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| Full name | Fußball-Club Gütersloh e.V. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2000; 25 years ago (2000) | ||
| Ground | Heidewaldstadion | ||
| Capacity | 8,400 | ||
| Chairman | Heiner Kollmeyer Hans-Hermann Kirschner Helmut Delker | ||
| Manager | Onkel Serhad | ||
| League | Regionalliga West (IV) | ||
| 2024–25 | Regionalliga West, 2nd of 17 | ||
FC Gütersloh is aGerman association football club based inGütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The club was formed in 1978 out of the merger of the football sides ofSport Vereinigung Arminia Gütersloh andDeutsche Jugendkraft Gütersloh in the hopes that the new club would be more successful than its un-storied predecessors. The union was a bit of a surprise because of some ill-will that had existed between the clubs going back toArminia's refusal to share their stadium facility withDJK, and so make it possible for them to play in the Regionalliga in the late 1960s.[1]
Both sides had bounced back and forth between the second and third division through the late 1960s and into the 1970s. After their merger they settled down as a mid-table Amateur Oberliga Westfalen (III) club, with a couple of poor seasons leading to relegation toVerbandsliga Westfalen (IV), but always followed by immediate promotion. The club managed to play their way into the2. Bundesliga in 1996, on the strength of aRegionalliga West/Südwest title, for a three-year stay, but in 1999 were crushed by their 7 million DM debt. The club was dissolved by a court and all its results for the season annulled.
The club was re-organized in 2000 and took up play in theOberliga Westfalen (IV). In January 2010, it was announced that plans were in the works for a merger withSC Wiedenbrück 2000, but the proposal failed.[2] On 27 October 2013, the Gütersloh side suffered a record defeat losing 5:8 toSpVgg Erkenschwick: the 13 goals scored matched the total of a 1985–86 match that sawDJK Hellweg Lütgendortmund downSportfreunde Siegen 7:6. In 2014, the club was overshadowed by rumours of around its precarious financial situation and the prospect voluntary withdrawal from play. New merger talks took place withSC Wiedenbruck andSC Verl, but these ended when the club avoided bankruptcy in October 2014 under new management.
Since 2012 the club played in the tier fiveOberliga Westfalen.
After repeated financial troubles, the club filed for insolvency in January 2017,[3] and despite all efforts to secure funding through donations and sponsorship, announced the dissolution and liquidation of assets by the end of May 2017.[4]
Surprisingly, new sponsors were presented on 26 May, which pledged to finance operations for the next three years. The insolvency filing is to be cancelled.[5]
The club's honours:
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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51°53′30″N8°23′18″E / 51.89167°N 8.38833°E /51.89167; 8.38833
