Holstein Kiel

Football club infobox
clubname = Holstein Kiel


fullname = Kieler Sportvereinigung
Holstein von 1900 e.V.
nickname = Die Störche (the Storks)
founded = 1900
ground = Holsteinstadion
capacity = 12,000
chairman =
manager =
coach =
league = Regionalliga Nord (IV)
season = 2007-08
position = Oberliga Nord (IV), 1st
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=0000FF|socks2=FF0000

Holstein Kiel is a German football club in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein.

History

Foundation to WW2

Founded on October 7, 1900, "1. Kieler Fussball Verein von 1900" was an offshoot of the sports and gymnastics club "Kieler Männerturnvereins von 1844". The club quickly became competitive and in 1912 they captured the German championship with a 2:1 overtime semi-final victory over defending champions "Viktoria 89 Berlin", followed by a 1:0 win in the final over the previous year's champions "Karlsruher FV".

After World War I, "FV Kiel" merged with another local club, "FC Holstein" (1902), to form the current club, "Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V.". The team made regular, but unfruitful, appearances in the early rounds of the national playoffs through the 20's. In 1930, they played their way to another final, this time losing 4:5 to "Hertha BSC Berlin". The following year saw them only as far as the semi-finals.

Shortly after this, German football was re-organized into sixteen top flight divisions under the Third Reich. "Kiel" played in the Gauliga Nordmark and consistently delivered solid top-five finishes, but were frustrated in their pursuit of a division title. In 1942, the Gauliga Nordmark was broken up into the Gauliga Hamburg and Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein. No longer in the company of "Hamburger SV" and other strong teams from the city, "Kiel" immediately captured the title of the new division and defended it over the next two seasons until the end of World War II brought play to a halt across the country.

Those titles earned "Kiel" entry into the national playoff rounds. They made their best run in 1943 when they advanced as far as the semi-finals before being put out by eventual champions "Dresdner SC". The team captured third place by defeating "FC Vienna Wien". They next year they were eliminated early on, and no final was played in 1945.

Postwar to present

That would be all the glory there was for "Holstein" for many years. They have been primarily a tier II and III club into the present day. They captured the German amateur championship in 1961 and had a failed oppourtunity to make the Bundesliga in 1965 after winning the Regionalliga Nord (II). After a few seasons in Oberliga Hamburg (IV) in the late 90's they returned to Regionalliga Nord (III), narrowly missing promotion to the second Bundesliga in the 2005/06 season.

Honours

* German champion: 1912
* Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein champions: 1943, 1944

Reserve team

* German amateur champions: 1961

Players

Current squad

Notable players

*Ernst Möller, capped nine times for Germany (1911-13) and scored the lone goal in 1912's championship match.
*Sophus Nielsen
*Adolf Werner
*Andreas Köpke
*Hermann Röche

Trivia

The club is nicknamed "the Storks" for their red-legged appearance.

External links

* [http://www.holstein-kiel.de Official team site]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/kiel.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]