FC Viktoria Köln 1904 is a football club based in the city of Cologne in Germany. The clubs’ origins go all the way back to 1904 and have evolved through a series of mergers and restructuring over the years.
In 1904 FC Germania Kalk were formed prior to merging with FC Kalk who had been formed in 1905 to become SV Kalk 04 in 1909. In 1911 a further merger occurred as Mülheimer FC came onboard to create VfR Mülheim-Kalk 04.
In 1918 the club changed their title to VfR Köln 04 rrh after the previously independent towns of Kalk and Mülheim had become part of the city of Cologne. The clubs first honour came in 1923-24 when the club were crowned Westdeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft Western German champions.
The clubs Flughafen Stadion inside Sportpark Höhenberg was completely rebuilt between 1929 and 1931 prior to football in Germany being re-organised in 1933 under the rule of the Third Reich.
VfR Köln 04 were placed in Gauliga Mittelrhein, one of sixteen top flight divisions, where they finished as runners-up in 1933-34 before becoming champions the following season. The title win was repeated in 1936-37.
The nearest the side came to further honours was runners-up places in 1940-41 followed by the same performance in Gauliga Köln-Aachen in 1941-42 and 1942-43. The club was placed in Oberliga West in 1947-48 but were relegated in its inaugural season.
The club played a season in the Rheinbezirksliga before a further merger took place in 1949. VfR had joined forces for one Gauliga season with Mülheimer SV but now entered a permanent merger with the club being renamed SC Rapid Köln 04.
The team competed in 2. Oberliga West Gruppe II before being relegated in 1951-52 after the league streamlined to one division. The Staffel 1 title was lifted in 1953-54 before a runners-up spot in 1955-65 was enough to secure a place in the new Verbandsliga third tier level.
Rapid joined local rivals SC Preußen Dellbrück forming SC Viktoria 04 Köln in 1957 to take Dellbrück’s place in the top level Oberliga West in an attempt to compete with 1. FC Köln. The first few seasons saw Viktoria finish in mid table positions under coach Hennes Weisweiler.
Viktoria were chosen to play in the 1962-63 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, going out to Ferencváros in the first round before the club was placed in Regionalliga West after the advent of the Bundesliga in 1963-64.
The team generally finished in mid table with star player Jürgen Schult moving to Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1964 before Viktoria escaped relegation on goal difference in 1968-69. However, the team was relegated at the conclusion of the 1971-72 campaign.
Promotion as runners-up of Verbandsliga Mittelrhein was achieved at the first attempt but the joy was short lived as Viktoria were relegated again in 1973-74. A couple of consecutive third places followed in the middle of the decade before the title was secured in 1977-78 to take the team to 2. Bundesliga Nord.
The side finished fourth in 1979-80 before a bottom half finish the following season saw Viktoria drop back down to the third level Oberliga Nordrhein as 2. Bundesliga was cut to one national division.
The team ended as runners-up in 1981-82 and then again in 1983-84 before mid table finishes were replaced by lower half endings. A disastrous 1993-94 campaign saw Viktoria finish bottom of the table to face relegation.
Another merger was created with SC Brück as the club was renamed as SCB Preußen Köln. The Oberliga became the fourth tier after the introduction of the Regionalliga with the team returning to that level following promotion from Verbandsliga Niederrhein in 1994-95 before being relegated once again in 1996-97.
Again, Preußen returned to the fourth tier at the first attempt as league champions to finish fourth in 1998-99 and then runners-up twelve months later before form dropped off with two lowly finishes before club was re-christened SCB Viktoria Köln in 2002.
Viktoria were relegated in 2003-04 before dropping further to the Landesliga in 2009-10. However, the club could not continue because of huge debt. A new replacement club, FC Viktoria Köln 1904 was formed on the 22nd June 2010.
The club continued to run the youth sides of SCB Viktoria while waiting to restart the senior side. The authorities deemed that they should start in the lowest level; Kreisliga D. However, Viktoria came to an agreement to buy the licence of another local club, FC Junkersdorf.
This allowed Viktoria to take their place in the fourth tier NRW-Liga that Junkersdorf had earned after winning the Mittelrheinliga championship the previous season. New investment arrived at the restructured club as they looked to build on the momentum.
This was achieved as Viktoria won the league title in 2011-12 to climb to Regionalliga West as the combination of Mike Wunderlich and Ercan Aydoğmuş put away the goals with crowds returning to Sportpark Höhenberg.
Aziz Bouhaddouz added fire power in Regionalliga West under coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz as Viktoria finished in fourth place in 2013-14 as Fatih Candan scored regularly. Tomasz Kaczmarek was appointed as coach at the winter break in the 2014-15 after a faltering start to the season.
The team ended in third place which was repeated in 2015-16 in a season that also saw a victory against Union Berlin in the DFB-Pokal prior to Marco Antwerpen arriving as head coach in the summer of 2016.
Sven Kreyer joined Wunderlich on the scoring chart as Viktoria stormed to the Regionalliga West title in 2016-17 before losing on away goals to FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the play-offs to miss out on promotion.
