Alemannia Aachen (Germany)

Alemannia Aachen come from the spa town of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia, close to the border with Holland and Belgium. The club were formed in 1900 by eighteen high school students. There was already a club in the city called 1. FC Aachen, so they decided to adopt Alemannia, the old Latin name of Germany.

Because of decreased membership numbers after World War One, the club merged with Aachener Turnverein 1847 in 1919 to become TSV Alemannia Aachen 1900. The new partners members were more interested in 1924, so the clubs split in 1924. 

Owing to the city's location, the club frequently played teams from across the borders. After spending time in local competition, Alemannia joined the Oberliga in 1928-29 the year after they'd moved into The Old Tivoli Stadium.

In 1933 German football was re-organised with sixteen regional top flights, or Gauligen as they were called. Alemannia were placed in Gauligen Mittelrhein after winning promotion from Bezirksliga Gruppe A in 1936-37 before finishing as runners-up in their debut season.

The club were noted for standing up to the Nazi regime during the period of Third Reich after they demanded the release of a Jewish member as the team struggled after initial success as they dropped back down a level.

Kartoffelkäfer, the Potato Beetles, returned to the renamed Gauliga Köln-Aachen after winning promotion in 1941-42 prior to finishing fourth in the final season of the competition in 1943-44.

Aachen were founder members of Oberliga West, one of five top flight divisions in 1947-48, finishing just above the relegation zone in 1949-50 before defeating Borussia München-Gladbach the following season in the play-offs to avert the drop.

The 1951-52 season saw a vast improvement of third place before 1952-53 saw a tremendous run in the DFB-Pokal German Cup which saw victories against the likes of 1. FC Nürnberg and VfR Wormatia Worms.

In the final Aachen were defeated 2-1 by Rot-Weiss Essen with future German coach Jupp Derwall scoring the consolation goal for the side coached by Hermann Lindemann and including international player Michael Pfeiffer.

It was third place again for ‘Die Alemannen’ in 1955-56 which was repeated in 1957-58. The club was placed in the second tier Regionalliga West in 1963-64 after the inauguration of the national Bundesliga with Aachen winning the title at the first attempt but missing out on promotion in the play-offs.

1964-65 saw Alemannia reach a second DFB-Pokal final after disposing of Hannover 96 and FC Schalke 04 on route. Borussia Dortmund won the showpiece 2-0 against a side coached by Oswald Pfau with future club coach Gerhard Prokop in goal.

The same season also saw the team finish as runners-up in the league before partaking in an unsuccessful play-off group. The title was captured again in 1966-67 which was backed up by winning the play-offs to secure promotion to the Bundesliga.

The original Tivoli across the park in 2012

In 1968-69 the team finished as runners-up to FC Bayern München before being relegated in bottom place just twelve months later. Top seven finishes in Regionalliga West culminated in a place in the newly formed 2. Bundesliga Nord for 1974-75.

The goals of Rolf Kucharski initially secured Alemannia’s status before Heinz-Josef Kehr and then Winfried Stradt were regular scorers as the decade progressed. The team secured a place in the second tier when the division was streamlined to just one national section for the 1981-82 campaign.

Aachen put in several mid table finishes with Theo Gries helping his mates to fifth in 1986-87 before Peter Sendscheid put away the goals. The team was relegated to Oberliga Nordrhein in 1989-90 where they ended as runners-up a year later as Josef Zschau top scored.

Dirk Lehmann was the standout performer with Alemannia finishing third in 1992-93 before landing the runners-up spot the following season which was enough to maintain third level football in Regionalliga West/Südwest as Stephan Lämmermann gave the Tivoli crowd reason to cheer.

Marcus Feinbier was the next striker to make his mark as coach Werner Fuchs put together an entertaining side with Mario Krohm playing a starring role before tragedy struck as Fuchs died prematurely. André Winkhold took over and helped the side secure the league title.

Eugen Hach arrived as the new coach as the side including Xie Hui consolidated prior to the appointment of Jörg Berger in 2001 saw an improvement with help from the goals of Josef Ivanović.

Alemannia were Pokal runners-up for a third time in 2003-04 beating TSV 1860 München, Eintracht Braunschweig, Bayern München and Borussia Mönchengladbach along the way. Werder Bremen ran out 3-2 winners in the final with Aachen’s goals coming from Stefan Blank and Erik Meijer for the team skippered by Karlheinz Pflipsen.

Alemannia progressed to the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup the following season before going out to AZ Alkmaar. Kai Michalke and then the pairing of Marius Ebbers and Jan Schlaudraff scored the goals for coach Dieter Hecking as the team was promoted to the top flight as runners-up in 2005-06.

