SC Victoria Hamburg (Germany)

SC Victoria Hamburg, or Sport- Club Victoria Hamburg von 1895 e. V. to give them their full title are a sports club, with a football department who were formed in 1895 in the northern German city of Hamburg. 

On the 5th May 1895 two youth sides Cito and Excelsior joined forces to form Victoria. After a brief affiliation with Hamburg SV, they became independent as a football club a couple of years later. The sports club also catered for those wishing to partake in badminton, handball, hockey, athletics, tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, baseball and softball.

In 1898 the club was accepted into the Hamburg-Altonaer Fußball-Bund where they played in their A-Klasse competition where Victoria won four titles on the trot in the following decade.

In 1901 the club became founder members of the Deutscher Fussball Bund German FA. The club became Norddeutsche Meisterschaft northern German champions in 1906 and 1907; reaching the semi-final of the national championship before losing out to TuFC Viktoria 89 of Berlin.

Until that time home matches had been played at Heiligengeistfeld, a recreational space in the St Pauli district of the city before the construction of Stadion Hoheluft which for a time would become the largest football venue in the city with a maximum capacity of 47,000.

Further North German titles were won in 1912-12 and 1918-19. The latter of the triumphs was in conjunction with Hamburger SV 1888 who came close to merging with Victoria. Instead they went their own way prior to merging with FC Falke and eventually becoming one of Germany’s biggest clubs.

Englishman William Townley coached the club in the 1920’s with his son Jimmy a star player. Erwin Seeler, father of Uwe, was signed for a substantial sum before Victoria had a period of struggle and were close to relegation.

During the period of the Third Reich being in power the club were placed in one of sixteen top tiers; Gauliga Nordmark and then Gauliga Hamburg of which Victoria were crowned as champions in 1942-43. After the War, the club joined Stadtliga Hamburg and then Oberliga Nord, one of five top tier divisions for the 1947-48 season.

As one of four Hamburg clubs, Victoria finished bottom and were relegated down to Amateurliga Hamburg where they won the title in 1950-51 before winning the ascent round to rejoin the Oberliga. Again, their spell at the top table lasted just one season.

Victoria bounced back to be crowned as Amateurliga Hamburg champions in 1952-53 before winning their play-off round. For a third time Victoria went straight back down before winning the Amateurliga title at the first attempt before missing out on promotion in the play-offs.

The team then hit a spell of mid table finishes prior to responding with another league title in 1959-60 which again ended in ascent round disappointment. Victoria won their next Amateurliga title in 1961-62 but again remained at the same level.

A runners-up place in 1962-63 led to a successful play-off for a place in the newly formed second tier Regionalliga Nord to feed into the Bundesliga. Victoria remained at that level until the end of the 1965-66 campaign when they dropped down to Landesliga Hamburg.

After a fourth place the team was relegated in 1967-68 to the Verbandsliga from where they returned to the Landesliga in quick succession where they enjoyed a title winning season in 1973-74 which was rewarded with promotion to Oberliga Nord.

Victoria finished fourth on their return but ended in the relegation places in 1976-77 back down to the retitled fourth tier Verbandsliga where they finished third in 1978-79 and again the following season. The first half of the 1980’s saw Victoria finish in the lower reaches of the table.

A fifth place in 1991-92 was the best for over a decade in a stale period for the club. In 1994 league re-organising meant that the Verbandsliga became the fifth tier. Victoria won the title in 1994-95 to rise to Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein where they finished bottom to return to the Verbandsliga.

A runners-up place in 2002-03 was enough to secure promotion after champions Harburger TB 1865 were demoted owing to a financial infringement. However, Victoria were once again demoted in 2004-05. After the introduction of 3. Liga the fifth tier became Oberliga Hamburg with Victoria finishing as champions in 2006-07.

However, Victoria declined promotion before retaining the title for the next three seasons to make it four in a row. In 2010-11 Victoria led by coach Bert Ehm once again played in the DFB Pokal and provided a big shock as they defeated 2. Bundesliga club Rot-Weiß Oberhausen with a Stephan Rahn goal before they went down to VfL Wolfsburg.

After a seasons absence the club became Oberliga champions again in 2011-12 but this time resulting in promotion to Regionalliga Nord. Victoria were demoted in 2013-14 to Oberliga Hamburg where they finished as runners-up in 2014-15.

This was backed up with third the following season and then fourth in 2016-17. It was runners-up again for Victoria again in 2017-18 under head coach Jean-Pierre Richter with Nick Scharkowski and Klaas Kohpeiß supplying the goals.

2018-19 saw a fourth place return as Dennis Bergmann finished as the league top scorer for Fabian Boll’s side. Victoria were in fourth again when the 2019-20 campaign was aborted owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 as Ian Claus got among the goals for the side coached by Marius Ebbers.

SC Victoria Hamburg will play in Oberliga Hamburg in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Monday 29th October 2012

I was ready to get back to visiting some new stadiums after the previous days football and drinking in Hamburg. It was my final day of four in Germany and I was determined to make the most of it, despite the biting winds and overcast conditions.

 

After heading the wrong way on the train and a brief look down on the waterfront, I soon found my correct way to alight at Hoheluftbrucke station. I was getting the hang of the transport network and new that my one day ticket was also valid, so I got on a long bendy bus heading up the road of the same name, which dropped me just past the ground.

To my joy the gates were open with the groundsman getting on with his work after the previous days match against FC St Pauli II. I walked in to find a wonderful old fashioned three sided football ground, the sort of which are slowly being swallowed up by developers in the UK in exchange for soulless out of town arenas.

The near end had an open terrace with a grass bank behind. Another larger open terrace ran down one side of the pitch with segregation barriers in place. There was nothing behind the far goal as it bordered some trees but the final side had a sizeable open terrace. 

The crowning glory a majestic raised Main Stand painted in the club colours of yellow and blue, set back from the pitch with seating inside. It really was a beauty of a ground, especially the stand.

I took plenty of photos before heading back to the main road and a return bus ride, in search of my next venue at Altona 93.