SpVgg Ludwigsburg
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| Full name | Sportvereiniggung 07 Ludwigsburg e.V. |
|---|---|
| Ground | Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion |
| Capacity | 18,000 |
| Manager | Gianni Coveli |
| League | Landesliga Württemberg I (VII) |
| 2015–16 | 11th |
The SpVgg Ludwigsburg is a German association football club from the city of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg.
The club was formed in 1907 under the name of 1. FC Ludwigsburger Kickers. In August 1907, the club then played its first game, a 0–2 loss to FC Vorwärts Stuttgart-Ostheim. In 1909, the club entered the local C-Klasse, beginning its area of competitive football.
The First World War took a heavy toll on the relatively new club, of its 100 members, 35 did not return from the war. On 17 February 1919, the club reformed itself after being dormant throughout the war and adopted a new name, VfB Ludwigsburg. The new name was meant as a sign to show that the club had evolved from a football-only to a multi-sport association.
By 1921, the VfB counted 500 members but internal strife lead to some the footballers going their own way that year, forming the RSV Ludwigsburg. VfB and RSV at times competed on the same level, resulting in interesting derbies. Both clubs reached as far as the local second division, the Kreisliga.
In 1938, the two clubs finally came together again, merging and forming the current SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg. the aim of the new club was to gain entry to the Gauliga Württemberg, then the highest level of play in the state. SpVgg also became the owner of the Ludwig-Jahn-Stadion, the second-largest stadium in Württemberg at the time. Despite all this, the club did not achieve promotion to the Gauliga until 1944, when playing football was already almost impossible due to the worsening war situation. The 1944–45 season barely got under way before it had to be cancelled and the SpVgg managed to play only four games.
After the end of the Second World War, the US occupation authorities did not permit the formation of more than one club in Ludwigsburg at the time, therefore, all clubs merged temporarily into the SKV Ludwigsburg. In January 1947, the SpVgg reformed and got approval from the authorities a month later.
The early post-war years were difficult for the club, its old ground was for a time occupied by the US Army and unavailable. To entice the TSV 1860 Munich to play a friendly in town in 1947 for example, the SpVgg had to pay the other club 120 kg of fruit as money was virtually worthless at this time.
On the playing field, the SpVgg languished in the second-highest league in Württemberg, the tier-four Bezirksklasse. In 1955, it barely escaped relegation from there but then managed to improve its fortunes and in 1958, it earned promotion to the Amateurliga Württemberg (III). In this league, the club archived mid-table finishes in its first couple of seasons. In 1962, it struggled against relegation, but the season after, 1962–63, it finished runners-up to the VfB Stuttgart Amateure in what was now the Amateurliga Nordwürttemberg.
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