Hünfelder SV
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| Full name | Hünfelder Sportverein 1919 e. V. |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | HSV |
| Founded | 22 June 1919 |
| Ground | Rhönkampfbahn |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| Chairman | Lothar Mihm |
| Manager | Oliver Bunzenthal |
| League | Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord (VI) |
| 2015–16 | 8th |
Hünfelder SV is a German association football club from the city of Hünfeld, Hesse. In addition to a football section, the sports club has departments for athletics, basketball, gymnastics, handball, table tennis, and volleyball.
Also the club was only formed in 1919, it was predated by the Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna, which was formed in 1909 and dissolved during the difficult years of the First World War.
To re-ignite sporting live, and especially football, a handful of enthusiasts placed an add in the local newspaper, the Hünfelder Kreisblatte, requesting all interested people to meet on Sunday, 22 June 1919 in a local pub, to form a new sports and football club. The new club started out with football as its only sport, adding other departments later.
In its early days, the club existed under difficult circumstances. Having no regular playing field, it had to ask local farmers for permission to play on their fields, which was usually only granted after the harvest. The club played its first official match on 29 July 1919, losing 1–3 against Adler Neukirchen and playing at Sargenzeller Höhe, was only a friendly but the team soon entered into competitive football, joining the local B-Klasse. A first championship in this league was won in 1925–26.
The club remained stagnant on local level and did not distinguish itself in the following years. The rise of the Nazis to power in 1933 did not initially change this, but from 1936, under the leadership of the new club chairman Conrad Schäfer, the HSV slowly improved.
During the Second World War, the club managed to continue to field a team because a hospital of the German army was based in town and recovering soldiers were permitted to field for the club. In the war years, the HSV thereby attracted much stronger players as it usually could, having even a former German international, Hermann Gramlich, in their ranks. Eventually, in December 1944, even this came to a halt and football ceased due to the worsening war situation.
The club entered a short hibernation, lasting until September 1945, when a club meeting re-ignited activity within the Hünfelder SV.
Re-entering competitive football, the club at first played in the local A-Klasse, earning promotion to the Bezirksklasse in 1948, then the second-highest league in Hesse. The club remained in this league until 1962, when it achieved promotion to the Hessenliga, the highest league in the state and the third tier of German football in those days. In its first season on this level, 1962–63, the club did rather well finishing fifth out of 16 teams. Additionally, the club managed to win the Hesse Cup in this season. It was also the last season before introduction of the new Bundesliga.
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