The 2006-07 saw the club go through three coaches; Michael Frontzeck, Guido Buchwald and Jörg Schmadtke as the team went straight back down. Benjamin Auer top scored in 2008-09 before the new Tivoli was open across the park from the old version.

The coaches continued to come and go with Zoltán Stieber scoring goals before the team was relegated in 2010-11 with huge debts surrounding the club. Aaachen went down another level in 2012-13 before being declared bankrupt but managed to restructure to continue operating.

Peter Schubert managed to stabilise things on the pitch, taking the team to second place in 2014-15 with Fabian Graudenz netting regularly. Christian Benbennek took over as coach in May 2015 before being replaced in the winter break by Fuat Kılıç.

Three top seven places ensued as Dimitry Imbongo Boele scored the goals in 2018-19 as crowds of less than 6,000 rattled around the large stadium. It was sixth place in 2019-20 when the outbreak of Coronavirus halted the season.

Alemannia Aachen will compete in Regionalliga West in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Alemannia Aachen 0 Hansa Rostock 0 (Sunday 19th February 2012) 2 Bundesliga (att: 14,178)

I was staying for the weekend with my good Boro supporting pals Karl and Carl in Dusseldorf. We had been to the Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg game the previous day and then had a marvellous night out in the Aldstadt of Dusseldorf where the carnival was in full swing.

The following morning we enjoyed a good breakfast at our fine digs, Hotel Furstenoff and then taken the tram to the Haubtbanhof, or main railway station. As in common with previous years, I'd bought our regional rail ticket the previous day to save queuing and any last minute panics.

This fine value ticket offered travel on any non inter city trains, local buses, trams and ubahn services in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for up to five people for a total cost of 39 euros.

The train was packed as far as Cologne where people were heading for their carnival celebrations. This fine tradition in the state is known as 'The Fifth Season'. It begins each year at 11am on the 11th November, which is perhaps a more positive way of looking to the future each year? 

It continues annually until Ash Wednesday with each weekend having celebration. However, it was unbeknown to us before we arrived we had picked the final weekend of fun when everything reached its climax. Once we got past Cologne the party goers including a man who randomly played his accordion, alighted.

Karl was quick to point out that the skyline had a rather black colour in the distance. We weren't aware of a bad weather forecast, but sure enough it started to snow and got heavier as we arrived in the beautiful old city. It was around midday and kick off wasn't until 1.30, so we decided to walk towards the old town. We heard a lot of noise down the road, so we went to investigate. 

There was a Kinder Karnival, children's procession, in full swing, with floats and bands filling the streets and throwing gifts to the crowds. It really was a gladdening sight, apart from having to dodge sweets being thrown at high speed from the youngsters on high who were oblivious to how hard they were coming down.

We walked to the Markt area by the Town Hall and found a bar. The landlord offered to order us a taxi to Tivoli, which suited us perfectly. We watched the German equivalent of Sky Sports News and saw the embarrassing after fight fiasco from the previous evening involving Chisora and Haye. 

We finished our drinks and went to where we were told the taxi would arrive. We were there for ten minutes, but nobody came. Carl asked a local if he spoke English. He said he did and he would take us to a taxi. Here started the fun!

Here I impersonate Nanook of the North

He hardly spoke a word of English, but he did rattle on in German. He led us through the streets to where he gave the impression that he knew where we would find a cab. We hit the road where the procession was passing, and after several minutes it seemed to hit home that the road was closed to traffic. 

Our new friend was either lacking in speed of thought, or he had also imbibed heavily to celebrate. The snow was coming down ever heavier and I was losing my composure at a rate of knots.

We were led to another bar. I did my best to get the message across that kick off was approaching and we didn't have time to stop. My travelling companions were doing their best to hide their mirth from a few steps behind me, but I knew I would pay later for it. My attractive waitress rung for a taxi, but it was immediately clear from her body language and facial expression that we were out of luck.

We trudged off again. My feet were frozen as owing to the good forecast I'd travelled it normal shoes. Ahead we saw a taxi. I cheered and our guide was jubilant. I went to open the door only to find there was no driver. I must have been doing a passable impression of Victor Meldrew as I cam out with his famous catchphrase with a few extra words thrown in for good measure. 

We set off again, this time without our local mate. I saw a taxi approaching and went to flag it down. It went straight by! Fortunately another cab arrived and we were on our way at last, with kick off time less than twenty minutes away.

