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| Full name | 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken e. V. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | De FC[citation needed] Die Molschder[citation needed] | |||
| Short name | FCS[1] | |||
| Founded | 18 April 1903; 122 years ago (1903-04-18) | |||
| Ground | Ludwigsparkstadion | |||
| Capacity | 16,003[2] | |||
| President | Hartmut Ostermann[3] | |||
| Manager | Alois Schwartz | |||
| League | 3. Liga | |||
| 2024–25 | 3. Liga, 3rd of 20 | |||
| Website | https://www.fc-saarbruecken.de/ | |||
 Current season | ||||
1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken (German:1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken e. V.) is a Germanfootball club based inSaarbrücken,Saarland. The club plays in the3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany.[4]
The club began its existence as the football department ofTurnverein Malstatt formed in 1903. That department split off in 1907 to form the independent football clubFV Malstatt-Burbach and on 1 April 1909 was renamedFV Saarbrücken.
The club became part of the tier-oneKreisliga Saar in 1919 where it played with moderate success. A second-place finish in the league's last season in 1922–23 was their best result. From 1923, the club played in theBezirksliga Rhein-Saar – Saar division, winning the title in 1927–28 but later missing out on qualification to the new national first divisionGauliga in 1933.
The team did make its way to first division play in 1935 in theGauliga Südwest, one of sixteen regional divisions established in the re-organization of German football in the Nazi era. A league shuffle saw them in the Gauliga Südwest-Saarpfalz in 1940 and they won the division the next year. In 1943, they again won their division – now called theGauliga Westmark – and advanced through the playoff rounds to the national final where they were defeated 0–3 byDresdner SC. The next year, they only made it as far as the quarterfinals where they were put out by1. FC Nürnberg. During the latter years of World War II from 1943 to 1945, the club played as part of the combined wartime sideKriegsspielgemeinschaft Saarbrücken withSC Altenkessel.
After the war, the occupying Allied authorities dissolved most organizations within Germany, including sports and football clubs, as part of the process ofde-Nazification. The team was allowed to reform late in 1945, but under the new name1. FC Saarbrücken. The club played its first three seasons of post-war football in the first divisionOberliga Südwest-Nord, winning the division championship in 1946.
The German state ofSaarland, where the city of Saarbrücken is located, wasoccupied by the French after the war. They made various efforts to see the state become independent of Germany or join France. In sport, this was manifested as separate 1952 Olympic and1954 FIFA World Cupteams for Saarland and the establishment of a short-lived football league for the state called theEhrenliga. In 1948,1. FC Saarbrücken was one of a number of sides forced out of German football, but unlike other clubs, they did not play in the puppet league. Instead, the strong side became part of the French second division in the1948-49 edition asFC Sarrebruck. They won the division but were refused promotion or further participation, mainly due to the resistance of other clubs, among themStrasbourg, which had been forced to play in German competition during World War II.[5]
Saarbrücken withdrew from the league and began to play in a series of friendlies over the next two years. They organized a tournament in 1949–50 called theInternationaler Saarlandpokal ("International Saarland Cup") that had them play 15 home matches against teams from Austria, Denmark, France, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. The top three sides then joined hosts Saarbrücken in a playoff round, which the home team eventually won in a 4–0 victory overStade Rennais UC of France. The next year, fellow SaarlandersVfB Neunkirchen co-hosted the tournament which this time included more German sides. The tournament was abandoned for 1952 as an agreement was reached to allow teams from the Saarland re-admission to theGerman Football Association (DFB).
This episode in the history of German football would play itself out with the odd appearance of a separate side from Saarland in the 1954 World Cup preliminary rounds. Without a proper home in either the German or French leagues, Saarland had established a separate football association with membership inFIFA.1. FC Saarbrücken sent ten players to that national side and the Saarlanders acquitted themselves well, finishing second in their group ahead ofNorway and behind group winnerWest Germany. Saarbrücken would also make an appearance in the1955–56 European Cup as Saarland's representative and were eliminated byMilan in the first round, despite a 4–3 win at theSan Siro in the first leg.
Saarbrücken returned to theOberliga Südwest in 1952 and continued their winning ways by winning the division and advancing to the national final for the second time, losing a 1–2 decision toVfB Stuttgart. They continued to field strong sides, but over the next decade, could only manage one more Oberliga title, in 1961.
In 1963, Germany finally saw the creation of a top flight national league with the formation of theBundesliga. Sixteen teams were selected to play in the new league based on their performance, financial health and a geographical distribution intended to fairly represent all parts of the country. The first eight selections were straightforward and included divisional champions and the national finalists. Saarbrücken's selection to the new league was arguably the most controversial as the club's recent record was not as strong as their divisional rivals Neunkirchen,FK Pirmasens andWormatia Worms. The belief is that their advantage lay in the fact the club had a long association withHermann Neuberger, an extremely influential figure in German football – and a member of the selection committee.
