Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (German pronunciation: [faʊ̯ʔɛfˌʔɛl ˈboːxʊm] (listen)), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundesliga.

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VfL Bochum

Full name	Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft e. V.
Nickname(s)	Die Unabsteigbaren (The Undescendables) Der Blau (The Blues)
Founded	1848; 174 years ago (1848)
Ground	Vonovia-Ruhrstadion
Capacity	27,599
Chairman	Hans-Peter Villis
Head coach	Thomas Letsch
League	Bundesliga
2021–22	Bundesliga, 13th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

Founding to World War II

VfL Bochum is one of the oldest sports organizations in the world, claiming an origin date of 26 July 1848 when an article in the Märkischer Sprecher – a local newspaper – called for the creation of a gymnastics club. The Turnverein zu Bochum was then formally established on 18 February 1849. The club was banned on 28 December 1852 for political reasons and then reestablished on 19 June 1860. The club was reorganized in May 1904 as Turnverein zu Bochum, gegründet 1848 and formed a football department on 31 January 1911. On 1 April 1919, the club merged with Spiel und Sport 08 Bochum to form Turn- und Sportverein Bochum 1848. On 1 February 1924, the two clubs from the earlier merger split into the Bochumer Turnverein 1848 (gymnastics department) and Turn- und Sportverein Bochum 1908 (football, track and field, handball, hockey and tennis departments).[1]

Bochumer Turnverein 1848 was forced by the Nazi regime to merge with Turn- und Sport Bochum 1908 and Sportverein Germania Vorwärts Bochum 1906 into the current-day club VfL Bochum on 14 April 1938. After the merger, VfL Bochum continued to compete in the top flight as part of the Gauliga Westfalen.[1][2][3]

As World War II progressed, play throughout Germany became increasingly difficult due to player shortages, travel problems and damage to football fields from Allied bombing raids. VfL became part of the wartime side Kriegsspielgemeinschaft VfL 1848/Preußen Bochum alongside Preußen 07 Bochum before re-emerging as a separate side again after the war. Although they fielded competitive sides, they had the misfortune of playing in the same division as Schalke 04, which was the dominant team of the era. VfL's best result was therefore a distant second place in 1938–39.

Postwar and entry to Bundesliga play

Following World War II, the football section resumed play as the independent VfL Bochum 1848 and played its first season in the second division 2. Oberliga West in 1949, while Preußen Bochum went on to lower tier amateur level play. VfL captured the division title in 1953 to advance to the Oberliga West for a single season. They repeated their divisional win in 1956 and returned to the top-flight until again being relegated after the 1960–61 season.

With the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional league, in 1963 VfL found itself in the third tier Amateurliga Westfalen. A first-place result there in 1965 raised them to the Regionalliga West (II), from which they began a steady climb up the league table to the Bundesliga in 1971. During this rise, Bochum also played its way to the final of the 1967–68 DFB-Pokal, where they lost 1–4 to 1. FC Köln.

In spite of being a perennial lower table side, Bochum developed a reputation for tenaciousness on the field in a run of 20 seasons in the top flight. The club made a repeat appearance in the DFB-Pokal final in 1988, losing 0–1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Relegated after a 16th-place finish in the 1992–93 season, the team has become a classic "yo-yo club", bouncing up and down between the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga. The club finished in 5th place in the Bundesliga in 1996–97 and 2003–04, which earned them appearances in the UEFA Cup. In 1997, they advanced to the third round, where they were eliminated by Ajax, and in 2004, they were eliminated early through away goals (0–0 and 1–1) by Standard Liège. In the 2020–21 season, the club won the 2. Bundesliga, earning promotion to the Bundesliga.

Current

Today's sports club has 5,000 members, with the football department accounting for over 2,200 of these. Other sections now part of the association include athletics, badminton, basketball, dance, fencing, gymnastics, handball, field hockey, swimming, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball.

Players

Current squad

As of 5 September 2022[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Manuel Riemann (vice-captain) 2 DF  CRC Cristian Gamboa 3 DF  BRA Danilo Soares 4 DF  SRB Erhan Mašović 5 MF  POL Jacek Góralski 6 MF  GER Patrick Osterhage 7 MF  AUT Kevin Stöger 8 MF  FRA Anthony Losilla (captain) 9 FW  GER Simon Zoller 10 MF  GER Philipp Förster 11 FW  JPN Takuma Asano 14 DF  GER Tim Oermann 16 DF  GRE Kostas Stafylidis 17 FW  PHI Gerrit Holtmann

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  ENG Jordi Osei-Tutu 20 DF  UKR Ivan Ordets (on loan from Dynamo Moscow) 21 GK  GER Michael Esser 22 MF  GHA Christopher Antwi-Adjei 23 DF  GAM Saidy Janko (on loan from Real Valladolid) 24 DF  GRE Vasilios Lampropoulos 25 DF  GER Mohammed Tolba 26 GK  SWE Marko Johansson (on loan from Hamburger SV) 30 DF  GER Dominique Heintz (on loan from Union Berlin) 32 FW  GER Tarsis Bonga 33 FW  GER Philipp Hofmann 34 GK  GER Paul Grave 35 FW  CGO Silvère Ganvoula 38 DF  GER Jannes Horn 39 FW  FRA Lys Mousset

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  GER Luis Hartwig (at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2023) — DF  GER Moritz Römling (at Rot-Weiss Essen until 30 June 2023)

Notable players

Honours

• 2. Bundesliga champions: 1993–94, 1995–96, 2005–06, 2020–21
• DFB-Pokal finalists: 1967–68, 1987–88
• Bundesliga UEFA Cup qualification: 1996–97 (5th), 2003–04 (5th)
• Bundesliga top goal scorer: 1985–86 (Stefan Kuntz, 22 goals), 2002–03 (Thomas Christiansen, 21 goals (w/Giovane Élber)), 2006–07 (Theofanis Gekas, 20 goals)
• Promoted to Bundesliga: 1970–71 (1st Regionalliga West, 1st promotion group #1), 1993–94 (1st), 1995–96 (1st), 1999–2000 (2nd), 2001–02 (3rd), 2005–06 (1st), 2020–21 (1st)
• 2. Bundesliga top goal scorer: 1993–94 (Uwe Wegmann, 22 goals), 2015–16 (Simon Terodde, 25 goals)
• Regionalliga West champions: 1969–70, 1970–71

Youth

• German Under 19 championship
  • Champions: 1969
  • Runners-up: 2004, 2005
• German Under 17 championship
  • Champions: 1985
• Under 19 Bundesliga West
  • Champions: 2004, 2005

League results

European record

VfL Bochum II

Stadium

Ruhrstadion (also known as the Vonovia Ruhrstadion under a sponsorship deal) was one of the first modern football-only stadiums in Germany. It was built in the 1970s on the traditional ground of TuS Bochum 08 at the Castroper Straße, north of the city centre.

The fully roofed venue's capacity is 27,599, including standing room for 12,025.[5]

Coaches

Current staff

As of 22 September 2022

Coaches

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to VfL Bochum.

• Official website
• The Abseits Guide to German Soccer
• fussball.com
• vfl-bochum.pl

На других языках

[es] VfL Bochum

[ru] Бохум (футбольный клуб)