Timm Golley and Simon Handle added their weight up front for Viktoria’s runners-up finish in 2017-18 after Olaf Janßen took over the coach’s role after the winter break. He was replaced by Patrick Glöckner whose team won the 2018-19 league title with Albert Bunjaku leading the scoring.
Skipper Wunderlich continued to be the main talisman in the 3. Liga season of 2019-20, which saw Viktoria hover above the relegation places under new coach Pavel Dotchev before pulling clear to safety.
Olaf Janßen was appointed as head coach in February 2021 as Viktoria ended the campaign in twelfth position.
FC Viktoria Köln 1904 will play in 3. Liga in the 2021-22 season.
My visits
Friday 26th October 2012
I had been in Germany and in and around the city of Cologne for a few hours after first calling at Sudstadion, the home of SC Fortuna Köln. My journey on the tram to the Höhenberg Frankfurter Strasse stop required a change on the way.
The restrictions
surrounding C19 travel between Germany and the UK had been eased and I had
jumped the gun bagging cheap Ryanair return flights between Stansted and
Cologne for a long weekend between Friday and Tuesday.
As ever I had been scouring the advanced fixtures, which offered lots of football possibilities. I was concerned if there would be anything on my final night, so I was naturally delighted when this cup tie was scheduled.
Next up was keeping a close eye on the Viktoria website for ticket news. It was all straightforward, as I managed to buy one on the terracing behind the goal for €15. Absolutely perfect.
The trip had gone better than I could wish for. I’d already seen seven full and a half match. The previous morning I’d received an email from my hotel allowing me to pay an extra €10 for an early check in, which I was delighted to do.
I’d had quite a good evening in Düsseldorf’s Altstadt and headed south on the train ready for an extended rest. Well once I’d completed the online form required for returnees to the UK and realised it required booking a Covid test with reference number.
Having rested I headed out for a walk and taking some sightseeing photos around the river and old town. A late lunch came courtesy of a generous portion of spicy currywurst and chips for €4.50 in the square at Heumarkt.
I’d arranged to meet my Bayer Leverkusen supporting pal Marius, who had obtained a ticket through one of his mates at Viktoria. In the meantime, I wandered the streets of the city centre before I got a message to meet by Mülheim station.
I had called in the bar Marius was at before a Bayer against Mönchengladbach game a few years before. It had changed hands and was now called Zoki's Brauhaus but still produced their own Kölsch beer.
Marius was in good form. He’d been to his first Bayer away game in many months on the Saturday as his side progressed in the Pokal away to Lokomotive Leipzig. He said it had been an extremely long drinking day with the usual travelling tales.
I mentioned that I was running out of options of prominent football clubs who I’d yet to visit in North Rhine Westphalia, and this game would tick off all three major Cologne clubs. So you’ve done Viktoria and Fortuna but I can’t think of the third, he replied, showing his Leverkusen colours and their rivalry to FC Köln.
We sat outside and enjoyed a few refreshing drinks before crossing over Frankfurter Straße to catch the bus 151 to the stop ten minutes up the main road nearest to Sportpark Höhenberg. Kick-off was 6.30pm but we still had bags of time. It was time to go local.
It’s a tradition that many fans don’t bother with official bars but take their own drinks and gather near stadiums. Marius went to the Aral petrol station, which was doing a fine trade in beers to thirsty fans. We crossed over the road and came across some folk familiar to him.
Jurgen was with a Glaswegian Partick Thistle supporter, whose name I didn’t catch. We did the introductions and drank the beer as I had a chat with the Scotsman who said he’d lived in the city for twenty seven years and loved the place.
I mentioned my liking for Düsseldorf, but he rather surprisingly compared that city to Edinburgh and Cologne being like Glasgow. I’d always thought of the comparison but the other way around. That’s why I like talking and listening to locals.
We walked along through the woodland. Höhenberg was certainly in a beautiful setting. Proof of both vaccinations were required at the gate. I asked my Scottish friend, who was a season ticket holder, if the club produced programmes.
He didn’t
seem sure but told me to enquire at the little hut selling merchandise and gave
me two phrases in German to ask the young fräulein behind the counter. One was “program”
in a local dialect, but I hadn’t heard the other one. I repeated it to Marius
who burst out laughing. I’d been stitched up and sent to ask for toilet paper.
We had beers and a bratwurst before heading up onto the open terrace. This was a semi-permanent construction and a new addition from my previous visit. The far end had extra paraphernalia to accommodate the live TV coverage and looked more like part of a rugby union venue back home.
Jurgen told
me all about a fan partnership that Viktoria had with Carshalton Athletic. Supporters
of both clubs had been to watch the other side play and stayed in contact.
Indeed, some of the Köln contingent had even been to
support the Robins away to Guernsey!
What struck me about the home fans, like everyone I spoke to on the trip, was that they were most welcoming to me. Slightly surprised too at the football I’d attended, but they were also extremely honest and pragmatic about their own sides’ chances in this cup tie.
Viktoria from 3. Liga were up against a top level Hoffenheim outfit. I was struggling to find a fan who thought that the hosts would progress. I was probably the most optimistic. I think it says plenty about how we get carried away before international tournaments.