The snow was laying on the approaches to Tivoli. I took a photo of the old stadium across the car park and we then made our way to the Bitburger Wall, where we were to stand. I collected us the free programmes from the club holders and we then got up the steps to join in with a fine rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Tivoli was a magnificent new arena, with all four sides under cover. The Bitburger Wall was a large steep terrace behind the goal. To our right was the AachenMunchener Tribune, which was all seated. To our left was the Sparkassen Tribune, which again was seated and had boxes and all the corporate facilities incorporated into it. 

The far end was the Tabac Original Tribune, which was seated with a terrace in the Nord West corner for visiting fans, who were also allocated a couple of blocks of seats next to it. There were two video boards facing each other across from two corners and excellent facilities under the stands.

Carl and Karl with some Red Indians who I hope were dressed for the carnival!

We climbed our way up the terracing to get a better view. Karl was really impressed with being able to stand up at a decent level of football. He was even happier when a vendor came up the gangway with a tub of gluwein on his back. 

The teams were due out but the snow was laying all the time on the pitch. The away fans opposite us were just about visible. Hansa had taken a following nearing 1,000 which was a tremendous effort for a lunchtime kick off considering they were based on the north east coast of the country.

An announcement came over the tannoy after the officials had been on the pitch, which sounded sombre. There were boos afterwards. Fortunately a Borussia Dortmund fan on the step below spoke good English and explained that kick off was being delayed for a while to try and clear the pitch. 

The lines had already been painted on in red and the lines cleared, but it really was getting heavy. I had more or less given up on the game being played to be honest. The situation wasn't lost on my mates.

The officials went out again to inspect as the snowfall decreased a little. Another long announcement was met with cheers. They were going to start the game fifteen minutes later after the teams had chance to warm up. The sides were eventually led out with the young mascots not hanging around after reaching the centre of the pitch. 

There was none of the players shaking hands cobblers. The simply walked out together and went to the middle of the pitch to give a quick wave to the crowd before leaving the skippers and officials to get the formalities over with.

The pitch was obviously hazardous and it led to early errors, as the illuminous pink match ball skidded across the surface. The Rostock on loan number 22, Marek Janecka was having a nightmare at right back and forward Freddy Borg nearly put a corner in his own net from the edge of the box when he was attempting to clear the ball. 

For reasons best unknown to themselves Alemannia stopped playing the ball wide and went up the middle where they were far less productive. The game was poor, but the atmosphere decent and even the sun came out as the snow ceased. 

Karl was most impressed by the two home 'capos' who led the singing from their platforms while facing away from the pitch. They gave plenty of encouragement to the sections they had considered not to be giving the Aachen team enough vocal support.

With not a lot happening on the pitch, Alemannia's centre forward Benjamin Auer broke through. He pushed the ball past the Rostock keeper Kevin Muller who upended him. It was a certain penalty and red card as far as everyone around us was concerned. Elfmeter I screamed (penalty) using up one of my few German football terms. 

Amazingly the referee Herr Wingenbach waved the appeals aside. The crowd, including me and Karl went beserk. Someone was so fuming the dropped their beer, which soacked him from behind. Carl had his doubts whether there was deliberate contact made.

We went downstairs at the interval where fans were shaking their heads and showing general disappointment to the injustice they'd thought they'd seen. We bought a Tivoli Card so we got a bockwurst and a gluwein each and returned to the terrace. 

For the second half we stood in the lower section for a quick get away and a view closer to the action. Some at the game were in their carnival fancy dress, so we watched the game next to a male and female Red Indian!

Hansa were much improved after the break, while Aachen most certainly weren't. The pitch caused problems, but some of the basics were sadly lacking. The visitors had a couple of opportunities from crosses, but their shooting was less than woeful. They were being aided by Aachen's Nigerian centre back Seyi Olajengbesi, who put in a catastrophic performance and yet he put in one goal saving tackle. 

Alemannia had a couple of efforts, but when the whistle blew it was the away fans who were the happier as their bottom of the table side grabbed a valuable point. Alemannia were hovering just above the drop zone and we agreed that they would need to improve to remain in the second tier.

We headed for the free bendy buses into town and somehow managed to squeeze on board. It was interesting when it went round corners! We got out at the bus station but then caught another to the trains. 

After a quick drink in a desolate bar we caught a direct train via Mönchengladbach to Düsseldorf where we headed straight for Aldstadt and another tremendous night out.

It had been a great day out. It was lovely to stand at a game in a modern stadium, and even though the game was shocking, there had been some real comedy moments to cheer us up.