

History

In 1933, the club joined the Gauliga Niederrhien, one of sixteen top flight divisions formed in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. They played at that level until being relegated in 1943, with their best results being a string of three consecutive second place finishes between 1937 and 1940.

"SWE" returned to tier I football in 1951 in the Oberliga West, and except for spending the 1958, 1959, and 1961 seasons in the second division, played in the top flight until the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's first professional football league.

Their moment of glory came in 1959 when a non-descript side beat "Rot-Weiss Essen" 1:0, "Hertha BSC Berlin" 6:3, and "Hamburger SV" 2:1 on their way to thrashing "Borussia Neunkirchen" 5:2 to take the German Cup.

After 1963, "Schwarz-Weiss" played as a second tier side in the Regionlliga West and 2nd Bundesliga Nord into the late 70's. They fell a point shy of a place in the Bundesliga in 1967, finishing behind "Borussia Neunkirchen" in the league qualification rounds. In 1978, they decended into the third division, to the Oberliga Nordrhein (IV), where they still play today.

Team trivia

* "Schwarz-Weiss"'s 1959 German Cup win made them the first ever second division side to take that prize.

External links

* [http://www.etb-schwarz-weiss.de Official team website]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/swe.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]