The visitors, cheered on by less than 200 travelling fans, looked dangerous going forward in the early exchanges. Andrej Kramarić went close with a shot that went just past the post on ten minutes. Kai Klefisch responded for Viktoria, but his shot failed to trouble keeper Philipp Pentke.
The home side began to grow in confidence, finding gaps in the TSG midfield prior to Kevin Akpoguma hitting the side of the Köln net. Georginio Rutter then went close with a header for Hoffenheim.
It was the away side who went ahead on twenty seven minutes when referee Franz Bokop adjudged that Christoph Gregor stood on an opponents foot in the area. Kramarić, with his stuttering run up, calmly put the penalty away past Moritz Nicolas.
Six minutes later, the majority of Höhenberg went wild. Viktoria midfielder Nikolaj Möller, on loan from Arsenal, spread the ball wide to Simon Handle who put a beautiful curling shot into the far corner with Pentke well beaten.
Jacob Bruun Larsen had an effort for TSG off target as the rain clouds threatened. A youth next to me was getting out his rain poncho. We joked together with his friends joining in as I offered him €3. I was smug as the danger passed and he had to put it away.
At the break I grabbed a beer and caught up with Jurgen as we’d moved so Marius could catch up with other friends. Jurgen was calm about the penalty. I saw it as an exaggerated fall. He thought it justified.
Home keeper Nicolas punched away a cross after the restart which was headed back in by Angelo Stiller. The goalie made the save. This was backed up by an off target header from Kramarić, while the hosts were more than holding their own.
Nicolas made another save from an effort from Christoph Baumgartner following a centre from substitute Sebastian Rudy. Midway through the half a heavy rainstorm did deposit itself over the stadium and I got absolutely soaked. The lads to my side all in ponchos thought it hilarious.
Baumgartner was sent through by Kramarić but put his effort wide. TSG pressed for a winner in normal time, but Viktoria were defending well. It was 1-1 after ninety minutes and we went into thirty minutes of extra time.
Four minutes in Hoffenheim regained the lead. Baumgartner got round Handle down the left and centred low for another replacement, Munas Dabbur to score. There were some deflated looks all around me on the terrace.
Viktoria refused to submit, as Timmy Thiele fired narrowly wide before Dabbur forced Nicolas into a save as play became stretched. Three minutes before the interval the home side and their fans were in ecstasy.
Handle took a corner, which found the unmarked Christoph Greger to rise and head home. Stefan Posch went close to putting TSG back ahead. However, they wouldn’t have to wait long to score what would turn out to be the winner.
Mijat Gacinovic fed Kramarić who skilfully beat home skipper Maximilian Rossmann before slotting home. It was a goal of great quality and fitting to win a cup tie. His side closed out the game well with some diligent defending.
After the match we headed back to the main road. Marius had a lift back to Leverkusen while I went to catch the nearby number 1 tram a few stops towards the city before alighting at Kalk Kapella for post match libations.
I’d tried to get served on my previous visit at Kornkammer Köln-Kalk but they were about to close. This time I had more luck as I sat at the bar drying out and enjoying fine local beer. I saw someone from the match who beckoned me to join her and her friend.
Danii was one of the fans who’d travelled to Guernsey. The three of us had a good chat and were joined by her boyfriend Stefan, a shorter lookalike of Richard Osman. They spoke excellent English and were excellent company.
I learned about Cologne, the dislike between Viktoria and Fortuna and who most football fans also supported FC Köln but had either been priced out or were unable to get tickets, so they also had a “smaller” club.
We had a good conversation about UK leaving the EU and the prime minister. There was me thinking I didn’t rate him highly! I’d had enough soon after 11pm and took the tram back to Heumarkt from where I walked back to my room at a&o Köln Hauptbahnhof. It was as well I checked all travel advice before I went to sleep.
How I missed it I don’t know, but there it was. I needed a negative C-19 test. I began scouring and found out what all the tents were doing on the entrance to Sportpark Höhenberg. It was a drive and walk in test centre.
The following morning, I was up and followed my route from a few hours earlier, full of confidence. Therefore, I was more than a little concerned when a lady on security asked me where my car was, as only drive ins were allowed.
I was pleading with her, but she wasn’t going to budge. She then saw the boss arrived and sent me in his direction. Fortunately, he took pity on me and instructed the nurse to give me the swab. I was most grateful and headed to Messe/Deutz station for breakfast.
Shortly after I got notification and an online certificate that my test was negative. I then had to phone the company who had charged me rather a lot for my test on return but had not emailed me the reference code. What a kerfuffle!
At the airport I regaled my friends of my dramas on Facebook. It was therefore more than a little concerning when someone pointed out that the rapid flow test would be insufficient. It was a bit late by then. I had gone through passport control.
Whether it was sufficient or not we will never know. The Ryanair staff didn’t check, and nor did border staff at Stansted. The pilot mentioned we needed both vaccinations and proof, but they were not checked either. Instead, I just used the automatic electronic passport gates.
I got home, tired and ready for a few nights off the booze, but delighted with what was a superb time in a district of a country that never lets me down. Danke, North Rhine Westphalia!
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