Freiburger FC (Germany)

Freiburger FC is a football club from the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in southern Germany, who were one of the founding clubs in the DFB (German FA) in 1900 after being formed in 1897.

By 1898-99 Freiburger were already Süddeutsche Meisterschaft; Southern German Champions after hammering 1. FC Pforzheim 6-1 in the final. The popularity of the club grew allowing the team to play at the military Exerzierplatz to accommodate crowds.

A second South German title followed in 1906-07 when 1. FC Nürnberg were defeated 4-2 which allowed the team to compete in the national championships. VfB Leipzig were beaten before Viktoria 89 Berlin were overcome 3-1 in front of 3,000 fans at the Stadion am Kanal in Frankenthal to be crowned as champions of Germany.

The club also went on to play in The Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva the following season. This was one of the first ever international football clubs. It also featured Piemonte F.C, Juventus, FC Servette, Torino, FC Ausonia Milano and US Parisienne.

These achievements were to be the highest point in the clubs history, even though they were the dominant club in the city for a couple more decades. In 1915-16 the Kreisliga Südwest title was won, but the season was localised and affected by the outbreak of war. Another championship was collected in 1919-20.

The club moved into the newly built Möslestadion in 1922 prior to joining Bezirksliga Baden, whose title was won in 1929-30. Freiburger were moved to the Gauliga Baden, one of sixteen top grade leagues introduced by the Third Reich in 1933. The team’s best performance was third place in 1933-34, 1938-39 and 1943-44.

Following the end of World War Two the cub had to be reformed as Fortuna Freiburg becoming members of 2. Oberliga Süd; which was one of the second tier divisions in the newly formed state of West Germany.

A couple of relegations occurred but the team fought back as the club was renamed Freiburg FC in November 1949. The wooden stand at Möslestadion burned down as the club lost many artefacts including their title winning pennant of 1907.

FFC were champions in 1955-56 in the season that they attracted the attendance record on the 9th December, when the match between the Freiburger FC and 1. FC Nürnberg attracted 25,000 spectators as Bayern München had to be satisfied with a runners-up place.

The promotion proved a step too far as the team was relegated after just one season. FFC finished third in the renamed II. Division Süd in 1958-59 before fifth place in 1962-63 was enough to win a place in the second tier Regionalliga Süd after the introduction of the Bundesliga under coach Hans Wendlandt.

SC Freiburg, who would go on to become the major club in the city, were still playing at the Amateurliga Südbaden level. FFC generally occupied a mid table place at the seasons end with a sixth place in 1969-70 and 1971-72 about the best outcome.

After a close shave the previous season the team was relegated in 1973-74 to 1. Amateurliga Südbaden where they came up against SC Freiburg. Third place was achieved in 1975-76 with Wolf-Dieter Siebert coaching the side.

Georg Gawliczek was coach as Freiburg FC won the Amateurliga Südbaden title to go up to 2. Bundesliga Süd. Several coaches took turns in charge of the team: Norbert Wagner, Milovan Beljin, Anton Rudinsky and Bernd Hoss.

2. Bundesliga was streamlined to one division in 1981-82 as FFC’s run ended following the earlier death of chairman Rolf Jankovsky and consequent cutting of the playing budget after the club was only given its license under strict conditions.

Back in Oberliga Baden-Württemberg fans rallied round to save the club from bankruptcy. Local rivals SC Freiburg were heading in the opposite direction in 2. Bundesliga and drawing in new support. A league title cheered the FFC faithful at Möslestadion in 1983-84 under coach Lutz Hangartner.

The team missed out on going up in the promotion round and then finished as league runners-up in 1985-86 after Ulrich Bruder had taken over as coach. The same position was achieved in 1987-88 before the club underwent a large turnover of coach’s as the team was relegated to Verbandsliga Südbaden in 1989-90.

Promotion back to the fifth tier Oberliga Baden-Württemberg came in 1990-91 with Freiburger’s comeback season ending in fourth place after the appointment of coach Uwe Ehret. However, the team went back down in bottom place at the conclusion of the 1993-94 campaign as more coach’s came and went.