At the end of the inaugural Bundesliga season in1963–64, Saarbrücken found themselves last, seven points short of safety. The club was relegated to the second tierRegionalliga Südwest where they finished strongly in each of the next three seasons, but were unable to advance through the Bundesliga promotion rounds. They were finally able to make their way back to the top flight after a first-place finish in the2. Bundesliga Süd in the 1976 season. After two seasons there, the team returned to the second division and by 1981 had slipped to the AmateurOberliga Südwest (III). There were two more turns in the Bundesliga, in 1986 and 1993, both ending in relegation. A financial crisis in 1995 led to the club being denied a license and being sent down to theRegionalliga West/Südwest (III). Saarbrücken has since become ayo-yo club with frequent moves between the second and fifth tiers. During this time, the club has remained a strong local side with several Saarland-Pokal wins to its credit.
Saarbrücken finished 16th in 2005–06 and were relegated to theRegionalliga Süd (III). Another poor showing in 2006–07 saw the club in 15th and relegated again, this time to the fourth division Oberliga Südwest, where they narrowly missed out on Regionalliga promotion in 2007–08. However, they finished as the champions of the Oberliga Südwest in the 2008–09 season and were promoted to theRegionalliga West. In May 2010, they finished champions of the Regionalliga West season and were promoted to the3. Liga, their second consecutive promotion. They started slowly, but finished in sixth place having won the last nine matches of the 2010–11 season, and remained at this level until 2013–14, when a poor season saw then finish bottom of the table, having used 36 players and four managers.
Back in the Regionalliga, Saarbrücken came second in2014–15 and qualified for the promotion round to the 3. Liga, where they missed out on promotion to theWürzburger Kickers. They won the Regionalliga Südwest by 11 points in2017–18 but were again defeated in the promotion play-off, this time by1860 Munich.
On 3 March 2020, they became the first team from the fourth tier in the history of theDFB-Pokal to reach the semi-final, after beatingFortuna Düsseldorf in the quarter-final.[6] On 1 November 2023,Saarbrücken (as a3. Liga side) achieved a 2–1 win againstFC Bayern Munich to advance to the round of 16 in the2023–24 DFB-Pokal. At this stage they metEintracht Frankfurt, another of the most well-established teams in the Bundesliga. They won 2–0 against them, moving through to the quarterfinals. They went on to beat anotherBundesliga sideBorussia Mönchengladbach 2–1 to advance to the semi-finals for the 5th time in club history. They met the2. Bundesliga side1. FC Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, losing at home 0–2.[7]
The club's reserve team, now the1. FC Saarbrücken II, playing as the 1. FC Saarbrücken Amateure until 2005 during the times the senior side played in professional football, first made an appearance in theEhrenliga Saarland from 1948 to 1951. It made a reappearance in the highest league of the state in 1986, now the tier fourVerbandsliga Saarland and won the league in 1988. Nine seasons in the Oberliga Südwest, now theOberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar followed. The team was relegated from the Oberliga in 1997, 2001 and 2007 to return each time a short while later. In 2002 it won theSaarland Cup for the first and only time, thereby qualifying for the first round of the2002–03 DFB-Pokal, where it lost toArminia Bielefeld. It has been playing at this level since the last promotion in 2010, achieving a fourth-place finish as its best-ever result in 2013.
The 1. FC Saarbrückenultras maintain a long-standing friendship since 1998 with the ultras of the French clubNancy. They also had friendly relations with fans ofFortuna Düsseldorf &Austria Salzburg.1. FC Kaiserslautern and neighboursFC Homburg are considered to be the biggest rivals. More recently, rivalries withEintracht Trier andSV Elversberg have also developed.
The club has numerous supporter groups:Virage Est (meaning East Stand inFrench),Boys,SC95,Nordsaarjugend,Clique Canaille andLeone Pazzo, with around 200–300 people standing in theultras section for matches. In celebration of the club's 110th birthday on 8 November 2014, the supporters created a hugetifo display.[8]
League[edit]
| Cup[edit]
Youth[edit]
Reserves[edit]
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The recent season-by-season performance of the club:[21][22]
1. FC Saarbrücken[edit]
| 1. FC Saarbrücken II[edit]
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Current technical staff | |
|---|---|
| Position | Name |
| Manager |  Alois Schwartz |
| Assistant manager | Bernd Heemsoth |
| Goalkeeping coach | Frank Kackert Heinz Böhmann |
| Scout | Dieter Ferner |
| Physiotherapist | Paulo da Palma |
| Doctor | Roland Kuppig |
| Director of football | Jürgen Luginger |
| Executive director | David Fischer |
| Kit manager | Rüdiger Schmidt |
| Board members | |
| Office | Name |
| President | Hartmut Ostermann |
| Vice-president | Dieter Ferner |
| Board member | Dieter Weller |
| Information and media officer | Christoph Heiser |
| Chairman of the Supervisory Board | Franz Abel |
| Deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board | Egon Schmitt |
| Members of the Supervisory Board | Claude BurgardEugen Hach Horst Hinschberger Joachim Klein Leo Petry Meiko Palm |
(in German)
