FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
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| Full name | Fußballclub Rot-Weiß Erfurt e.V. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 26 January 1966 |
| Ground | Steigerwaldstadion |
| Capacity | 18,611 |
| Chairman | Rolf Rombach |
| Manager | Stefan Krämer |
| League | 3. Liga (III) |
| 2015–16 | 8th |
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt is a German association football club based in Erfurt, Thuringia.
The club has roots that go back to a cricket club founded in 1895. As they broadened their interests they came to be called Sport Club Erfurt. The club was a founding member of the German Football Association in 1900 and in 1904 they joined the Verband Mitteldeutscher Ballspielvereine (Central German Football League). The side won the league championship in 1908–09 and advanced as far as the semi final of the national round where they lost to the eventual champion. While Erfurt did manage to play for a number of seasons in the premier level Gauliga Mitte, formed after 1933, they failed to earn any honours.
In the aftermath of World War II the Allies banned all organizations, including sport and football clubs. In 1946, the Soviet occupation authorities permitted the organization of five district sports clubs in Erfurt. SG Erfurt West encompassed the area of the city once served by SC Erfurt 1895 and VfB Erfurt and drew footballers who had played for these clubs. Success came quickly with an appearance in the 1948 Thüringer final, followed by a title in 1949. A quick series of name changes went hand-in-hand with a series of failed cup and final appearances: as Fortuna Erfurt in 1949, KWU Erfurt in 1950, and BSG Turbine Erfurt in 1951. In 1954 and 1955, Turbine captured consecutive East German national titles, but then slipped back into the pack and out of tier I for the first time in 1959. The team was up and down between the first and second divisions through the 60s, being relegated three times, but always winning immediate promotion. Like other East German clubs at the time they suffered as the best players were routinely plucked to play for favoured clubs with politically powerful sponsors.
East German football underwent major changes in 1965 with the creation of "pure" football clubs in the place of broadly generalised sports clubs. The number one football sides of SC Turbine Erfurt and BSG Optima Erfurt were merged in 1966 and revived the name FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, while the more junior sides stayed with their original clubs. The name (Rot-Weiß meaning the two colours red and white) was unusual for its time in that the club did not have a name that honoured some socialist virtue. In 1980, Rot-Weiß Erfurt appeared in the East German Cup final, losing to Carl Zeiss Jena (1–3).
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