Full name | Berliner Athletik Klub 07 e.V. |
---|---|
Founded | 15 December 1907 |
Ground | Poststadion |
Capacity | 10,000 |
Chairman | Mehmet Ali Han |
Manager | Steffen Baumgart |
League | Regionalliga Nordost (IV) |
2015–16 | 2nd |
Website | www |
Berliner AK 07 is a German football club based in Berlin. The club was founded in 1907 and has since evolved into a multi-cultural German-Turkish association with temporary ties to professional football in Turkey.
The association was established on 15 December 1907 in the Wedding district of Berlin as an athletics club interested primarily in running. A football department was formed in 1908 which has since remained a largely anonymous side playing in lower tier city competition. In the early 90s AK 07 played in the sixth division Landesliga Berlin and advanced to the Verbandsliga Berlin (V) on the strength of a 1995 championship there. A 1999 Verbandsliga title saw the club further promoted to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord (IV).
AK 07 merged with BSV Mitte in 2004: Mitte had earlier been formed out of the merger of the ethnically Turkish sides BFC Güneyspor and Fenerbahçe Berlin. The restructured association formed a co-operative relationship with Turkish first division club Ankaraspor in June 2006 which focuses on player development in Germany.
On 6 July 2006 the club adopted the name Berlin Ankaraspor Kulübü 07 and selected Ahmet Gökcek, son of the mayor of Ankara, as chairman. With the name change the club also abandoned its traditional colours of red and white to don the blue and white kit of Ankaraspor, but later reverted to its old name and colors.
The club won promotion to the Regionalliga Nord in 2011 and achieved a German Cup upset when it defeated Bundesliga side 1899 Hoffenheim 4–0 in 2012.
Since 2012 the club plays in the Regionalliga Nordost.
Berliner AK 07 played its home fixtures in the Sportanlage Lüderitzstraße (capacity 3,000) with an interlude (2000–2003) spent at the Hanne-Sobek-Sportanlage. The team has moved to the 20,000 seat Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district at the start of the 2006–07 season and currently play at the Poststadion.