The timing couldn’t be worse as a reorganisation of German league football took place meaning that FFC were demoted to what was now the seventh level Bezirksliga Südbaden. Ehret returned to oversee promotion to Landesliga Südbaden in 1998-99.

Another promotion to the Verbandsliga came in 1999-00 before SC Freiburg made the cash strapped club an offer that they couldn’t afford for Möslestadion. FFC moved across the city to take up residence at Schönberg Stadion as tenants to Blau-Weiß Wiehre.

Former SC Freiburg player Maximilian Heidenreich took over as coach in January 2001. He stabilised the playing side of the club as the team finished fourth in 2007-08. Despite this and being the longest ever serving coach at the club he was fired in April 2008.

Once again Freburger found themselves in financial trouble, this time through rental charges at Schönberg Stadion. The club had long negotiations with the city council and acquired Dietenbachpark Stadion as their new home.

A sponsorship deal with Ganter brewery was brokered to rename their ground Freiburg Stadion. At the same time the club dropped another level in the national league system after the introduction of 3. Liga before being relegated in 2008-09 down to Landesliga 2.

New coach Ralf Eckert led his charges to third place in 2009-10 which was replicated the following season. As runners-up in 2011-12 Freiburger won promotion following a decider against SC Offenburg. Back in Verbandsliga Südbaden the team consolidated before winning the title in 2013-14.

In the fifth tier Oberliga Baden-Württemberg FFC initially secured their status before being relegated in 2015-16. The side regrouped and ended as Verbandsliga runners-up in 2016-17. In the play-offs FV Fortuna Heddesheim were overcome but promotion was denied after a home defeat to TSG Backnang in front of 2,000 fans.

The play-offs were reached in 2017-18 thanks to the goals of Marco Senftleber and Mike Enderle. FV Fortuna Heddesheim were beaten once again before the team again fell at the final hurdle, this time away to TSV Ilshofen.

For the third successive season FFC finished runners-up in 2018-19. Again, Heddesheim were dispatched but this time there was no mistake in the final as FSV Hollenbach were defeated 5-1 away from home for Freiburger to climb back to Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.

In October 2019 coach Eckert resigned after ten years in charge to be replaced by Joschua Moser-Fendel. The team were in eighth in the fifth tier league when the 2018-19 season was halted owing to the COVID-19 pandemic with Nicolas Stein top scoring.

Freiburger FC will play in Oberliga Baden-Württemberg in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Saturday 15^th August 2015

While heading to the lunchtime kick off in 2. Bundesliga between SC Freiburg and VfL Bochum I ensured I arrived early so that I could call in a couple of local grounds. Freiburg seemed a neat enough city from what I’d seen in calling in at the home of SF Eintracht Freiburg.

The U3 tram took me from Runzmattenweg to Rohrgraben where I walked down the street and into the vast Dietenbachpark. This really was a beauty of a park with nice walks, a small allotment, small rivers and a large lake Dietenbachsee.

Although I’d forgotten to jot down directions I did remember to walk to the left of the BMX Bahn to find my destination. Fortunately this came into view just as I was about to take a long pretty but fruitless walk around the lake. I was soon back on track with a football pitch in view.

The first pitch I saw was the training ground with an artificial surface, which turned out to be alongside the main pitch. I crossed a brook and found a gate open to the FFC complex. The smartly red painted clubhouse was on top of a small hill with a beer garden at the rear.

Walking towards the main pitch, a couple of marquees were erected to offer cover. There was a catering outlet and club shop, with the changing rooms underneath the club rooms. Between the two pitches was a basic style cover on the half way line for spectators. There was also a small open flat area around the pitch for fans between the perimeter fencing and pitch railing.

I headed back in the same direction to leave the groundsman to get on with cutting the pitch. It seemed a lot quicker to the tram now that I knew exactly where I was going. I would certainly return to the venue, hopefully with added spectator facilities as the fine old club carries on its fight back up the leagues.